TG Fantasy Baseball

BALTIMORE (AP) — Limited to just one measly run by the Baltimore Orioles in the opener of a split doubleheader, the Tampa Bay Rays cranked up the offense to earn a satisfying split.

Michael Brosseau and Nate Lowe each hit two of Tampa Bay's season-high six home runs, and the Rays pounded out a 12-4 victory Saturday night after absorbing a 2-1 defeat hours earlier.

"It was good to see the guys bounce back, have plenty of energy," manager Kevin Cash said. "You're going up against a really good pitcher. We could have been challenged and been quiet. But they stayed at it."

Tampa Bay hit half their homers off All-Star John Means (7-5) and continued the assault against the Baltimore bullpen.

Brosseau hit a two-run drive in the second inning and a solo shot in the ninth. Lowe went deep with a man on in the sixth and the ninth. It was the first career multihomer game for both players.

Yandy Diaz and Tommy Pham also homered for the Rays, who have won four of five to move within six games of the first-place Yankees in the AL East. Tampa Bay opened this series with a 16-4 rout, then managed only three hits on Saturday afternoon — all of them in the third inning — before regrouping in the nightcap.

"I know we had a hiccup there in Game 1, but in two out of three games we've really, really swung the bats well," Cash noted.

In the opener, Stevie Wilkerson hit a two-run homer to in the seventh to propel the Orioles to victory.

Not long after that, Baltimore traded its winningest pitcher, Andrew Cashner, to Boston for two 17-year-old minor league prospects. The swap hammered home the point that this year is significant to the rebuilding Orioles only in how it relates to the future.

While the Rays chase their first postseason berth since 2013, Baltimore is staggering through a...