ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Anthony Santander made loud contact, paused to watch the ball begin its flight toward the right field seats, and heard the ovation as he rounded the bases with his 13th home run. Orioles fans packed the area behind the visiting dugout at Tropicana Field tonight, the usual turnout that makes the road venue feel like home – except for the catwalks, of course.
They stayed patient as the Rays fought back to tie and erupted again after Ryan Mountcastle broke it with a two-run shot in the fifth. And again after Jordan Westburg joined the double-digit home run club in the eighth.
And finally, when Ramón Urías squeezed a popup to end it.
Santander hit his fourth homer in the last seven games, Mountcastle bagged his fifth in the last seven, and the Orioles defeated the Rays 6-3 before an announced crowd of 17,822.
Westburg’s two-run shot to right field after Ryan O’Hearn’s leadoff double gave him 10 and made it easier for the Orioles to post their 40th victory. They also knocked the Rays (31-32) below .500 again.