Ynoa goes career-high eight innings in 3-1 win (with quotes)

The Orioles broke their streak tonight of consecutive innings without a run at 26. Busted it, jumped on it, grinded it in their heels.

Then they started a new one and relied on Gabriel Ynoa to make an early lead stand up.

Manny Machado hit a two-run homer to put the Orioles ahead just two batters into the bottom of the first inning and Ynoa pitched a career-high eight innings in a 3-1 victory over the Rays before an announced crowd of 14,967 at Camden Yards.

Trey Mancini contributed an RBI single off Matt Andriese in the first after Adam Jones doubled, and the Rays bullpen already was busy. It wasn't needed until the seventh.

The Orioles won for only the third time in 15 games while improving to 74-80. A loss would have put them a season-worst eight games below .500.

The schedule is down to the final eight games and the Orioles must go 7-1 to avoid their first losing season since 2011.

Ynoa held the Rays to one run and five hits in eight innings, with two walks, three strikeouts and a hit batter. He lasted 4 2/3 and 4 1/3 innings in his first two starts, but manager Buck Showalter stretched out the leash tonight.

Making his sixth career start, Ynoa gave up a run in the third inning on Brad Miller's leadoff double and Daniel Robertson's single. Right fielder Austin Hays overran the ball for the Orioles' 90th error of the season, 10 more than they committed in 2016.

The Rays didn't get another hit off Ynoa until Robertson's infield single with one out in the eighth. Ynoa retired 12 of 13 before Robertson reached.

Mixing in his slider with a 95 mph sinking fastball, Ynoa got a double play after hitting Logan Morrison to lead off the fourth, disposed of Mallex Smith after walking Robertson with two outs in the fifth and retired the side in order in the sixth and seventh on only nine pitches.

Brad Brach began to warm in the top of the eighth with Ynoa at 84 pitches. Ynoa needed 10 to make it through the inning.

Filling in for closer Zach Britton, Brach notched his team-leading 18th save after Steven Souza Jr. walked with two outs and shortstop J.J. Hardy was charged with an error.

The first three Rays had a double, walk and single in the first inning, but Ynoa got out of it without a run scoring. Smith was caught trying to steal third base and Morrison grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.

Ynoa's previous career high of six innings came in his Orioles debut on May 5 against the White Sox after starter Wade Miley was hit by two line drives in the first and had to leave the game.

The rotation hasn't been defined beyond Saturday, but there's no question that Ynoa earned another start before the Orioles scatter for the winter.

Notes: Hays had two more hits tonight, including a leadoff single in the first that preceded Machado's home run.

Mancini extended his career-high hitting streak to 11 games.

Showalter on difference in Ynoa tonight: "Command was a lot better. You're facing five left-handed hitters. He only threw, I think, two or three changeups. That's unusual. That tells you what type of command of two pitches he had. What a job Casi (Welington Castillo) did with him.

"Good presentation and good rhythm to his outing. He got through the first inning, one by being quick enough to the plate that Casi could throw the guy out at third. That kind of changed a lot of things. He got a big double play ball. Jonathan (Schoop) was in the right place a lot with balls that are normally base hits."

On Machado's team-leading 33rd home run: "Manny's still not feeling well, you know? I talked to him earlier and said, 'I'm going to make two lineups out. Let me know.' He thought he might get to feeling a little better as the day wore on. And I'm not so sure he did a whole lot. So it's another example.

"We've got guys who post up. I hope everybody appreciates it. You've got to go somewhere else and see how hard that is to do. I fully appreciate it. I've seen it. So that was a day he very easily could have ... (Tim) Beckham wanted to play today, too. Blood was still flowing, it's kind of hard to do."

On possibility of being fooled by September numbers: "So what do want him to do, pitch poorly? And say, 'OK, that's an aberration, so he's going to be real good next time.' This is the thing that makes you go, 'OK, can he continue to do that?' As opposed to what? Tease us.

"That's a major league team. He's shown it a couple times. Usually, it happens sometimes with hitters, they're a lot better in the big leagues than the minor leagues. Sometimes, the game plays better when guys are more aggressive or pitches around the plate more. That's the equation you have to figure out.

"He did his part and he'll get the ball again. See if it continues against another team."

On working fast and letting defense do its job: "That's a team that's like 26th or 27th in time of game. They're deliberate with their at-bats. Sometimes they can really get you out of rhythm. But it actually fit into the rhythm Gabe had.

"He made a great defensive play. One of them, we teach to attack the ball. Great decision by Chris to go to the bag. It was a good, crisp defensive game for us."

On Mancini: "Trey has never given in. When it looks like, 'OK, Trey is getting ready to maybe go to his experience level,' it just doesn't. I tell guys a lot about batting average and numbers. When you punch out 0-for-3 and 1-for-4 with a single to right and two strikes, opposing teams' fans on their feet on the road, well he's done that a lot. That's how you grind. He doesn't waste at-bats. And he's been the picture of consistency for us."

On Hays' error: "Someone asked me if the ball snaked. I thought he had a pretty good approach to it. When you have as good of an arm as he does, you don't have to rush those things. They're not going to send him there. Those are things you learn. Faster is not always better. That comes from knowing the runners a little bit more, which guys run.

"I was talking to Austin today, there's a lot of things he's going to have to experience himself. I have a problem with mistakes, but only if you repeat them. Little things that you do, you've got to file them away and develop that trust with your teammates and your coaches that you're going to know how to approach those things. This guy was at Jacksonville (University) a year and a half ago."