BALTIMORE -- The Tampa Bay Rays usually work their way around the bases one at a time, so they took great delight in putting on a power-hitting display against a team known for the long ball.
[b]Patrick Mahomes Super Bowl Jersey[/b] . Desmond Jennings opened the game with the first of Tampa Bays three home runs off Wei-Yin Chen, and the Rays got an impressive pitching performance from former Oriole Erik Bedard in a 5-4 victory over Baltimore on Saturday. Tampa Bay built a five-run lead in the fourth inning, then held off a late comeback bid to improve to 3-8 against the Orioles this season. Logan Forsythe and rookie Kevin Kiermaier each hit a two-run shot against Chen (7-3), who lasted only 3 1-3 innings in the shortest outing of his three-year career. Of the 15 home runs Chen has yielded this season, five have come against the light-hitting Rays. Tampa Bay started the day tied for 25th in the majors with 59 home runs and hit only two its previous nine games. Half the Rays 10 hits were for extra bases, including a triple by Ben Zobrist and a double by Ryan Hanigan. "Thats more like what we expect on a consistent basis, to play that game," manager Joe Maddon said. "Against this team here, fangs out late in the game, its nice to beat them that way." Nick Markakis and Manny Machado homered for the Orioles, who have a major league-leading 40 long balls in June. But it wasnt enough to beat the last-place Rays, who can win the four-game series with a victory Sunday. Bedard (4-5) struck out seven in a season-high seven-plus innings. The 35-year-old lefty gave up three runs and five hits against the team he began his career with in 2002. He walked none, and 68 of his 87 pitches were strikes. "Thats probably the best strike-ball ratio Ive ever thrown in my life," Bedard said. "The biggest thing was the first-pitch strikes and after that, I continued to throw strikes. I mixed in fastball, changeup, curveball and I came out on top." He was pulled after giving up a two-run homer to Machado in the eighth. Adam Jones added an RBI single off Jake McGee, who subsequently retired Nelson Cruz with two outs and runners on the corners. McGee returned in the ninth to earn his third save -- the second in two days. Chen gave up a season-high five runs, seven hits and a pair of walks. The Taiwanese left-hander was 4-0 in nine starts since May 3 and 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two games against Tampa Bay. "For every game, you dont want to give up any home runs," Chen said through a translator. "Lately, Ive been leaving more pitches up in the zone. Maybe the opponent hitters are studying me more than they used to, so if I didnt make the adjustment necessary, the results are going to look bad. So Im going to look at that." On Chens fourth pitch, a 91 mph fastball, Jennings hit his seventh career leadoff homer to put the Rays ahead for good. Prior to the at-bat, Jennings was 4 for 23 (.174) against Chen. In the second, Sean Rodriguez singled and Forsythe followed with his first home run in 142 at-bats this season. Forsythe went 3 for 3 with a walk and scored twice. Tampa Bay made it 5-0 in the fourth when Forsythe singled and Kiermaier drove a 1-2 pitch into the right-field bleachers. It was the fifth home run of the season for Kiermaier and the first by a left-hander against Chen. "I actually like the way weve been swinging the bats," Kiermaier said. "It was one of those things today -- Desmond hit the leadoff home run then Logan came up clutch and hit that other one." Bedard retired 10 straight batters before Markakis homered on a 1-2 pitch in the sixth. NOTES: Miguel Gonzalez will start for Baltimore in the series finale against RHP Alex Cobb, who has held the Orioles to a .176 batting average throughout his career. ... Tampa Bay SS Yunel Escobar missed his fourth straight game with a sore shoulder. ... Orioles RHP Dylan Bundy, returning from elbow surgery, will make his fourth rehab start Thursday, this time with Class-A Frederick. ... Rays RHP Jeremy Hellickson, trying to come back from elbow surgery, ended his rehab start with Triple-A Durham on Friday night after three innings, complaining of discomfort. Maddon suggested Hellickson might return to Florida for an examination.
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[b]Tyrann Mathieu Super Bowl Jersey[/b] . -- Phil Mickelson will be watching the final two rounds of the Masters from home for the first time in 17 years. MIAMI -- Jose Fernandez allowed his first two walks of the season, and they came back to back. When his foot slipped on a delivery, the pitch bounced several feet in front of the plate. One frustrating inning ended with the Miami Marlins precocious ace shaking his head and screaming angrily into his glove. Fernandez was at less than his best Saturday, but still good enough to beat the San Diego Padres. He struck out eight in 6 2-3 innings while lowering his ERA to 0.71, and Miami beat the punchless San Diego Padres 5-0. The Marlins improved to 5-1, their best start since 2009. Last year their fifth victory came in their 21st game, and they finished with 100 losses. "Another win. Its incredible," Fernandez said. "To be 5-1 is pretty amazing." Fernandez (2-0) improved his career record at home to 11-0 despite being miffed about a high pitch count early in the game. "Hes such a great competitor," manager Mike Redmond said. "He wasnt as sharp as Ive seen. But his stuff is so good, he still has the ability to make his pitches when he needs to." Fernandez, who threw 108 pitches, left the game annoyed after throwing a wild pitch on a strikeout that allowed Alexi Amarista to reach base with two outs in the seventh. But he allowed only three hits and two walks. "I threw a lot of pitches -- not what I wanted to do," Fernandez said. "But we won. Thats what I care about." Three relievers followed to complete a five-hitter. Giancarlo Stanton had two RBIs to increase his season total to 11, one more than teammate Casey McGehee, who began the day leading the NL. Four of the Marlins runs scored with two outs. "Theres a lot of good stuff going on right now," Redmond said. Andrew Cashner (0-1) allowed only two runs in six innings, but the offensively challenged Padres reached a new low -- for the first time, they were shut out. Theyve scored eight runs this season, worst in the majors, and haave lost four in a row since a win on opening day.
[b]Mecole Hardman Super Bowl Jersey[/b]. The Padres went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and are batting .108 (4 for 37) in those situations. "Collectively as a group, were not swinging the bats well," manager Bud Black said. "We are in a team-wide situation that were not swinging. We dont have one guy thats swinging the bat well. Inversely, you look at the Marlins they have guys who are swinging well. And thats what happens. Its cyclical during the course of a season." San Diegos best threat against Fernandez came when he walked two to load the bases with the score 0-0 in the third, but he escaped when Seth Smith hit into an inning-ending double play. The game drew a crowd of 35,188, including Miami Heat owner Micky Arison and president Pat Riley, who chatted briefly with Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria. Stantons run-scoring single in the third gave the Marlins a 1-0 lead, which looked hefty with Fernandez on the mound. "We knew once we got that one run, we had a good chance," catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia said. Notes: Marlins 2B Rafael Furcal (hamstring) is scheduled to report Monday to extended spring training in Jupiter, Fla., with rehabilitation assignments to follow. He likely wont be activated until April 20 at the earliest. ... Padres RHP Casey Kelly was scheduled to pitch in a simulated game Saturday, but the workout was postponed at least two days because he was feeling discomfort in his surgically repaired elbow, Black said. The setback isnt believed to be significant. ... Padres RHP Tyson Ross will get an extra day of rest before his next start Tuesday at Cleveland. Black said he made the move in part so the two left-handers in the rotation wouldnt pitch back to back. ... Stanton has two homers in eight at-bats against RHP Ian Kennedy (0-1, 5.40), who is scheduled to start Sunday for the Padres. RHP Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 3.00) will start for Miami. ' ' '
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