Jonathan Aranda and Jonny DeLuca had run-scoring hits in a three-run, seventh-inning rally as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Baltimore Orioles 7-6 on Monday in St. Petersburg, Fla., salvaging the finale of a four-game series.
Aranda delivered a single to left off Yennier Cano (2-3) that pulled Tampa Bay within 6-5. Two batters later, with Josh Walker on the mound, pinch hitter Jonny DeLuca chopped a two-run single over third baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand.
Rays closer Bryan Baker entered a first-and-third, one-out jam in the eighth and quelled the threat, striking out red-hot Pete Alonso and getting a fielder’s-choice grounder from Jackson Holliday.
The right-hander subsequently fired a scoreless ninth for his majors-leading 35th save and 24th straight.
Cam Booser (1-0) tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings in front of Baker.
Yandy Diaz, who hit a home run, and Aranda, who added a double, each had two hits for Tampa Bay. Jorge Mateo and Ryan Vilade each homered.
After missing two starts due to a back ailment, Rays left-hander Shane McClanahan went 3 1/3 innings and yielded three runs on four hits. He struck out three without issuing a walk. McClanahan was activated before the game for his first outing since July 30.
Encarnacion-Strand finished 3-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs. Coby Mayo and Alonso each had two hits, including a home run. Christian Franklin added two hits and a stolen base, and Gunnar Henderson and Tyler O’Neill logged two hits apiece.
Baltimore starter Brandon Young surrendered four runs on eight hits, including three homers, over four innings. He struck out three and walked one.
Leading off the second inning, Mayo blasted a fastball to left-center for his 16th homer. The estimated 468-foot shot became the longest ball hit at Tropicana Field this season.
In the third, Diaz tied it by slicing his 18th homer to right-center off a Young fastball, sending the opposite-field shot 396 feet.
Encarnacion-Strand grounded an RBI single through a drawn-in infield to make it 3-1 in the fourth.
For the second straight day, Vilade stroked a solo homer in the fourth inning. His 11th long ball was a 428-foot blast to straightaway center.
Three batters later, Mateo launched a hanging slider from Young to left field for his fifth homer, a two-run clout that gave the home side its first lead, 4-3.
Alonso went the other way for his second homer of the series to knot it at 4-all in the fifth. He is 17-for-30 (.567) with five homers and 10 RBIs in his past eight games, increasing his season total to 28 home runs.
Encarnacion-Strand lofted a two-run shot four batters later, making it 6-4. It was his sixth homer of the year.
