O's 9 - TB 1: Let's forget this one, Jake

Jake Odorizzi wasn't on fire right out of the gate, with stuff looking kinda hittable, but by the second inning he was expanding the zone against the Orioles' best. For instance, he walked Delmon Young to start that inning, then struck out two, including Chris Davis swinging at the split/change to finish the frame.

The Rays went down in order through the first two innings, but Yunel Escobar shrugged off the rumors and accusations of laziness, and beat out the throw at first to lead the third, on an iffy throw from J.J. Hardy.

The following pitch, Jose Molina hit a shot up the middle that Hardy tried to flip to the second baseman Jonathan Shoop for a DP ball, but he lofted it higher than than Shoop was expecting, and the ball rolled to center field. Sean Rodriguez hit into the double play, but Escobar scored for an early lead. 1-0 Rays

But as I said, the stuff wasn't behind Odorizzi tonight, and he quickly let the O's take the lead. The fastball wasn't rising, and that turned two otherwise smart pitches over the heart of the plate into absolute meatballs, served hot and fresh. Nick Markakis bagged two, Steve Pearce nabbed one right after. There could have been more damage when Delmon Young worked another great at bat -- still the third -- and singled past a diving Sean Rodriguez (who was letting Longoria rest his legs at DH). I'm not here to knit pick Sean, but that was a routine play for Longo. Just a reminder.  3-1 O's

Odorizzi pitched a squeaky fourth -- reaching 75 pitches, so still alive -- but the Rays would not be thankful he returned. After some singles Matt Joyce misplayed a groundball through the left side for a run, then Delmon Young and J.J. Hardy were all over Odorizzi's stuff, going yard and plating four more runs. 8-1 O's

Kirby Yates then relieved the Rays starter, allowed a longball to Chris Davis, then a single still with none out in the fifth. The Hawaiian struck out Shoop, worked a nine pitch pop-up from Nick Markakis, then worked a ground out... but damage done. 9-1 O's

The Rays tried to get aggressive in response. Brandon Guyer singled to lead the sixth, Joyce walked, and Longoria sent a flyball to the wall -- and I mean feet shy of a dinger -- but Adam Jones nabbed it, leaping on the run, fired to second, and caught Joyce advancing to second. Then the game ended. Nothing else happened. The Rays advanced no one. The Orioles didn't really either. The score stayed the same. Goodnight.