O's build big early lead, hold off Rays for win and 2-0 start

After two innings, it looked like it could be a laugher. But a nailbiter broke out instead.

Staked to an early six-run lead tonight, Wei-Yin Chen could not pitch deep enough to get the win. But the Orioles did, holding off the Tampa Bay Rays 6-5 to begin 2015 at 2-0.

The Orioles got off to a stunning start, leading 3-0 four batters into the game and 4-0 after the top of the first.

Alejandro De Aza led off with a single and Steve Pearce followed with a single. A Travis Snider single made it a 1-0 game and was his third RBI of the season. That put runners at the corners for Adam Jones. He drove in his first two runs of the season with a double to the left-center gap. Jones moved to third on a Nathan Karns wild pitch and scored on Manny Machado's sac fly for the 4-0 edge.

The lead grew to 6-0 on Pearce's two-run homer in the second on an 0-2 hanging curveball. It was his second homer in two games.

The last two Orioles to start a season with homers in consecutive games led the majors in homers that year - Chris Davis in 2013 and Nelson Cruz last season.

After scoring just four total runs in their first two games in 2014, the O's scored 12 in their first 11 innings of the new season. But then they got just one more hit the rest of this game. Jones bounced into a double play with the bases loaded in the seventh, ending the O's best threat after the second.

The Orioles had one hit in their last 20 at-bats tonight.

And the Rays slowly got back in the game as Chen's pitch count elevated. They scored one in the third, two in the fourth and two in the sixth to make it 6-5. Logan Forsythe hit a two-run homer off Chen in the fourth and Kevin Kiermaier hit one off Kevin Gausman in the sixth.

Despite allowing that homer, Gausman got the win in relief. He threw fastballs tonight that were clocked at 100 and 101 mph. He fanned four in 2 1/3 innings.

Darren O'Day retired all four batters he faced and Zach Britton came on to earn his first save of the season. After throwing 19 pitches yesterday, Britton needed 23 to finish it tonight, striking out the side to end the game.

Davis' suspension ended and he was activated before the game. In his first regular season contest since Sept. 10, he went 0-for-3 and was hit by a pitch.

The Orioles go for a series sweep on Wednesday night at 7:10 p.m. at The Trop when Miguel Gonzalez (10-9, 3.23 ERA in 2014) faces Rays right-hander Jake Odorizzi (11-13, 4.13 ERA)