Morton fans 12 as Rays down Orioles

All-Star pitcher Charlie Morton struck out a season-high 12 as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-3 on Tuesday night in St. Petersburg, Fla. Brandon Lowe went 3-for-3 with a solo homer, two RBIs and a stolen base, and Avisail Garcia and Tommy Pham each drove in two runs for the Rays, who won their fourth straight game.

Morton (9-2) allowed one run on four hits and one walk in seven innings to lower his ERA to 2.36. Selected last Sunday to his second straight appearance in the Midsummer Classic, Morton fanned eight on curveballs, including six straight at one point.

Rays pitchers finished with 16 strikeouts. Adam Kolarek fanned all three batters in the eighth inning. Chaz Roe gave up a two-run homer to Chance Sisco in the ninth but struck out Hanser Alberto to end the game. Chris Davis' sixth homer and Sisco's fifth accounted for the runs for Baltimore, which lost its third straight.

Acquired from the Cleveland Indians for cash on Monday, Asher Wojciechowski made his Orioles debut and became the 14th different starting pitcher for the club this season after scheduled starter Dylan Bundy was scratched. Wojciechowski (0-1) gave up five hits and four runs in 5 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out six. Lowe belted an 86 mph changeup from Wojciechowski out to right-centre for his 16th round-tripper in the home half of the first. Davis countered by slashing a 94 mph fastball from Morton over the left field fence for a solo shot with one out in the third to tie it 1-1.

Wojciechowski jammed Lowe in the bottom of the third, but the second baseman blooped a single into right that scored Joey Wendle, who walked and stole the first of his two bases, for a 2-1 lead. Lowe fouled two consecutive pitches off his right leg leading off the sixth inning, dusted himself off and cued a single to left field to beat the shift.

However, he limped down the line and was removed from the game, replaced by Yandy Diaz. Garcia lined a single to left off Wojciechowski to score Diaz and Pham for a 4-1 lead three batters later. Pham's two-run double in the seventh boosted the lead to 6-1, and Sisco clouted a 441-foot rocket to right to make it 6-3 in the ninth.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)