Orioles slug four homers in wild split-squad win over Rays

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - In a game where Dylan Bundy gave up six runs and the Orioles made six errors and lost an eight-run lead, they still won today. A Baltimore split squad beat the Tampa Bay Rays 17-15 at Charlotte Sports Park in the wildest game of spring training to date.

It was every bit as crazy as the score might suggest.

The game did feature two long home runs by O's prospects Ryan Mountcastle and Austin Hays, and four homers in all for the Orioles. Rio Ruiz had a three-run shot and Martin Cervenka cranked a solo blast.

Bundy gave up six hits and six runs in 1 2/3 innings. The Rays scored three off him in the first to lead 3-0. The Orioles scored eight runs - seven of which were unearned - in the top of the second. They opened a lead of 14-6 after they batted in the fifth. But Tampa Bay tied it with three in the fifth off Tanner Scott, and another five in the eighth, charged to Dillon Tate. Four of those runs were unearned.

Mountcastle went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and is now batting .296 after a slow spring start. His three-run blast in the fourth made it a 12-6 lead and hit halfway up on the batter's-eye screen in center field where the wall is 414 feet from the plate. An inning later Hays blasted a two-run shot to a similar spot in center. Hays went 2-for-4 and added a two-run double for a four-RBI day and is hitting .320. Mountcastle, Hays and Ruiz combined for 11 RBIs. The spring high for runs in a game was nine before today. Eight different Orioles drove in runs.

The Orioles, who play another split-squad contest against the Yankees tonight, are now 9-5-2 in Grapefruit League play. They have won six of their last eight and are 2-2 versus the Rays.

On the pitching side, Bundy has now allowed 10 runs and 15 hits in 6 2/3 innings for a spring ERA of 13.50. Scott's ERA is 15.75 and Tate's is 7.71.

But the Orioles did get a win this afternoon by this football score in a game where manager Brandon Hyde was scheduled to watch some of the action and then leave before the game ended to drive back to Sarasota for the night game, in which David Hess is the scheduled starter versus the Yankees. Hyde did take in several innings and got to see a lot of the early offense.

The Orioles used nine pitchers, including three from minor league camp. Luis Ysla followed Bundy, and later lefty Tyler Erwin pitched and got the win. Bo Schultz, a non-roster invite to camp, got the last three outs and stranded the tying runs in the last of the ninth to record a save.

The Rays made three errors of their own in a game where we also saw a catcher's interference call against Cervenka. The teams combined for 32 runs, 28 hits, seven homers, nine errors and used a combined 17 pitchers. It took three hours and 46 minutes to complete the win.