Orioles starter Chris Tillman retired the first two batters in the first inning tonight. Then he faced Evan Longoria.
That's not a favorable matchup for Tillman.
Longoria drove a 91 mph fastball over the fence in right-center field to give Tampa Bay an early 1-0 lead over the Orioles at Camden Yards.
Longoria is now 10-for-22 with four home runs lifetime against Tillman, who is making a third attempt to win his 15th game this season.
Tillman threw 25 pitches in the first.
Tillman has allowed 25 home runs in 147 innings this season. He's given up six runs in the first inning, 13 in the second and 12 in the third.
Brian Roberts, batting leadoff for only the second time this season, was called out on strikes with the count full in the first inning. Let's just say he didn't agree with plate umpire Andy Fletcher.
Chris Davis drew a two-out walk before Adam Jones struck out to end the first. Rays starter David Price hasn't walked more than one batter since May 4, a span of 11 starts.
Since breaking into the majors in 2009, Matt Wieters' .332 average (79-for-238) against the Rays is the highest among players with at least 40 games. He's batting fifth tonight.
The last time Nick Markakis started a game batting seventh was May 6, 2007 in a 9-6 loss to the Indians. Slotted between Melvin Mora and Kevin Millar, he went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
The Orioles' starting pitcher that night was Brian Burres. Kurt Birkins replaced him in the fourth inning.
Ah, the memories.
The Orioles have scored 65 runs in 12 games (5.4 per game) against the Rays after scoring 56 in 18 games (3.1) in 2012.
Update: Tillman has thrown 51 pitches in two innings and trails 2-0.
No. 9 hitter Kelly Johnson singled with two outs to score Yunel Escobar, who doubled with one out and moved to third on Matt Joyce's single.
Johnson is 9-for-26 with four homers and eight RBIs in seven games at Camden Yards this season.
Update II: Danny Valencia continues to own Price. His RBI double in the second cut the Rays' lead to 2-1 and made him 8-for-11 lifetime against Price.
Go figure.
J.J. Hardy and Markakis singled with one out and Valencia followed with his double into left-center field. The Orioles had runners on second and third, but they couldn't push across the tying run.
Down on the farm, Henry Urrutia hit his first home run tonight at Triple-A Norfolk, connecting off Daisuke Matsuzaka.
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