ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — J.J Hardy hit a grand slam, Nick Markakis added a solo shot and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 9-3 on Sunday.
The Orioles loaded the bases in the sixth with no outs as Rays reliever Rob Delaney walked all three batters – one intentionally – he faced. Hardy then put Baltimore up 8-2 when he hit his third career grand slam on a 2-0 pitch from Cesar Ramos. It was Hardy’s first grand slam since May 12, 2007 while with Milwaukee against the Mets.
Jake Arrieta (5-1) allowed two runs and four hits over six innings for the Orioles, who took two of three from Tampa Bay. The right-hander has won a career-best four consecutive decisions.
The Orioles (19-20) didn’t reach 19 wins last season until June 19th, when their record was 19-49.
Tampa Bay got solo homers from Elliot Johnson and Matt Joyce. The AL East-leading Rays (23-17) are 10-12 at home.
Joyce, who entered hitting an AL-best .360, went 2 for 3 with a walk one day after leaving the game with cramping in his right quadriceps. He hit his sixth homer this season in the eighth.
Baltimore took a 3-0 lead during the third when Derrek Lee drove in two runs with a single off Andy Sonnanstine (0-1). Markakis’ solo homer gave the Orioles a 4-2 advantage in the fifth.
Johnson cut the Rays’ deficit to 3-1 with his first major league homer in the third. Casey Kotchman made it 3-2 on a fourth-inning RBI single.
Tampa Bay has not scored more than five runs in any of its 22 home games, which is the longest stretch to open a season since the 1908 Brooklyn Superbas.
Matt Wieters put the Orioles ahead 1-0 with a two-out, RBI single in the second. He is 9 for 14 this season with runners in scoring position and two outs.
Baltimore’s Mark Reynolds had an RBI single in the ninth.
Sonnanstine, filling in for the injured Jeff Niemann, gave up four runs and eight hits in five innings. Niemann, on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained lower back, is making progress, but has not started a throwing program.