O's end 6-game slide on Davis' walk-off HR
BALTIMORE -- The Orioles walked it off in the bottom of the 11th on Wednesday night to earn a 7-6 win over the Rays to keep from getting swept in the three-game series.
Chris Davis hit a 3-0 Matt Andriese pitch over the wall in center for his second home run of the game and his 38th of the season.
"I kind of figured he'd be swinging there with the game on the line," Andriese said. "And just probably was too low. Probably if I'd gotten the ball up a little more he might have popped it up or roll over on it. But he's a good hitter and good hitters hit good pitches, too."
• Cut4: Chris Davis rips pants, then goes back to crushing HRs
It was Baltimore's second win in its last 14 games, snapping a six-game skid and avoiding what would have been its second consecutive series sweep at home. Tampa Bay (66-67) saw its three-game winning streak snapped after blowing a 6-4 ninth-inning lead. The Rays dropped 4 1/2 games back of Texas for the American League's second Wild Card, while the Orioles are 6 1/2 back.
Video: TB@BAL: Davis discusses walk-off home run
"I understand how hard this is, almost to a fault. As long as the want-to is there. Our guys are sincere and that's why I'm frustrated for them," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said of the past two weeks. "I hurt for them and obviously our fans and stuff because I know how everybody wants it as much as ... September is an eternity. You never know. We've got a tough road ahead of us, but so do they."
The game featured six home runs and none was bigger than the two-run homer hit by Jonathan Schoop off Brad Boxberger in the ninth as it tied the game at 6 to send it into extra innings.
Video: TB@BAL: Schoop ties game in the 9th with two-run shot
Evan Longoria's two home runs had given the Rays a two-run advantage prior to Schoop's heroics.
Video: TB@BAL: Jones hits 92 mph on 208-foot throw to plate
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Davis goes deep ... twice: The O's slugger hit his fourth career walk-off homer, his second this season, to put Baltimore back in the win column. Wednesday also marked Davis' fifth multi-homer of the year. Davis, who went deep first with a two-run blast in the fourth inning, sealed the win with a solo blast to the deepest part of the park off Andriese.
"Yeah we've been fighting and clawing and I feel like every time we get up, we turn around and get back down. Just about everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. Some of it is self-inflicted, some of it is not," Davis said. " We're scratching and clawing, trying to get a win. That was a big one for us." More >
Video: TB@BAL: Davis ties game with two-run shot to center
Longoria's 200th: Longoria's two-run homer in the third gave him 16 for the season and 200 for his career, while giving the Rays a 3-0 lead. The Rays' slugger became the first third baseman in Major League history to hit 200 homers and 250 doubles in his first eight seasons. Longoria added his 201st career home run in the ninth. More >
Video: TB@BAL: Longo's second homer pads Rays' lead
Locked in Logan: Logan Forsythe continued to roll on Wednesday night by going 3-for-3 with a walk. Dating back to Sunday, when he went 2-for-3 in his final three at-bats, Forsythe has 11 hits in his last 13 at-bats, including two walks. He went 9-for-10 with four doubles and a triple in the three games against the Orioles.
Orioles pitching woes: Orioles starter Kevin Gausman turned in the shortest start of his career, lasting just 2 1/3 innings and allowing four runs. The O's starters -- coming off a seven-game road trip in which they posted an ERA over 6 -- pitched to a 12.34 ERA over the three games against the Rays.
"That's the biggest thing, we came right back and put up four, and it was a great game. You can kind of tell, we didn't want to lose. We were kind of sick of losing. Manny [Machado] came up to me multiple times in that third inning and said, 'Hey, get out of this inning. we are going to score runs,'" Gausman said. "I think it was one of those things where we didn't want to lose. Obviously that doesn't make me feel any better about my start, but just glad we can get a win."
QUOTABLE
"You want to sweep when you can, especially in our situation. And especially the way our guys battled today. For me to not be able to hold that kind of lead, it's not expected. So, it's just one of those that's tough." -- Boxberger, on the loss.
"I was so tired at that point that I was just really happy. I really didn't watch it. At that point in the game I was taking whatever I could get. Someone said it almost hit the scoreboard. I don't know about all that. I didn't see where it landed." -- Davis, on his towering homer.
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Baltimore had gone 51 consecutive innings without a lead prior to Davis' walk-off blast. It marked the slugger's 90th blast at Oriole Park, which passes Melvin Mora for fourth on the team's all-time list.
J.P. Arencibia homered in consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 22-23, 2013, as a member of the Blue Jays. He has hit safely in four straight games.
Video: TB@BAL: Arencibia opens scoring with solo homer
ORIOLES' DEFENSIVE GEMS
Steve Pearce robbed Rays outfielder Brandon Guyer of a first-inning home run, with a fantastic leaping catch over the left-field wall. The catch saved Gausman a run and was one of several terrific plays made during the righty's short stint on the mound. In the second inning, Adam Jones threw out Forsythe trying to score on Kevin Kiermaier's single to keep the game scoreless. More >
Video: TB@BAL: Pearce runs 106 feet to rob a home run
REPLAY REVIEW
Arencibia led off the third with a drive that hugged the foul pole in left for a home run. Subsequently, a crew chief review deliberated the call of 3 minutes and 45 seconds before ruling that the call on the field stood.
Video: TB@BAL: Arencibia opens scoring with solo homer
WHAT'S NEXT
Rays: Jake Odorizzi (6-7, 3.18 ERA) will make his 23rd start of the season and third against the Yankees on Friday at 7:05 p.m. ET. He is 0-2 with a 5.11 ERA in those starts and is 2-3 with a 4.84 ERA and a save in seven career appearances against the Yankees. Just one other American League pitcher has an ERA as low as Odorizzi and a losing record.
Orioles: Ubaldo Jimenez (9-9, 4.56 ERA) gets the start in Friday's series opener at first-place Toronto at 7:07 p.m. ET. Jimenez allowed four runs on eight hits -- including a home run -- and three walks with three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings in a loss to the Rangers on Saturday.
Watch every out-of-market regular season game live on MLB.TV.