masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Yunel Escobar homered off Orioles left-hander Wei-Yin Chen in the bottom of the first inning tonight to give the Rays a 1-0 lead.

Escobar was 1-for-12 lifetime against Chen.

The Orioles have allowed only two home runs in the last 70 innings.

David Lough drew an 11-pitch walk off Rays starter Jake Odorizzi with two outs in the second after J.J. Hardy reached on an infield hit, but Ryan Flaherty struck out.

In the latest round of American League All-Star voting, Nelson…ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Yunel Escobar homered off Orioles left-hander Wei-Yin Chen in the bottom of the first inning tonight to give the Rays a 1-0 lead.

Escobar was 1-for-12 lifetime against Chen.

The Orioles have allowed only two home runs in the last 70 innings.

David Lough drew an 11-pitch walk off Rays starter Jake Odorizzi with two outs in the second after J.J. Hardy reached on an infield hit, but Ryan Flaherty struck out.

In the latest round of American League All-Star voting, Nelson Cruz continues to lead among designated hitters and Matt Wieters ranks first among catchers. However, Wieters will undergo season-ending elbow surgery Tuesday afternoon.

Cruz has received 1,792,432 votes to lead Boston’s David Ortiz (1,316,921). Wieters has received 1,488,884 votes to lead Brian McCann (1,075,210).

Hardy is third among shortstops, Manny Machado is fourth among third basemen and Chris Davis is fourth among first basemen. Machado was third last week, but Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria has passed him.

Longoria has received 904,638 votes, compared to 856,976 for Machado.

Adam Jones slipped to fifth among outfielders, with Oakland’s Yoenis Cespedes moving past him, and Nick Markakis is 10th. Cespedes has received 1,111,613 votes to lead Jones (1,053,228).

The 2014 All-Star Game will be played at Target Field in Minnesota on July 15th.

Update: Chen gave up another homer in the fourth, a two-out, two-run shot from Ryan Hanigan that increased Tampa Bay’s lead to 3-0.

Hanigan pulled an 80-mph slider, the seventh pitch of the at-bat, into the left field seats.

Chen had allowed two homers in his last three starts before tonight.