Orioles beat Rays 4-1 and reach 1st place in AL East

BY MARK DIDTLER

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Zach Eflin pitched seven scoreless innings against his former team and the Baltimore Orioles took sole possession of the top spot in the American League East with a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night.

“That’s so good,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said of Eflin. “A little extra motivation to pitch against the team you just played. That was textbook pitching.”

Eflin (8-7) delivered four hits, one walk and seven strikeouts for his third straight win since Baltimore acquired the right-hander from Tampa Bay on July 26.

“Honestly, it’s like an out-of-body experience being with those guys about 15 days ago,” Eflin said.

Eflin was able to stay at his home near Tampa and spend time with his family.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen my kids,” he said.

Rays manager Kevin Cash spoke of a unique situation that Eflin is facing.

“Even though Eflin was here for a year and a half, it felt like he was here a lot longer just because of the impact he had on the club’s performance and what he did in the clubhouse,” Cash said.

Elfin is the only Orioles pitcher, along with Kyle Gibson (2023) and Jack Harshman (1958), to win his first three starts with the team.

Seranthony Domínguez threw a 1-2-3 eighth. Yennier Cano allowed a home run to Dylan Carlson in the ninth inning before ending the combined five-hitter streak.

Colton Cowser and Cedric Mullins hit home runs for the Orioles, who are a half-game ahead of the Yankees, who are on break. New York’s game against Texas on Friday night was postponed because of rain.

Cowser, who batted first in the first inning, hit Zack Littell’s fourth pitch for his 18th home run. It was the second home run of the rookie’s career.

After Gunnar Henderson walked a 10-pitch at-bat in the fifth inning, loading the bases with two outs, Ryan O’Hearn made it 3-0 when he hit a two-run single to center.

Littell (2-4) allowed three runs and eight hits in five innings.

Baltimore took a 4-0 lead with Mullins’ home run against Richard Lovelady in the sixth inning.

Henderson went 0-for-4 and was hitless in his last 16 at-bats.

Baltimore’s Jackson Holliday had a run and an RBI for six straight games, the longest streak by a player under 21 since New York Giants Hall of Famer Mel Ott had a nine-game streak in 1920.

TRANSACTION

Baltimore signed INF Jean Segura to a minor league contract and sent him to Triple-A Norfolk. In parts of 12 MLB seasons, he posted a career batting average of .281.

TRAINING ROOM

Rays: Ace Shane McClanahan (Tommy John surgery) has thrown 15 pitches in his bullpen sessions. The left-hander won’t return until 2025. … RHP Ryan Pepiot (right knee infection) is expected to throw 65 to 70 pitches for Double-A Montgmery on Saturday night.

Next

Baltimore RHP Corbin Burnes (12-4, 2.63 ERA) looks for his major league-winning 13th win and career-high on Saturday. LHP Tyler Alexander (5-3, 5.43 ERA) is expected to follow reliever Drew Rasmussen (0-0, 0.00 ERA) for Tampa Bay.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB