Baltimore, MD (Best E Casino) - Dioner Navarro led an eighth inning charge for the Rays, as Tampa Bay scored six runs -- including five with two outs -- to down the
Baltimore Orioles, 7-5, to sweep a doubleheader at Camden Yards and move closer to the AL East title.
Tampa Bay won, 5-2, in the first game. It was the first time in franchise history that the Rays swept a doubleheader.
Ben Zobrist finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and Evan Longoria hit his 26th homer of the season as the Rays extended their AL East lead to three games over Boston with just five games left in the season. Tampa Bay's magic number to win its first division title is two because the Rays hold the season tiebreaker over the Red Sox, who clinched a playoff spot Tuesday night by edging Cleveland.
J.P. Howell earned his third save of the season after 1 2/3 perfect innings to close out the game as the Rays won for the seventh time in nine contests.
With their 95th win, the Rays broke the 1991 Atlanta Braves for the most wins ever for a team that had MLB's worst record the year before.
Mitch Talbot allowed three runs on six hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings for the Rays, but did not factor into the decision. Jeff Niemann (2-1) got the win despite giving up two runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings.
Guillermo Quiroz went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI while Oscar Salazar added two hits and an RBI for the Orioles, who have now lost eight straight games.
Alfredo Simon pitched 7 2/3 innings for Baltimore, and gave up three runs on seven hits, with six strikeouts. Jamie Walker (1-3) took the loss after allowing four runs without recording an out in the eighth.
"Simon was really improved from the last time he pitched. He looked much more comfortable as a starter," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. "His delivery, the way he threw, was much better. Obviously, I would have liked to have (gotten) him a win. We couldn't get the third out. We couldn't stop it. That's a tough way to lose. Their guys off the bench got some big hits for them."
Down 5-1, Zobrist led off the Tampa Bay eighth with a triple and scored on an RBI groundout from Willy Aybar. Longoria hit a two-out solo homer a couple batters later. After the homer, Walker came on in relief. Pinch-hitter Rocco Baldelli legged out an infield hit and went to second on a passed ball. Gabe Gross walked, and Jason Bartlett stroked a pinch-hit RBI single to close the gap to one.
A wild pitch sent the two runners to second and third, and Navarro put the Rays ahead with a pinch-hit single, plating both runners. B.J. Upton followed with a double off Kameron Mickolio to put Tampa Bay up 7-5.
The Rays got the lead in the first. Zobrist led off with an infield single, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Dan Johnson's one-out single to right.
Baltimore took its first lead of the game in the second. Ramon Hernandez singled to lead off, and with two outs, Quiroz, Juan Castro and Brian Roberts each singled in succession to plate two runs and give the Orioles a 2-1 advantage.
Roberts walked to lead off the Orioles fifth inning. After stealing second, he advanced to third on a fielder's choice. Salazar grounded into another fielder's choice, plating Roberts for a 3-1 lead.
Quiroz added an RBI double in the sixth to give the home team a three-run cushion, and Hernandez's RBI fielder's choice made it 5-1 in the seventh.
Game Notes
Tampa Bay leads the season series 14-3 and has won 11 straight versus Baltimore...Longoria now has 83 RBI on the season.
