Adley Rutschman went 3-for-5 with a grand slam and six RBIs and Jordan Westburg was also 3-for-5 to help the Baltimore Orioles to a 9-2 win against the host Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday in St. Petersburg, Fla.
After going perfect through five innings, Baltimore starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez (7-2) allowed two runs on two hits in two-thirds of the sixth. He finished the day with six strikeouts.
Gunnar Henderson went 2-for-4 and scored three runs.
Rays starter Zack Littell (2-4) surrendered three runs on seven hits and fanned three in six innings.
Rustchman belted a grand slam to right-center field off an 0-2 count against Phil Maton in the eighth inning.
In the seventh, Cedric Mullins led off with a triple and, after Henderson’s infield single, scored on Rutschman’s hit. Henderson came in on Ryan Mountcastle’s groundout to make it 5-2.
Rodriguez started to get into trouble in the sixth. He walked Taylor Walls to lead it off, giving Tampa Bay its first baserunner of the game. Yandy Diaz connected for the Rays’ first hit of the afternoon with a two-out single to center on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, putting runners on the corners.
Walls scored on Brandon Lowe’s single to right field on the 10th pitch he faced, cutting it to 3-1. That was the end of the outing for Rodriguez, who tossed 32 pitches in the inning.
Randy Arozarena then drove in Diaz with a single off reliever Dillon Tate to pull the Rays within one.
Anthony Santander led off the fourth with a solo shot to right-center field to put Baltimore ahead 2-0.
In the sixth, Westburg punched a two-out double and came home on the next at-bat when Colton Cowser delivered a triple for a 3-0 Orioles advantage.
The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the third. Henderson extended his hitting streak to four games with a one-out double to center field, and Rutschman followed with a fly-ball single into right to bring in Henderson.
–Field Level Media
