BALTIMORE (AP) — Harold Ramirez and Francisco Mejía helped the Tampa Bay Rays snap out of their offensive funk.
It was just enough to end their four-game losing streak.
Ramirez hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning, and the Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-6 on Saturday. Tampa Bay had scored only four runs in its previous four games, but the Rays broke through with 14 hits in this one.
“Baseball works in very mysterious ways, and it just seems like everything that could go wrong this last week has for us,” Tampa Bay outfielder Kevin Kiermaier said. “Just keep trying to let all these guys in here know that we got a lot of season left, we got a lot of talent in here.”
Mejía had a career-high four hits for the Rays and Yandy Díaz had three.
Díaz also drew a one-out walk off Dillon Tate (0-3) in the ninth. Ji-Man Choi followed with a single and Tate hit Randy Arozarena with a two-strike pitch to load the bases.
Ramirez’s fly to right put the Rays ahead. Colin Poche pitched the bottom of the ninth for his fourth save.
Calvin Faucher (1-1) pitched a perfect eighth to earn his first career win, the day after taking the loss in Baltimore’s 1-0 victory.
Robinson Chirinos had three hits and four RBIs for the Orioles.
“Today, I figured out something in the cage today, and I think it’s going to make a difference in my season,” said Chirinos, who was in the lineup while rookie catcher Adley Rutschman had the day off. “So that was good to see that in the cage and see the results in the game right away.”
Choi hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning to give the Rays a 6-2 lead, but the Orioles rallied. An RBI single by Ryan Mountcastle in the fifth chased Tampa Bay starter Jeffrey Springs, and Chirinos hit a bases-loaded dribbler that snuck through into…
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