Showalter, Schoop and Gallardo wrap up 4-3 win

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Orioles received another five-inning start tonight from right-hander Yovani Gallardo. They also had another comeback, scoring the tying run in the sixth, and hit another home run, with Jonathan Schoop muscling up in the eighth.

Schoop led off with his 15th home run and the Orioles rallied to beat the Rays 4-3 before an announced crowd of 17,672 at Tropicana Field.

The bullpen didn't allow a run over the last four innings. Chaz Roe handled the sixth, Mychal Givens the seventh, Brad Brach the eighth and closer Zach Britton notched his 28th save to remain perfect this season.

Givens is 7-1 on the season. The last Orioles reliever to register at least seven wins in the first 88 games was Arthur Rhodes (eight) in 1996.

"Considering he just had a baby and he hasn't had much sleep the last two or three days, I thought about not bringing him in there, but those guys need to pitch," manager Buck Showalter said. "Some of them six, seven days off and it's always tough coming out of spring and it's always tough starting after the half. But Mike's been a contributor with very limited pitching experience since we got him last year and he's been a big part of it."

Brach retired the Rays in order, striking out one, and lowered his ERA to 0.89 in 50 1/3 innings. Britton put runners on the corners with one out and struck out Logan Morrison and Steven Souza Jr.

Britton's 101 saves give him sole possession of fourth place on the club's all-time list. Tippy Martinez is third with 105.

Morrison is 0-for-4 with four strikeouts against Britton, but Rays manager Kevin Cash let him bat after the left-hander issued an intentional walk to Evan Longoria with Brad Miller at third base following a double and wild pitch.

An easy decision to put the potential winning run on first base?

"I actually thought about doing it from the get-go," said Showalter. "I wanted to see how his approach was first without getting too deep. It wasn't easy, but (Cash) has some options and I thought it gave us the best chance to win the game."

Schoop has 10 game-winning RBIs to rank second on the team behind Chris Davis (11). Since June 1, Schoop is batting .351 (52-for-148) with 14 doubles, seven homers, 25 RBIs and 31 runs scored.

"It's just fun to watch a young player," Showalter said. "You see the game's starting to slow down for him and he's letting the game come to him. He's always in fire mode. Jon, he enjoys contributing to a win and it's nothing individual. Jon's a good kid and he likes winning, he likes contributing."

Schoop fell behind 0-1 on a Chris Archer fastball and jumped on a slider to break the tie. Archer said he "hung a cookie," resulting in Schoop's second home run off him this season.

Told about his 10 game-winning RBIs, Schoop smiled and replied, "I did not know that."

"Late at-bat, maybe you focus a little bit," said Schoop, who had 24 family members and friends at the game from his native Curacao. "I've been trying to do it since the first at-bat, trying to focus more. Every win is a big win especially second half of the season.

Schoop is one home run shy of tying his career high in 2014. He's the first second baseman in franchise history with three seasons of 15 or more home runs. Brian Roberts was the only second baseman to do it twice.

"I just try to keep a routine and try to swing at more strikes," Schoop said. "Sometimes, it doesn't come, I swing at everything, but I want to improve. I want to be better than I was last year.

"I just want to help the team. Whatever I can do to help the team. Even if I go 0-for-4, if I make a good play to win the game, that's what I want to do."

Schoop batted second tonight, as Showalter continues to move him around the lineup.

"I just want to see my name in the lineup," Schoop said. "I don't care where I'm at, I just want to help the team where I'm at. See my name in the lineup, that's enough for me."

Gallardo has lasted five, 5 1/3, six, four, five and five innings since coming off the disabled list. He threw 29 pitches in the first inning while surrendering only one run and was up to 77 through the third, with the Rays taking a 3-1 lead.

Gallardo retired seven of the last eight batters he faced and left with his pitch count at 108. The Orioles took him off the hook with Pedro Alvarez's RBI double in the fifth and Matt Wieters' RBI grounder in the sixth.

"We're not going to have a rested bullpen, like we did tonight, the last 74 games," Showalter said. "I think he's frustrated. We need to get deeper into games with the starters. We were fortunate tonight. You don't usually walk six or seven guys and win a ballgame. The whole thing about making pitches. But he's a pro.

"Those are no crooked numbers up there. They're straight. As long as you stay in that one range and give us a chance ..."

Gallardo felt fortunate to complete five innings with the early pitch count.

"Of course," he said. "I think throwing close to 60 pitches through the first two innings is never good, especially one of those ABs to Morrison. He fouled off a lot of pitches that prolonged the at bat and fouled off some pretty good pitches. But I think after those first couple innings, those last couple innings it was just more aggressive and pitching to contact instead of walking guys and trying to be too fine like I was doing in the first couple innings."

Gallardo has walked 20 batters in 30 1/3 innings since coming off the DL.

"You just look at those four walks," Gallardo said of tonight's outing. "I think one of them, the one to Longoria, that was a little bit more of an intentional-type walk. But the other three, it was just one of those things where it just can't happen. That's a lot of pitches right there and as we all know I think since I've been back off the DL, it's been one of the things that's hurt me for whatever reason.

"Maybe I'm just trying to make that perfect pitch 0-0, which if you miss, you're trying to do it again (and you're behind) 1-0. And then the next thing you know you're behind 2-0. I'm not going to give in. In a hitter's count, I'm not going to throw a fastball middle-middle. I'm still going to try to make pitches, but it's just a matter of making adjustments and just staying aggressive.

"I think the last couple innings, I was able to do that, just kind of kept it simple and whatever Wheaty (Matt Wieters) put down and where put hit glove, just hit the target. I was able to get some quick outs and some weak contact."

Alvarez also homered tonight, giving the Orioles six players in double digits. Wieters has nine home runs.

Alvarez's homer measured 439 feet, his longest of the season. He has 17 RBIs in his last 21 games since the beginning of June, compared to 11 RBIs in 35 games through May.

"I thought Pete's home run brought a lot of energy back into the game from our perspective, because it's a place you've really got to create your own energy," Showalter said. "You've got to be a self-starter in some of these places you go into and our guys got it going."

The Orioles have won five of their last six games and are 52-36 overall and 19-22 on the road. They maintain a two-game lead in the American League East.