Seven Rays hurlers combine to shut out Orioles, earn split

Austin Meadows hit a fourth-inning solo homer and seven Tampa Bay pitchers held Baltimore to five hits on Tuesday night, as the Rays beat the visiting Orioles 2-0 to split a doubleheader. Trying to avoid any potential impact from Hurricane Dorian, a decision was made to move up Wednesday's scheduled series finale to Tuesday for a traditional doubleheader. The Orioles (46-93) won the opener 4-2. Both teams will be off Wednesday.

In the mix for an American League wild-card spot, Tampa Bay (82-59) used a bullpen approach to stymie Baltimore hitters in the nightcap. Diego Castillo (3-8) was credited with the win after pitching two innings and Emilio Pagan earned his 17th save, as the Rays as a staff struck out 13 without a walk. The Orioles' best offensive threat came in the third when Chris Davis appeared to score from second on a throwing error off Richie Martin's bunt. However, Martin was ruled to have run outside of the baseline and was called out for batter interference. Davis was sent back to second and ended up stranded on third.

As in Game 1, Tampa Bay got on the scoreboard with a home run in the bottom of the fourth -- this time via Meadows' long drive to right field off Baltimore starter Gabriel Ynoa (1-8) for his 26th home run of the season and second in three games. Meadows, 7-for-13 in September, also made a sliding catch in the left-field corner to possibly save a run in the top of the sixth. The Orioles, meanwhile, have allowed a major league-leading 270 homers in 2019. Ynoa, who lasted 6 1/3 innings, also yielded an RBI single to Avisail Garcia in the seventh as Tampa Bay bounced back after its five-game winning streak ended with the opener.

Baltimore's Jonathan Villar had two hits in the nightcap. He's batting .357 in his last seven games. Tampa Bay's Ji-Man Choi left the game in the seventh after being hit in the face by the ball while sliding into third on a triple. Teammate Eric Sogard exited in the eighth when he was beaned in helmet by a pitch one inning later.

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