Britton, Orioles lose to Rays 6-2

Take away one inning, and Baltimore Orioles rookie Zach Britton(notes) had a fine outing against the Tampa Bay Rays.Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.In his sixth career start, Britton gave up three runs and four hits in 5 1-3 innings. Baltimore Orioles Jerseys All the damage came in the second inning, and that was all the offense Tampa Bay needed in a 6-2 victory Friday night.“I don’t think it’s a good outing any way you look at it,” Britton said. “My job was to go deep in the game. I didn’t do that at all.”Britton was pulled after throwing 95 pitches in the shortest outing of his brief big league career.“His command wasn’t what it’s been for the most part,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “Hitters are looking for stuff out of a guy’s hands that looks like something they want to swing at, so you’ve got to command the baseball and keep them aggressive.”With Baltimore’s offense struggling, the Rays’ three-run second was too much to overcome.
Baltimore finished with five hits and fell to 2-14 when scoring three runs or fewer.“I am concerned that we’re not playing to our capabilities offensively,” Showalter said. “I have a lot of confidence that will change, (but) we didn’t put up much resistance tonight.”Britton (5-2) was outdone by James Shields(notes), who allowed one run and three hits in 7 1-3 innings. MLB Jerseys Shields (3-1) struck out five and walked three while improving to 3-0 with a 1.12 ERA in his last five starts. Even more impressive, the right-hander coped brilliantly with a steady rain that lasted for much of the game.Despite the ugly weather, the only break in the action occurred when the grounds crew applied drying agent to the mound and a sloppy infield.“It was raining pretty hard out there,” Shields said. “Having to deal with the delays out there, with that team and that lineup over there, to be able to hold them in check is pretty nice.”
Brandon Guyer became the first player in Tampa Bay history to homer during his first plate appearance in his major league debut. Recalled from Triple-A Durham earlier in the day, Guyer drove a 3-1 pitch from Britton into the left-field seats with a runner on to make it 3-0.That represented a week’s worth of runs for Shields, who had a run-support average of 1.75 per nine innings—lowest in the AL.“These guys gave me a 3-0 lead after the second inning and my job was to keep them in check right there,Cheap Lacoste Shoes,” Shields said. “I think that might have been one of the first times I’ve had that this year. MLB Jerseys From China It’s really nice. You’re able to be aggressive as a pitcher and attack the hitters more.”When he got to the dugout, Guyer found his teammates sitting stoically on the bench. After an appropriate delay, the players got up and smothered the rookie with hugs and high-fives.“I was so ecstatic I just wanted to make sure I didn’t trip,” he said. “It’s the last thing I thought would have happened. For me to get a home run, it’s pretty cool.”