Slow start, strong finish: O's rally to beat Rays on Schoop's homer

The Orioles got another shaky performance from a starting pitcher. They fell behind 3-1 after three innings. Chris Archer looked sharp early on. Zach Britton saw the tie run reach third with one out in the ninth.

But the Orioles won.

Maybe it was a case of a first-place team finding a way to win and a last-place team finding a way to lose.

Second baseman Jonathan Schoop hit a solo homer off Archer in the eighth to break a 3-3 tie as the Orioles beat Tampa Bay 4-3 at Tropicana Field.

The O's improved to 52-36 and won for the fifth time in six games. Tampa Bay (34-55) has lost seven in a row and 11 of 12 games. Since June 16, the Rays are 3-23.

Mychal Givens got the win relief and Britton pitched the ninth for his 28th save in 28 chances. They each pitched a scoreless inning, as did Chaz Roe and Brad Brach. The Orioles bullpen recorded four scoreless tonight.

But in the Rays ninth, a one-out double, a wild pitch and an intentional walk left runners on first and third with one down. Then Britton, fresh off a save in the All-Star Game, struck out Logan Morrison and Steven Souza Jr. to end it. There was drama, but there was no blown lead or blown save tonight.

Much earlier, if you could compare Yovani Gallardo's outing tonight to an airplane flight, there was plenty of turbulence. And you needed your seatbelt fastened tightly throughout.

When Gallardo exited after five innings, he and the Orioles trailed 3-2. When the O's scored in the top of the sixth for the 3-3 tie, he was off the hook for a loss. But his outing was yet another short one by an O's starter, as he gave up eight hits and three runs over five innings. Gallardo had a bend-but-don't-break outing tonight, but he did a lot of bending in the first three innings.

Tampa Bay scored once in each of the first three innings. In those frames, the Rays went 7-for-15 against Gallardo, who also issued four walks in those innings. But two things worked in Gallardo's favor. Of the seven hits he allowed, all seven were singles, and the Rays went 2-for-8 against him in those frames with runners in scoring position. Tampa Bay could not throw the knockout punch.

Still, Gallardo threw 29 pitches in the first inning, 29 more in the second and 19 in the third for 77 to get nine outs. He threw 108 - a season high - to get 15 outs.

Orioles starting pitchers have now pitched five or fewer innings seven times the last nine games and 18 times in the last 29 games. Over the past 23 games, O's starters have just seven quality starts with an ERA of 6.31.

But the Orioles got two homers tonight and Pedro Alvarez drove in two runs with a homer and double. He hit his 10th in the third, a blast estimated at 439 feet. Schoop's homer in the eighth was estimated at 407 feet.

The Orioles got the win in the end to improve to 8-2 this year against the Rays, with six wins in a row, and to 23-13 versus American League East teams.