DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer
BALTIMORE (AP) — The Baltimore Orioles have a knack for moving forward instead of looking back, a trait that just might be more important than their home-run power and solid pitching.
“The strength of his team is the ability to forget,” center fielder Adam Jones said after Baltimore snapped a three-game losing streak with a 9-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.
Delmon Young, J.J. Hardy and Chris Davis homered in succession during a six-run fifth inning as the AL East-leading Orioles bounced back from a lamentable weekend in which they totaled only four runs and 13 hits in three losses to the last-place Chicago Cubs.
“Something happens, forget it, move on,” Jones said. “It’s three games. Hip hip hooray. It’s not the end of the world.”
Baltimore hit five homers in all against the Rays, four off rookie Jake Odorizzi (9-11). Nick Markakis and Steve Pearce delivered back-to-back shots in the third to spark the Orioles to their ninth win in 13 games against Tampa Bay this season.
“It’s good because it seemed like y’all went in panic mode when we got swept in Chicago,” Young said. “We weren’t scoring many runs, but it happens and then we’re back in our division at home facing a guy we’ve seen before, a team we play, we know their tendencies and everything. And we’ve got better facilities here than Wrigley.”
Chris Tillman (11-5) yielded an unearned run and three hits in seven innings. He is 4-0 in eight starts since July 18.
“All our pitchers have been good,” Hardy said, “but every fifth day when he takes the mound we feel like we’ve got a great chance to win.”
Baltimore led 3-1 before pulling away in the fifth. Three straight singles produced a run before Young hit a three-run drive to left. Hardy chased Odorizzi with a shot to center, and Davis greeted Kirby Yates with his 22nd home run.
It was the first time since May 2012 that the Orioles homered in three successive at-bats.
Odorizzi yielded eight runs and 11 hits, both career highs, as were the four home runs.
“Jake has been hit a little bit this year, but he hasn’t been hit like that in a long while,” manager Joe Maddon said.
Odorizzi said: “It was an overall lousy night. I’m frustrated because I feel like I let the guys down. We need every win we can get now and I didn’t keep us in the game.”
Not unlike the Orioles, the Rays sought to quickly put this one behind them.
“We just take this one and throw it in the trash and come back tomorrow,” Maddon said.
The Orioles added a fielding gem in the sixth when Jones made a leaping catch at the wall to rob Evan Longoria of a homer. Jones then threw out Matt Joyce, who tagged up from first base.
After the Rays scored in the third, Baltimore went up 3-1 in the bottom half. Markakis snapped an 0-for-21 skid with a two-run drive and Pearce followed with his 15th homer, the fourth in his last eight games.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rays: C Ryan Hanigan (left oblique strain) could return from the disabled list as soon as Tuesday, Maddon said. But OF David DeJesus (left hand fracture) likely wouldn’t be activated until rosters expand on Sept. 1. Also, Ben Zobrist got his first start in CF since 2010 because Desmond Jennings was promised a night off and RF Kevin Kiermaier had a stiff neck.
Orioles: 3B Manny Machado is scheduled to have season-ending knee surgery Wednesday and will rehab at the team complex in Sarasota, Florida. He hopes to cheer on the team at home games in October.
UP NEXT
Rays: RHP Alex Cobb (9-6, 3.01 ERA) takes the mound for Tampa Bay on Tuesday night. He is 7-0 since June 23 and has allowed two runs or fewer in eight successive starts, a franchise record.
Orioles: LHP Wei-Yin Chen (13-4, 3.76 ERA) is 3-4 lifetime against the Rays, 1-1 this year.
ERROR ON THE FAN
A fan botched his chance to grab a souvenir on the Markakis home run. The drive carried to the first row of the right-field bleachers and into a man’s mitt. But the ball popped out of the glove and over his head — directly to an appreciative fan who collected the rebound.
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