Zach Eflin scattered two hits over seven scoreless innings and Isaac Paredes and Jose Siri each belted a solo homer to lift the Tampa Bay Rays to a 3-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Harold Ramirez had an RBI single and joined Paredes with two hits as the Rays snapped a five-game losing skid. Tampa Bay evened its four-game series with Baltimore at one win apiece.
Eflin (11-5) struck out eight batters against one walk to rebound from a dismal performance in his previous outing. He allowed a season-high five runs on seven hits over a season-low three innings in an 8-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.
Eflin also avenged a tough loss to the Orioles in his last encounter with them on May 9. He allowed four runs on seven hits in six innings of a 4-2 setback in that game.
Colin Poche struck out the side in the eighth inning and Pete Fairbanks fanned three batters in the ninth to secure his 11th save of the season.
Ryan Mountcastle had a double in the second inning and Ryan O’Hearn added a single in the fourth for the Orioles, who lost for just the third time in their last 13 games.
Brandon Lowe ripped a one-out double to right field off Kyle Bradish (6-5) in the second inning before he came around to score when Ramirez slapped a ball back up the box.
Paredes doubled the advantage in the sixth inning by depositing a 3-1 sinker from Bradish over the wall in left-center field. Paredes’ homer was his 18th of the season and fifth in his last 12 games, all this month.
Shintaro Fujinami relieved Bradish and saw Siri send his first-pitch fastball over the wall in left field. Siri’s homer was his team-leading 20th of the season and fourth in his last six games.
Bradish sustained his second loss in his last six decisions despite permitting only two runs on six hits in six innings. He struck out five with one walk.
–Field Level Media
