Burnes cruises as O’s clinch first four-game road sweep of Rays

The 5-2 win never felt like it was in doubt as the Orioles’ ace was in total control, and the offense kept piling on.

Corbin Burnes turned in yet another terrific start, and the Orioles’ offense was full of firepower as the Birds clinched their first ever four-game sweep of the Rays at Tropicana Field with a 5-2 win on Monday night.

It took just one pitch and one swing for the Orioles to score their first run. Gunnar Henderson went deep for the 21st time this season to get the good guys out to an early 1-0 lead. It has to be tempting for Brandon Hyde to move Henderson down the lineup just a skosh to take advantage of that power, but at the same time he sets the table pretty well too. There are no wrong answers here.

The Orioles did trail at one point in this game, but it was under fluky circumstances. In the second inning, Corbin Burnes had retired the first two batters with relative ease. Then, he got José Caballero to pop up weakly to shallow right field. Second baseman Jordan Westburg gave chase, settled under the ball, and then…just dropped it. There was no confusion, no miscommunication, no Bermuda Triangle. Westburg simply flubbed the catch.

That extended the inning for number nine hitter Alex Jackson, a 28-year-old catcher that has bounced around the league for six years and came into this game with just three career home runs. But he added his fourth here when he blasted a Burnes cutter 431 feet to straightaway center field for a two-run bomb, giving the Rays a 2-1 lead.

Those would prove to be the only two runs that Tampa scored against the Baltimore ace, and both of them were unearned. Burnes was, as always, brilliant. His first inning was slightly dicey as he allowed a lead-off single, got some help from Colton Cowser tracking down a line drive in left field, and then walked a batter. He also had a wild pitch and allowed a stolen base in the inning. Ultimately he escaped unscathed and excelled from there, going seven innings despite the shaky beginnings.

From the third inning through the seventh, Burnes allowed just three singles, eliminated the walks, struck out three, and induced a double play. It was not his most dominating day pitch-to-pitch, but he avoided big innings, settled down quickly, and kept the Rays offense off balance. In short, it was just another day at the office for one of the AL’s top Cy Young contenders.

The Orioles offense did their part as well. Henderson wasn’t the only one to leave the yard. James McCann teed off on Rays starter Ryan Pepiot as well. In the top of the third inning he smacked a slider in the middle of the plate to left-center field for another solo shot, tying things up at 2-2.

Their third and fourth runs of the day were of the manufactured variety. McCann got aboard with a one-out single to gets things going in the fifth. He moved up to second on a wild pitch and then advanced to third on a Henderson single. After a Westburg strikeout, Ryan O’Hearn strode to the plate and did some damage. He laced a live drive down the right field line, easily plating McCann and giving Henderson enough time to sprint home from first as well.

But that wasn’t the end of O’Hearn’s day. He added another RBI in the top of the seventh. After Henderson doubled with one, it was O’Hearn that knocked him in with a base knock into right field for the Orioles’ fifth and final run of the day.

The Orioles lineup had a bulky box score after this game. They loaded up with 11 hits, four of which went for extra bases. But they also struck out 14 times. Most importantly, they scored five runs, which is often the tipping point for whether you win a game or not, so you will absolutely take a performance like this.

Since Burnes went seven innings the Orioles didn’t need too much help from the bullpen, but they did turn to their two top arms. Yennier Cano and Craig Kimbrel worked almost identical innings. Cano took the eighth, walking one and striking out two. Kimbrel took the ninth…also walking one and striking out two. For Kimbrel it was his 15th save of the season.

The Orioles are now 6-1 against the Rays on the season, a nice run of form against a division opponent. This year’s Rays do not seem to be quite as good as we have grown accustomed to in recent seasons, but sweeping any team on the road is a tall task. Make no mistake, this long weekend in St. Petersburg was an extremely impressive performance from our O’s.

It’s back to Camden Yards for the Orioles on Tuesday. That is when they begin a series with the Atlanta Braves, who are probably already in town since they played a day game in D.C. on Sunday and had an off day on Monday. MLB’s schedule makers have some questions to answer from the Charm City faithful on this one.

The pitching matchup in game one will be a good one. Max Fried (6-2, 2.93 ERA) is on the bump for the visitors. He will be opposed by old man Albert Suárez (2-0, 1.83 ERA). First pitch is 6:35.