Eight-run seventh inning propels Orioles to 15-5 win (with quotes)

Jonathan Schoop is trying to carry the torch, as instructed by friend and former teammate Manny Machado.

Schoop also is attempting to carry a team.

A fifth home run in five games kept Schoop on a serious July roll and he delivered two RBI singles in the seventh inning while the Orioles broke open a close game and claimed a 15-5 victory over the Rays before an announced crowd of 15,649 at Camden Yards.

Andrew Cashner was credited with his first win since May 21 and his first at home this season, and the Orioles improved to 30-74. The 15 runs were the most they've scored since a 17-1 win over the Rays on May 13. An eight-run seventh was their biggest inning of the year.

They've scored fewer than eight runs in 94 games this season.

Rays manager Kevin Cash was reduced to using outfielder Carlos Gomez and catcher Jesús Sucre as pitchers in the bottom of the eighth inning. It turned out as you'd imagine.

Gomez walked four batters, committed two balks and threw only four of 21 pitches for strikes. He was charged with three runs, two after he exited. The only batter he retired was pinch-hitter Renato Núñez.

Austin Wynns came off the bench and delivered an RBI bloop single off Sucre and another run scored on Tim Beckham's bouncer to third.

Schoop popped up to end the inning. Sucre was a hero.

Jhan Mariñez gave up two runs in the ninth, issuing a bases-loaded walk, because this game needed another layer of ugly.

Schoop's latest home run - he has six in seven games to coincide with Machado's trade to the Dodgers - came in the fifth inning on an 0-2 pitch from Chris Archer and traveled an estimated 446 feet, per Statcast. It also gave the Orioles a 4-1 lead.

Chris Davis was the last Orioles player to homer in five consecutive games on June 7-12, 2016. Schoop is the eighth second baseman in major league history to accomplish the feat, according to STATS, with the Twins' Brian Dozier the most recent in September 2016.

Schoop extended his hitting streak to 10 games and has hit safely in 20 of his last 21 with an at-bat. He had run-scoring singles in the seventh off relievers Austin Pruitt and Andrew Kittredge while registering his fifth straight multi-hit game. He's 34-for-90 (.377) this month.

Adam Jones followed Schoop's first single with a three-run shot, his first homer since June 2 and third hit of the night, and the Orioles were cruising. Jones' power dry spell spanned 41 games.

The Orioles loaded the bases later in the inning and Joey Rickard cleared them with a double down the left field line. Beckham walked and Schoop singled again.

Thirteen batters came to the plate, starting with catcher Caleb Joseph, who reached on shortstop Willy Adames' throwing error.

Meanwhile, the drought is over for Cashner and it has nothing to do with the latest band of showers.

Cashner allowed two runs and five hits in six innings for his 10th quality start out of 20 this season. Receiving four runs while in the game must have seemed like quite a bounty. The Orioles were averaging 2.88 before tonight, fourth-lowest in the majors.

Cashner's 34 total runs of support were tied for second-fewest behind teammate Alex Cobb (33).

Mychal Givens entered the game in the seventh with Cashner at 90 pitches and the Rays scored an unearned run on Beckham's throwing error while trying to turn a double play. Givens allowed back-to-back singles to start the inning and Danny Valencia made a diving catch in foul territory on Adames' bunt.

Beckham has committed five errors in his last seven games.

The Rays loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth, but Cashner held them to one run on Daniel Robertson's sacrifice fly. Joseph took Rickard's off-line throw and fired to second base to nab Ji-Man Choi.

The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 19 minutes due to rain and hail, but there were no interruptions after first pitch. A victory was recorded prior to the final out.

Cashner surrendered a run four batters into the game on Kevin Kiermaier's leadoff single and a walk and two groundouts, the second by Choi giving the Rays an early lead. But Beckham led off the bottom of the first with a double and scored with one out on Jones' single.

The Orioles have been outscored 81-48 in the first inning this season.

Cashner threw 25 pitches in the first inning but only 10 in the second and third. He threw 20 in the fourth to raise his total to 65, but stranded a runner after a two-out walk by striking out Mallex Smith.

The veteran right-hander also did himself a favor in the second by hitting Smith and picking him off.

The Orioles scored twice off Archer in the fifth on Valencia's RBI single and Gomez's throwing error that also allowed Davis to come home - the call upheld upon review.

Gomez would have much bigger issues with his arm later in the game.

Manager Buck Showalter on Machado's torch instructions to Schoop: "Why didn't he tell him in April? No. Anytime you're doing something historic it gets your attention. You think about, we had a great Orioles second baseman (Rich Dauer) here tonight and you kind of go back through the list of them, it's pretty special. Not just the Orioles, but I guess in baseball. Jon's capable of that type of production.

"We had a lot of good nights. Adam had some big hits, big baserunning plays. Chris was busting it to second and got past the bag, which allowed him to score. A lot of people forget that effort. Through thick and thin, Chris has not quit playing hard. That's the thing I'm really proud of. You see him go down the line.

"Cash was good. Actually not carrying really good stuff. He was going to go to 90 pitches tonight and hit it right on the head. Got a big double play. Caleb made a great play, being pro-active instead of reactive."

Showalter on Jones' home run: "After we kind of let them get back in it there at 4-3. Those are things that we've done in the past and need to do more of to finish strong this year. Something that we haven't ... kind of fired back and answered back."

Showalter on Cashner's first career win at Camden Yards: "He'll have a lot more, he'll have a lot more. He's a good pitcher. He has deserved a lot more wins here than he's gotten. Like I said before about him and Alex (Cobb), they're going to be good contributors here. Already have in some ways. They're a step up from what we've been doing in the past."

Showalter on Rays using two position players to pitch: "First of all, everybody has different situations. Until you walk in another man's shoes ... He knows, there's a lot of things going on. That's his business. I know one thing, as a hitter you don't like it because you have almost nothing to gain. But it counts and they're going to try to hit him. I was impressed that they walked. They could have called a couple more balks if they wanted to.

"I don't know. What do you make of it? Sometimes, games like that ... We've been fortunate we didn't have to do that, but we've close a few times."

Schoop on whether trade talks are a distraction: "No, I just come in here and try to help my team and try to block all these things out. I can't do anything about it. Even if I know, what can I do? I can do nothing, so the only thing I can do is go out there and play the game the way I know how to play."