Tampa Bay uses early big inning to beat the Birds

Sometimes when you get down by a touchdown early, there is plenty of time to get back in the game. But the Orioles couldn't do it tonight in a 7-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Lefty Ty Blach, making his third start for Baltimore, gave up six hits and sevens runs in the second inning and the Orioles couldn't dig out of the big early hole.

The Orioles (42-87) are 2-3 on this homestand and have lost 10 of 12 and 15 of their last 18 games. After winning a series against Kansas City, the best they can do with this one is a split after losing the last two nights.

The Rays sent 11 batters to the plate in the second inning and Blach needed 47 pitches to get three outs. Kevin Kiermaier had an RBI double, Mike Zunino had a two-run single and Austin Meadows hit a grand slam to turn a 3-0 lead into a 7-0 advantage.

Meadows tagged a 2-0 fastball off Blach for his 23rd homer and first career grand slam. Over his past five games he has three doubles and three homers.

Tampa Bay (76-54) won for the 10th time in 14 games and improved to 22 games over .500 for the first time since they were 96-66 in 2010.

They also continued their winning ways over the Orioles. They are 10-4 against Baltimore this year and have won the last four in a row and seven of nine games between the teams. They are 14-4 against the O's since Aug. 9, 2018.

Blach, now 0-2 with a 12.81 ERA, went four innings, allowing nine hits and seven runs. In three starts for the Orioles since they claimed him off waivers from the Giants, he has thrown 13 1/3 innings, allowing 21 hits and 19 runs (18 earned) for a 12.15 ERA.

This comes after a brief stretch of better starting pitching for the Orioles, whose rotation had an ERA of 2.45 the last four games.

But tonight Trevor Richards, who entered at 3-12 with a 4.53 ERA, blanked them over six innings on just two hits - doubles by Anthony Santander and DJ Stewart. He lowered his ERA to 4.30.

The Baltimore bullpen threw shutout ball as Dillon Tate went three innings and gave up two hits on 41 pitches and Gabriel Ynoa blanked Tampa Bay in the eighth and ninth.

The Orioles' lone run came in the last of the eighth on Jonathan Villar's 18th homer. His 420-foot shot to center came off a 90 mph fastball from Aaron Slegers. Villar now needs two homers to become the sixth Oriole with a season of at least 20 homers and 20 steals. The others to do it: Paul Blair, Don Baylor, Reggie Jackson, Brady Anderson (three times) and Manny Machado.