ST. PETERSBURG (620 WDAE) -- Shane Peterson, just recalled from the minors due to an injury to Colby Rasmus, homered and drove in a career-best four, and Evan Longoria joined him with four RBI of his own as the Tampa Bay Rays beat up the Baltimore Orioles 15-5 Friday night at Tropicana Field.
Peterson was part of Tampa Bay's four-run first inning, driving in Logan Morrison with a groundout to cap the inning following a two-run single by Evan Longoria and an RBI triple from Morrison.
After Baltimore cut the lead in half in the top of the second, Longoria pushed it back to 5-2 in the bottom of the inning with a sacrifice fly, scoring Derek Norris
The Rays chased Orioles starter Ubaldo Jimenez in the third thanks to Peterson second home run of the year, a two-run blast that made it 7-2, and a two-run homer by Norris that ended the right-hander's night.
Archer allowed two more runs in the top of the fourth, but Tampa Bay blew the game wide open in the bottom of the fifth, scoring five times while tallying just one hit in the inning (an infield hit by Norris), with Longoria forcing in a run on a bases-loaded walk, Morrison driving in a run on a fielding error by Trey Mancini, Steven Souza Jr. bringing in a pair on a throwing error from Ruben Tejada and Peterson adding another sacrifice fly.
Baltimore u the lead back to single digits in the fifth with an RBI double by Mancini off Archer, but Morrison pushed it back to ten in the seventh with a solo home run, his 22nd of the year, capping the scoring at 15-5.
The win puts Tampa Bay at a season-best four games over .500 and keeps them in possession of what would be the second wild card spot in the standings. Baltimore has now dropped three straight, and has allowed five runs or more in a MLB record-tying 20 consecutive games, equaling the mark set by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1924.
The Rays can extend their winning streak to four straight and ensure another series win with a victory Sunday, as Jacob Faria (3-0, 1.72 ERA) gets the start against Dylan Bundy (7-6, 3.72 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 4:10, with coverage on WDAE starting at 3:00 with The Inside Pitch presented by Sykes Lakeland.