Dillon Tate on trade to O's, Cashner gets rare win and more

Cuban outfielder Yusniel Díaz was the key player among the five the Orioles acquired from the Dodgers for Manny Machado. Pitcher Dillion Tate is the headliner in the three acquired this week from the New York Yankees for pitcher Zach Britton.

Tate was traded to the Orioles along with pitchers Cody Carroll and Josh Rogers who are both now with Triple-A Norfolk. Rogers is expected to make his Tides debut on the mound tonight. Carroll got the win and threw a scoreless inning Thursday for Norfolk, touching 99 mph on the stadium gun.

The 24-year-old Tate is with Double-A Bowie and will pitch for the first time with the Baysox in Game 1 of a doubleheader tomorrow at Harrisburg. Before the trade, Tate was an Eastern League All-Star for New York's Trenton affiliate, going 5-2 with a 3.38 ERA that ranked eighth in the league at the time of the deal.

During a visit to Camden Yards with some of his new Bowie teammates yesterday, Tate was asked about being the so-called centerpiece of the trade.

"I do my best to (embrace it)," Tate said. "But I do my best to be aware of the other guys I'm around and give them credit. I realize they are talented as well and I'm being pushed by those guys that I'm around every day. I don't really look at me being a centerpiece but just a group really that I came here with."

Tate's strong season so far included a win over Bowie for Trenton on May 19 when he gave up one run over six innings. He has a 1.11 WHIP and .218 batting average against with 25 walks and 75 strikeouts over 82 2/3.

"Just really competing," he cited as the key to his season so far. "I don't think I've gotten incredibly better at a ton of things with my pitches. More so just me competing a little bit harder than I did the year before and I feel that's made a big difference."

"I think that my changeup is probably my best secondary offering. And my slider still needs to catch up to that changeup as far as consistency goes, and me being able to throw that over the plate for a strike with quality shape."

This is Tate's second trade. He was also a key player on Aug. 1, 2016 when the Yankees sent Carlos Beltran to Texas for three players. The Rangers took Tate with the No. 4 overall pick in the draft in 2015 and signed him to a $4.2 million bonus. He's made some gains over the last year or two on the Yankees' watch.

"I would just say (they) just helped me be more consistent. Repeating my delivery and eliminating some unnecessary movement. And understanding when I'm out of whack in my delivery. Those little things go a really long way. And we always hear that the difference between the big leaguers and minor leaguers is not so much talent but the ability to be consistent."

Tate said he's excited to be with his new organization and sees a big opportunity in front of him.

"Absolutely. It's always great to be wanted. Thankful for that and thankful for this new opportunity with the Orioles. I'm happy to be here."

Cashing in a win: Lost among all the runs the Orioles scored in their 15-5 win over Tampa Bay Friday was that right-hander Andrew Cashner picked up his first win in over two months. He was 0-4 in nine starts since picking up his last win May 21 in Chicago. Cashner had allowed three runs or less seven times in those nine games, so he was pitching well enough to get wins. He just wasn't getting any. Not only was that his first win in a long time, but just his third this year. And his first-ever in 13 career starts at Oriole Park.

Cashner gave up two runs in six innings against the Rays on a night his results looked better than he said he felt.

"I didn't really have much going tonight," Cashner said. "It was a struggle and I was kind of fighting my delivery quite a bit. Didn't really do a lot of things great. But was able to skate around the lineup and fight my way through."

Cashner recorded his 10th quality start. but just his second win in those games.

"Like I've said all season, it's not in my control. My control is to go out there and pitch my game. I feel like if I execute. the wins will come," he said as he improved to 3-9 with an ERA of 4.33. Cashner has an ERA of 3.46 his past nine starts.

Friday's win produced the O's second highest run total of the year and was their second largest win margin. Friday's game trailed only their 17-1 win, which was also against Tampa on May 13 for more runs and win margin.

The Orioles have gone 12-for-26 with runners in scoring position the last three games, scoring 25 runs. In seven games since the All-Star break, they are batting .279 as a team with 12 homers, 40 runs and a batting average of .327 (17-for-52) with runners in scoring position.

For the first time all year, the Orioles have five straight games with at least nine hits.

Adam Jones ended a 41-game run without a homer and Jonathan Schoop's homer in the fifth went 446 feet and is the longest by an Oriole this year. Schoop tied a major league record for second baseman by homering for the fifth game in a row. This is the eighth time that has happened in MLB history. Another homer tonight would put Schoop in the record book all by himself.