Rays beat Orioles 10-5 for 10th straight home win

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The surging Tampa Bay offense helped Ryan Yarbrough tie a team pitching record.

Yarbrough struggled but got his 14th win, most among major league rookies, and the Rays won their 10th straight home game by beating the Baltimore Orioles 10-5 on Saturday night.

The 14 wins equal Rolando Arrojo's franchise rookie mark set in 1998.

"It's a pretty cool accomplishment," Yarbrough said.

After reliever Diego Castillo pitched a scoreless first, Yarbrough (14-5) entered and allowed three runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings. Twelve of the left-hander's wins have come in "bullpen games" for Tampa Bay.

The Rays will look to tie the club record for consecutive victories at home, set during the 2008 AL pennant-winning season, in Sunday's series finale.

Tampa Bay is eight games behind Oakland for the second AL wild card with 21 games left.

"We all think that we're still in this race," Yarbrough said.

Baltimore's David Hess (3-10) made his scheduled start one day after getting hit in the left eye while playing catch with a football. He allowed six runs -- two earned -- and seven hits over five-plus innings. The right-hander gave up four unearned runs in the first, including one that Mallex Smith scored from third base when the ball slipped out of Hess' hand and rolled toward the first-base line for a wild pitch.

Jonathan Villar drove in three runs and Renato Nunez hit a two-run homer for the Orioles (41-101). The franchise is 60 games under .500 for the first time since the St. Louis Browns ended the 1939 season 43-111.

After drawing 11 walks and getting 10 hits in a 14-2 rout of the Orioles on Friday night, the Rays were helped by Baltimore miscues in picking up their 15th win in the last 18 games and moving a season-high 13 games over .500 (77-64).

"We've kind of gotten to the point where we really believe in ourselves," third baseman Matt Duffy said. "We think we can beat anyone. We truly believe that."

Smith reached second in the first on a throwing error by Nunez at third base and scored on Hess' wild pitch.

Willy Adames also scored from third in the first when Jake Bauers got caught in a rundown on a stolen base attempt.

"We made four or five errors that won't show up in the error column -- not just defensive stuff," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said about the first inning.

Adames came home on a wild pitch in a two-run sixth.

Villar had a two-run single in the seventh that drew the Orioles to 7-5.

Duffy drove in two on a single during a three-run seventh.

NO JONES, AGAIN

RF Adam Jones was out of the lineup for the second straight game as Baltimore continues to look at recently acquired players and minor league call-ups. "There's some certain things that we have to accomplish and some of them will be with Adam in the lineup," Showalter said. "I've talked to Adam. I think he understands what's going on." Jones can become a free agent after the season. "It's a great opportunity for some guys to get big league experience," he said. "I can only control certain aspects of what I can control, but I'll do it with a smile."

NUMBERS

Rays OF Tommy Pham has a 12-game hitting streak. . Hess has lost nine of 10 decisions since beating the Rays in his first and third career starts in May.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Orioles: RHP Alex Cobb (blister) will not make his scheduled start Sunday but could be back Tuesday.

Rays: C Michael Perez (strained left hamstring) is playing catch but still has discomfort while squatting.

UP NEXT

Orioles LHP Josh Rogers (1-1), acquired in the July 24 trade that sent reliever Zach Britton to the New York Yankees, will make his third career start on Sunday. Tampa Bay was planning another bullpen game, with Ryne Stanek (2-3) in the "opener" role.

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