ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Brian
Matusz allowed two runs over five innings, Garrett Atkins had two RBIs
and the Baltimore Orioles avoided a season-opening three-game sweep by
beating the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Thursday night.
Matusz (1-0) overcame control problems
to win his fifth straight decision, dating back to last season. The
left-hander walked a career-high five, scattered two hits and struck out
seven.
Matt Wieters had a RBI single and
Atkins drove in a pair of runs with a single during a four-run sixth
that gave the Orioles a 5-2 advantage. Baltimore had loaded the bases
with no outs on a single, hit by pitch and walk against Mike Ekstrom
(0-1).
The Rays drew just 16,191 to their
third game of the season. They open a series with the Yankees on Friday.
Rays starter Jeff Niemann left with
one out in the second due to a bruised right shoulder, which occurred
when he was hit by Miguel Tejada's line drive. The team said Niemann is
day to day.
Pinch-hitter Dioner Navarro pulled
Tampa Bay to 5-3 on an RBI grounder in the seventh. Evan Longoria made
it 5-4 with a run-scoring single off Jim Johnson during the eighth.
Jason Bartlett had an RBI single and
Carl Crawford hit a sacrifice fly as the Rays went ahead 2-1 in the
third. Matusz started the inning by walking Pat Burrell, Gabe Kapler and
Kelly Shoppach.
Nolan Reimold put the Orioles up 1-0
with a third-inning solo homer.
Michael Gonzalez struggled in the
ninth en route to his first save of the season. After starting the
inning with two strikeouts, the left-hander then loaded the bases on a
single and two walks before getting Ben Zobrist to fly out.
Baltimore's Brian Roberts ended an 0-for-11 slide with an infield single during the fifth. He was limited to
six games in spring training because of a slightly herniated disc in his
back.
Wieters went 2-for-4, and has started
the season with three consecutive multihit games.
Notes
Orioles manager Dave Trembley
said the Rays have "as good a rotation as anybody in this (AL East)
division." … Baltimore LF Felix Pie (left rotator cuff strain) was out
of the lineup for the second consecutive game. … Johnson has been
slowed by elbow tightness. … Orioles TV analyst Jim Palmer missed
Thursday's broadcast due to a bad chest cold and was replaced by Roch
Kubatko. … SS Tim Beckham, taken first overall by Tampa Bay in the
2008 amateur draft, will start the season at Class-A Charlotte on the DL
with a left wrist injury.