De Aza and Snider filling in just fine (O's win 6-2)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Orioles lineup on opening day is missing Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis, which doesn't qualify as breaking news. Stay with me here.

Alejandro De Aza is playing left field instead of Cruz. He's leading off instead of Markakis. And he's having one heck of a day.

So is Travis Snider, who's playing right field instead of Markakis.

De Aza reached on an error and scored in the first inning, and hit a two-run homer in the fifth off Rays starter Chris Archer to give the Orioles a 3-0 lead.

De Aza crushed the 10th pitch of the at-bat, a changeup, sending it over the fence in right-center field.

Snider is 2-for-2, collecting the Orioles' first hit and RBI of the season. He was thrown out in the fourth trying to stretch his bloop single to left field into a double.

Snider also threw out James Loney at the plate to end the fifth, the first outfield assist of 2015.

Steve Pearce led off the top of the sixth with a home run to increase the lead to 4-0. The Lakeland, Fla., native is 14-for-43 (.326) with three doubles, four homers and seven RBIs at Tropicana Field.

Chris Tillman has shut out the Rays on two hits in five innings, with three walks and four strikeouts. Steven Souza Jr. reached on an infield hit in the fourth and was tagged out 2-4-3-6 on a rundown. Logan Forsythe singled with two outs in the fifth, but Snider charged the ball and threw a strike to catcher Caleb Joseph, who applied the tag.

The play was reviewed and the call stood following a delay of 1 minute, 28 seconds.

Tillman has thrown 75 pitches in five innings, 39 for strikes.

Joseph is off to a good start, as well, throwing out John Jaso trying to advance to second base on a pitch in the dirt, doubling in the fifth and slapping the tag on Loney without illegally blocking the plate.

Archer is done after 5 2/3 innings. Right-hander Steve Geltz has replaced him.

Update: Tillman lost his shutout on Evan Longoria's solo home run with one out in the seventh.

Tillman allowed one run and four hits in 6 2/3 innings, with three walks and four strikeouts. He threw 95 pitches, 52 strikes.

Longoria struck out in his first two at-bats. He's 14-for-36 (.389) with six home runs and eight RBIs lifetime against Tillman.

Update II: Snider added an RBI double in the eighth that scored Pearce, who walked with two outs. Snider is 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

The ball beat Pearce to the plate by a mile, but Rays catcher Rene Rivera was lazy with the tag, falling to get low and allowing Pearce to slide underneath it. The Orioles challenged the call and it was reversed after a delay of 2 minutes, 34 seconds.

That's also how long Rivera had the ball before Pearce got to the plate.

Update III: Asdrubal Cabrera doubled off Tommy Hunter with two outs in the eighth to score Kevin Kiermaier, who doubled off Brad Brach, and cut the Orioles' lead to 5-2.

Cabrera is 6-for-12 with three doubles and four RBIs lifetime against Hunter, who retired Longoria on a weak popup to end the inning.

Ryan Flaherty homered off Kirby Yates leading off the top of the ninth to expand the lead to 6-2. Flaherty started out 0-for-17 the past two seasons.

Update IV: Game over. The Orioles defeat the Rays 6-2 in the season opener at Tropicana Field.

Zach Britton got a strikeout, bouncer to the mound, a strikeout and bouncer to third base in the ninth. Rivera reached with two outs on a wild pitch after swinging through a two-strike pitch.

The Orioles hit three home runs and were crisp in the field. Manager Buck Showalter, who's 5-0 on opening day with the Orioles, has to be pleased.