Tim Beckham homered twice, but the Tampa Bay Rays could not hold a one-run lead in the bottom of the 11th as a walk to Seth Smith with the bases loaded scored Craig Gentry with the winning run, allowing Baltimore to escape with a 5-4 win Wednesday at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
After Tampa Bay took a 4-3 lead on an RBI single by Jesus Sucre, Alex Colome, working his second inning, gave up a leadoff single to Chris Davis, followed by a one-out base hit by Wellington Castillo and a walk to Hyun Soo Kim. Johnathan Schoop's sacrifice fly would plate Davis to tie the game, and after Colome walked Ryan Flaherty, manager Kevin Cash would bring in Danny Farquhar to pitch to the left-hander Smith. The move backfired on Cash, as Farquhar walked Smith on four pitches to end the game.
Earlier, Baltimore took advantage of Alex Cobb's command (or lack thereof) in the second, as five consecutive hitters reached via the hit against him, starting with Kim's base hit with one away. Schoop followed with a single from Flaherty that scored Kim, but Kiermaier threw out Schoop trying to go first to third for the second out. Smith then singled to center, and a pair of throwing errors, first by Kiermaier then by Alex Cobb, both trying to get Schoop at third base, allowed not only Schoop but also Smith to score and make it 3-0.
Cobb gutted through five innings of work, needing 94 pitches to record 15 outs. He allowed eight hits total and two walks while striking out three.
Beckham homered off Bundy in the top of the third to make it 3-1, and added a second solo shot in the fifth to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Tampa Bay eventually tied the game in the eighth, as Mychal Givens started by giving up a double to Derek Norris. Buck Showalter went to left-hander Donnie Hart, while Cash countered by pinch-hitting Rickie Weeks Jr. for Corey Dickerson. Hart hit Weeks with his first pitch, then walked Kevin Kiermaier in a nine-pitch affair to load the bases. Showalter then turned to Darren O'Day, who got Evan Longoria to ground into a fielder's choice, erasing pinch-runner Peter Bourjos at the plate, but Brad Miller's fielder's choice ended up plating Weeks to even the game at 3-3.
Erasmo Ramirez, who was scratched Tuesday from his start, ended up throwing four innings of relief, and Colome worked a scoreless tenth before taking the loss, his first of the year.
Tampa Bay will have Thursday off before beginning a three-game series in Toronto Friday. Blake Snell (0-2, 3.38 ERA) will get the start in the opener, taking on Marcus Stroman. First pitch is scheduled for 7:07, with coverage on WDAE starting at 6:00 with The Inside Pitch, presented by Sykes Lakeland.