Tampa Bay scores two in last of ninth for walk-off win over Orioles

So much for an important one-run win.

The Tampa Bay Rays scored twice in the last of the ninth off Orioles closer Zach Britton to post a 7-6 walk-off victory over the Orioles this afternoon.

Britton, who was 34-for-37 in save chances when he took the mound, gave up a homer to pinch-hitter Brandon Guyer on the inning's first pitch and that tied it 6-6. Britton had allowed just two homers in 61 innings on the year. One out later, Evan Longoria's triple to right put the winning run 90 feet away. An intentional walk and one not intentional loaded the bases, but Britton then fanned Joey Butler.

One out away from forcing extra innings, Kevin Kiermaier hit a slow chopper to second. Jonathan Schoop's throw to first was just late and Tampa Bay won the game on that infield single.

So the Orioles lost for just the fourth time in 12 games to fall to 73-76 with 13 games left.

The Orioles scored twice in the eighth with two outs to break a 4-4 tie. With Steve Pearce on first after a walk, Paul Janish hit a hot smash to third that went by Longoria for a two-base error. Pearce beat the throw home for the 5-4 lead. Then Gerardo Parra's bloop single to center scored Janish, for the 6-4 edge. Both runs were unearned.

Janish was in the middle of a few rallies today, going 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. He started at short to give J.J. Hardy a day off.

O's right-hander Kevin Gausman began his start today with an ERA of 7.07 in the first inning and allowed a run in that frame as Tampa Bay went ahead. John Jaso led off with a double, advanced to third on a grounder and scored on Gausman's wild pitch.

The Orioles hit for the cycle in the third inning and moved ahead 3-1. Janish doubled and scored on Manny Machado's single for the 1-1 tie. Chris Davis hit a two-run homer to left-center for a 3-1 lead. Davis hit No. 43 on a 1-0 pitch. Steve Clevenger tripled later in that inning.

Over his past 18 games Davis is batting .377 (23-for-61) with eight homers and 17 RBIs. In 61 games in the second half he has 24 homers and 57 RBIs.

Davis' homer in the third gave the Orioles 200 or more for four straight seasons and they are the only major league team to do that the past four years.

Orioles homers by year:
2012 - 214
2013 - 212
2014 - 211
2015 - 200

The record for consecutive 200-homer seasons is eight in a row by the Yankees from 2000-07. The White Sox had seven straight from 2000-06 and Texas had five in a row from 2001-05. The Orioles and three other teams tie for the fourth best all-time streak with 200 or more four seasons in a row.

But after that Davis homer, the 3-1 lead didn't hold. With two outs and none on in the Tampa fifth, Grady Sizemore walked and Evan Longoria singled. Then Logan Forsythe hit a three-run homer for a 4-3 lead. He hit No. 17 on Gausman's 1-1 pitch. The O's tied it up 4-4 in the sixth on a Janish RBI single that scored Clevenger.

After the Orioles took the 6-4 lead, Tampa Bay cut it to 6-5 in the eighth off Mychal Givens. But Givens also struck out J.P. Arencibia and Tim Beckham with runners on second and third and out to preserve the lead. Gausman went six innings, allowing eight hits and four runs with one walk and six strikeouts. He threw 101 pitches in a no-decision. But the Orioles bullpen could not hold the late lead, allowing three runs the last two innings.

The Orioles play in Washington, D.C., on Monday night to start a three-game series with Ubaldo Jimenez (11-9, 4.31 ERA) facing left-hander Gio Gonzalez (11-7, 3.83 ERA).