Baltimore, MD (Best E Casino) - David Price was impressive in his first major league start and Akinori Iwamura had a two-run single, as the Tampa Bay Rays downed the
Baltimore Orioles, 4-2, in the opener of a four-game series from Camden Yards.
Jason Bartlett doubled in the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning for Tampa Bay, which clinched a playoff berth for the first time in franchise history Saturday and lengthened its lead over Boston for the AL East title to 2 1/2 games after the Red Sox lost to Cleveland, 4-3, Monday. Grant Balfour (6-2) got the win for throwing 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Price didn't allow a hit until the fifth, when he gave up two runs -- one earned -- on four hits and three walks overall. The No. 1 overall pick of the 2007 draft struck out three over 5 1/3 innings.
O's starter Brian Bass did not allow a hit through 4 2/3 innings, but was charged with two runs on four walks, while striking out five in making his third start of the season. The rookie was acquired by the Orioles in a trade with Minnesota earlier this month. Rocky Cherry (0-3) was dealt the loss.
Brian Roberts and Juan Castro had an RBI each for Baltimore, which has slumped down the stretch, posting losses in 23 of its last 28.
The Rays took the lead in the seventh off the newly-inserted Cherry. Gabe Gross reached on an error and Eric Hinske walked before Bartlett pulled a ground-rule double down the left-field line, scoring one. An intentional walk to Iwamura was followed by a B.J. Upton strikeout, but Cherry forced in a second run by walking Carlos Pena and the Rays held a 4-2 lead.
J.P. Howell and Dan Wheeler both worked around a single in combining to a pitch the final two frames. Wheeler received his 12th save of the season for the effort.
Bass and Price traded scoreless frames over the first four innings, but Bass ran into control problems in the fifth, walking the bases full before exiting in favor of Randor Bierd. Iwamura looped a two-out, two-run single to right for the first hit of the game and a 2-0 Rays lead.
"It's not like he was just missing off the plate. He was done. He was out of gas," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said of Bass' fifth inning.
Price followed suit in the visiting half, loading the bases on an error from third baseman Evan Longoria and a pair of singles. The young lefty then walked in a run and Roberts tied the game 2-2 with a sacrifice fly.
The O's sixth partly underscored their hapless season. Aubrey Huff and Oscar Salazar led off with consecutive singles before Luke Scott went down swinging for the first out. Balfour came on for Price and Ramon Hernandez hit a weak fly ball to center. Both runners appeared to forget how many outs were recorded and Huff was easily doubled off second to end the inning.
"It's three balls and two strikes and you're running and it's a fly ball. Don't you stop? It's not kamikaze baseball, you don't just run until you're out," Trembley said of the base-running gaffes. "To me that's a total mental breakdown. Total. That's embarrassing to me and the club and the people watching the game."
Game Notes
Tampa Bay leads the season series 12-3, including a 4-2 mark at Camden Yards, and have won nine straight against the Orioles. The win marked the first time the Rays have defeated an opponent 12 times in the same season...Prior to his call-up, Price amassed a sensational 12-1 record with a 2.30 earned run average over 19 starts at three minor league stops...The Rays and O's will play two on Tuesday with Tampa Bay's James Shields (13-8) taking the hill in the opener opposite Garrett Olson (9-9) while Mitch Talbot (0-0) and Alfredo Simon (0-0) will each make their first career start in the nightcap for Tampa Bay and Baltimore, respectively.
