Rays' Successful Road Trip Ends With 5-1 Loss to Orioles

BALTIMORE, Md. — Baltimore Orioles starter Dean Kremer seems to have the Tampa Bay Rays' number these past few years. And on Sunday at Camden Yards, that number was zero.

The right-hander pitched seven scoreless innings on a steamy summer afternoon, allowing just three hits in the 5-1 win. It's the second time he's beaten the Rays in 12 days, allowing just one run on June 17 in Tampa in another 5-1 win.

This is Kremer's ninth career start against Tampa Bay and he's now 4-1 with a 1.91 earned run average. He's played a key role in the Orioles winning four of the first seven games of the season series. They meet again in Tampa July 18-20 in the first series back from the All-Star break, and then back in Baltimore Sept. 23-25 on the final road trip of the regular season.

"He's a guy that's going to attack the zone and he's got a pretty good fastball that's got some ride and a two-seam with sink as well,'' said Rays catcher Danny Jansen, who had an eighth-inning home run stolen by Colton Cowser's catch over the left-field wall.

"He mixes that with a cutter and really keeps you off balance. You tip your cap to him. He's got good stuff.''

Tampa Bay starting pitcher Taj Bradley had a fair outing, but with the Rays' bats so silent, it wasn't good enough. In the second innings, Ramon Laureano had a first-pitch double, and Cowser drove him in with a first-pitch single to make it 1-0.

"Early on they were aggressive, going back to back on first pitches,'' Jansen said. "That's kind of the counter to a guy (like Bradley) who's attacking the zone. But Taj went five and a third, and he gave us a chance to win.''

The Orioles opened the fifth with three straight singles, the third one by Coby Mayo to make it 2-0. Ramon Urias had a sacrifice fly to center to bring in the third run.

Bradley came back out for the sixth and gave up a double to Ryan O'Hearn and an infield single. He got Cowser to fly out, but then manager Kevin Cash took him out in favor of Kevin Kelly. He gave up an RBI single to Gary Sanchez and a Cedric Mullins sacrifice fly that made it 5-0. All five runs were charged to Bradley, who fell to 5-6 on the season. He threw 95 pitches.

The Rays' only run came in the ninth inning when Brandon Lowe hit a home run to right-center, his 18th of the year. It also extended his hitting streak to 16 games, the longest in the majors. Jonathan Aranda, whose 13-game streak was the second-longest, went 0-for-4. It's the first time he hasn't had a hit since June 14 in New York, when he went 0-for-4 against the Mets.

The Rays ended the road trip with a 4-2 record, including the sweep at Kansas City. This is only the second series they've lost since they started this hot streak on May 20. Boston was the other, and they are 9-2-2 in their past 13 series.

They are 47-37 now and 1.5 games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East. And since May 20, they are 26-12, the best record in the majors.

The winning road trip outweighs the Sunday loss, Brandon Lowe said.

"They were better today than we were, and you have to remember that (Kremer) is one of the best in the world at what he does too,'' Lowe said. ''There's no point in dwelling on losses when it's such a long season. The shower kind of takes off this loss and then you get on the plane and get ready for the A's. But, absolutely, it was a good trip.''

The Rays are right back at it on Monday, starting a three-game series with the Athletics at Steinbrenner Field. Rays ace Drew Rasmussen pitches Monday, followed by Shane Baz Tuesday night and Ryan Pepiot on Wednesday afternoon. Then it's back on the road for a 10-game trip to Minnesota, Detroit and Boston leading into the All-Star break.