masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Tommy Pham saw five pitches today from Ty Blach in the bottom of the first inning. None of them clocked higher than 91.3 mph. None of them buzzing the tower.
Pham drew a walk and was erased on a double play. There was no takeout slide at second base or chirping from an Orioles dugout that tends to set the volume at library level.
Both teams decided to turn the page.
With tempers held and accusations muted, Game 1 of a rare doubleheader at Tropicana Field relied strictly…

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Tommy Pham saw five pitches today from Ty Blach in the bottom of the first inning. None of them clocked higher than 91.3 mph. None of them buzzing the tower.

Pham drew a walk and was erased on a double play. There was no takeout slide at second base or chirping from an Orioles dugout that tends to set the volume at library level.

Both teams decided to turn the page.

With tempers held and accusations muted, Game 1 of a rare doubleheader at Tropicana Field relied strictly on baseball to provide entertainment value. It was up to the challenge.

Pham only killed a no-hit bid, leading off the fourth inning with a single and scoring on Travis d’Arnaud’s two-run homer. Rio Ruiz countered with a game-tying two-run shot in the fifth, Anthony Santander delivered a solo homer in the sixth and the Orioles held on for a 4-2 victory over the Rays.

The Orioles are 46-92, one win shy of last season’s total, and waiting 30 minutes to start Game 2.

The Rays stranded runners in scoring position in the sixth, seventh and eighth. Mychal Givens extended his scoreless streak to eight appearances in the eighth inning, Mark Trumbo’s pinch-hit double off left-hander Hoby Milner scored Mason Williams with a big insurance run in the ninth and Richard Bleier notched his third save.

Santander demolished a splitter from former Orioles reliever Oliver Drake, with Statcast measuring the exit velocity at 112.9 mph. Trumbo lined his double into the left-field corner with two outs while batting for Ruiz.

Ty-Blach-Delivers-at-TB-Gray-Sidebar.jpgBlach gave the Orioles five innings on 75 pitches. He allowed two runs and two hits with four walks and two strikeouts.

Recalled from Triple-A Norfolk earlier in the day, Blach walked three of the first seven batters but didn’t allow a hit until Pham lined a sinker into left field. Pham accounted for the last two Rays hits yesterday going back to the fifth inning and the first this afternoon.

d’Arnaud crashed the party, but Ruiz lined a changeup over the right field fence after Hanser Alberto singled and Williams flied to center.

Williams, the club-record 57th player used by the Orioles, went 2-for-4 with a single in the seventh inning.

Four of Ruiz’s nine home runs have come since the birth of his son, Luca James, on July 27 at Greater Baltimore Medical Center.

Santander tallied his 17th home run with one out in the sixth for a 3-2 lead. Drake had replaced starter Trevor Richards.

The Orioles tried to tack on in the eighth against Peter Fairbank, putting runners on the corners with one out, but Santander and Renato Núñez struck out.

The Tampa Bay lineup contained nine right-handed hitters, making it imperative that Blach have a feel for his changeup and be able to locate his fastball to both sides of the plate.

Also, dump the breaking ball below the zone and keep hitters off-balance.

A simple set of instructions.

He made it work until the fourth inning, where he also issued his fourth walk. None of those runners scored.

Shawn Armstrong stranded the tying run at third base in the sixth inning by getting a called third strike on pinch-hitter Ji-Man Choi. He stranded the tying run at second base in the seventh by retiring Mike Zunino.

Pinch-hitter Austin Meadows singled off Paul Fry leading off the eighth, but Givens struck out Pham on the 11th pitch of the at-bat. Meadows stole second base as Pham swung through a slider.

d’Arnaud struck out with the count full and Avisaíl García flied to right.

Pham led off the sixth with a single, allowing him to reach base in his first three plate appearances. But he didn’t reach his breaking point.