Anthony Santander and Pedro Severino hit consecutive homers, and Hanser Alberto included one for the second straight game as the host Baltimore Orioles scored a come-from-behind 6-3 triumph over the Tampa Bay Rays in the opener of a three-game series Friday night.
Santander hit a game-tying two-run homer in the middle of the contest to tie the game for the first time. The game began late thanks to a 58-minute downpour delay.
Tampa Bay scored the game’s initial two runs, one in the first off and another in the third off previous Ray Alex Cobb. The Rays made it 1-0 on Yoshi Tsutsugo’s two-out double in the first and expanded the lead to 2-0 on a Hunter Renfroe double in the third.
Baltimore at that point started to rally, starting to lead the pack with a three-run fourth. Santander tied the game on a two-run homer, and Severino gave the Orioles a 3-2 lead by following with a homer to deep center.
Santander’s shot to center just nicked the top of the glove of the Rays’ Kevin Kiermaier and slipped over the fence. The Rays tied it on a Brandon Lowe homer in the fifth before Santander snapped the halt with a RBI single in the bottom half for a 4-3 lead.
Baltimore at that point made it 5-3 in the wake of stacking the bases in the seventh against Ryan Thompson, and Rio Ruiz hit a soft grounder to Ji-Man Choi, charging from first. Choi threw home however it was high for an error — and Renato Nunez scored.
Alberto then hit a solo shot in the eighth.
Paul Fry (1-0) earned the triumph for the Orioles in help while Pete Fairbanks (1-1) assumed the misfortune. Cole Sulser earned his second save.
The two starters didn’t last long. Cobb went four innings for Baltimore, and Blake Snell, who is developing his arm after medical procedure, went three or more.
The Orioles at last got Chris Davis back, but quickly, into the arrangement. Davis was being looked for COVID-19 in the wake of showing a higher temperature two days prior — however Davis said he never had what he would call “a fever.”
Davis told correspondents he had “at least eight” negative COVID-19 tests since Wednesday, yet was kept away from the group. He came in as a special hitter in the fourth and went 0-for-2.
