Orioles blank Rays to start on high note at seasons start

Dwight Smith Jr. homered, and Dylan Bundy threw 7 1/3 shutout innings as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the visiting Tampa Bay Rays 3-0 Saturday night. Bundy (1-4) gave the Orioles his best start of the season. He gave up just three hits and had four strikeouts and one walk while becoming the first Baltimore starter to make it into the eighth inning this season.

Bundy was nearly charged with a run after leaving in the eighth, but Willy Adames was called for interference while running to first, negating a throwing error that would have brought in a run. Due to worries about the weather, the Rays made the unusual move of changing starting pitchers just over an hour before the game. They were going to go with Ryne Stanek as their opener but instead shifted to Yonny Chirinos, the pitcher who would have come in behind Stanek.

Chirinos (4-1) pitched well but didn't get offensive support. He went 7 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits, including the Smith home run. The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Jonathan Villar led off with a double and moved to third on a Trey Mancini single. Villar scored when Smith grounded into a double play.

Baltimore made it 2-0 in the third when Stevie Wilkerson led off with a single and went to third on an Austin Wynns single. Wilkerson then scored when Villar grounded into a force at second. Smith crushed his sixth homer of the season to deep centre leading off the fourth and put the Orioles on top, 3-0.

The Rays appeared to break through and score in the eighth when pitcher Shawn Armstrong made a throwing error on Adames' swinging bunt. Michael Perez -- who had doubled off of Bundy with one out -- came in from second, but the umpires ruled Adames ran out of the baseline and called interference. Perez went back to second, and Armstrong struck out Brandon Lowe to end the inning. Mychal Givens closed it in the ninth and earned his third save.

(With inputs from agencies.)