– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles tried to squeeze one last out from their ace in the seventh inning on Thursday night. He ended up getting that final out, but not before Luke Raley made Baltimore pay a steep price.
Raley’s two-out solo home run off of Kyle Bradish with two outs in the seventh inning was the difference as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Orioles 4-3 in the first of a massive four-game series between the top two teams in the American League and in the AL East. Four Tampa Bay relievers combined to end the game throwing four scoreless innings while striking out seven, with closer Pete Fairbanks striking out the side to seal the victory and move the Rays within one game of the Orioles for first place in the division.
The one-game gap between the Orioles and the Rays represents the closest these two teams have been separated in the division since July 22, when the Orioles took three games in a four-game set in Tropicana Field to leave the Sunshine State with a two-game lead. Tampa Bay had started the season 13-0 and was in first place in the division for every day this season until that Orioles series two months ago.
With what’s at stake in this series, mainly the chance to be in the driver’s seat of winning the division and bypassing the Wild Card round as the No. 1 seed in the American League, what better time for the Rays to return the favor — and return to the top of the standings — than right now.
“I don’t think we look at this as pressure right now,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We’ve got to play good baseball. I think we more or less look at it like it’s a good opportunity for us.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Thursday evening’s contest, with all photos taken by DC-area photographer Clifford Ray Williams. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 30 pictures in total.
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