ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Curtis Mead had a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays avoided a three-game sweep by beating the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 on Sunday.
Anthony Santander hit his 35th homer and Albert Suárez gave up four hits in 6 2/3 scoreless innings for the Orioles, who started the day with a one-game lead over the New York Yankees in the AL East,
Brandon Lowe walked to open the eighth against struggling reliever Craig Kimbrel (6-4) and stole second with one out. Christopher Morel drew a walk, the Rays had a double steal and Josh Lowe was intentionally walked to load the bases before Mead hit a sacrifice fly to make it 2-1.
Kimbrel, fifth all-time with 440 saves, didn’t work the ninth for the fourth straight appearances after posting a 13.50 ERA during the second half of July.
After Manuel Rodríguez (2-2) worked around Gunnar Henderson’s one-out double in the top of the eighth, Pete Fairbanks got three outs to get his 23rd save in 25 chances.
Henderson had his second consecutive three-hit game, and 14th overall with three or more this season,
Cionel Pérez replaced Suárez in the seventh and gave up a double to pinch-hitter José Caballero and a pinch-hit RBI single to Dylan Carlson.
Santander had been hitless in 11 at-bats before putting the Orioles up 1-0 in the fourth on his major league-best 26th homer since the start of June, off Jeffrey Springs.
Baltimore leads the majors with 184 homers.
Springs allowed one run, six hits and struck out eight over five-plus innings in his third start since having Tommy John surgery on April 24, 2023.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Orioles: INF Jorge Mateo (elbow) will be examined in the near future to determine a plan of action. He has been out since July 24.
Rays: RHP Ryan Pepiot (right knee infection) rejoined the team after starting Saturday night for Double-A Montgomery. He was not added to the roster but could rejoin the rotation this week.
UP NEXT
Orioles: LHP Trevor Rogers (2-10, 4.71) and Washington RHP Jake Irvin (8-10, 3.76 ERA) are Tuesday night’s starters. Rogers is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in two starts with Baltimore after being obtained from Florida on July 30.
Rays: RHP Taj Bradley (6-6, 3.07 ERA) will face Houston LHP Framber Valdez (11-5, 3.46 ERA) on Monday night.
