Yandy Diaz went 4-for-5 with two doubles, four runs and four RBIs, and the Tampa Bay Rays exploded with the bats and blew out the Baltimore Orioles 16-6 on Monday evening in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The Rays moved to 13-3 since May 1 by posting five runs in the second inning, four in the fifth and four more in the sixth, recording a season-high 16 runs and 18 hits.
Junior Camimero had two hits, including a three-run homer, and four RBIs, and Ryan Vilade was 3-for-3 with a triple and three RBIs. Jonny DeLuca (double, three RBIs) and Taylor Walls (two doubles) had two hits apiece.
Starter Shane McClanahan (5-2) was one out from matching the franchise record of 24 2/3 scoreless innings by a starter shared by Alex Cobb (2014) and Alex Colome (2014-15) but had to settle for third-best after yielding a two-out RBI single to Adley Rutschman in the third.
The left-hander allowed four runs on six hits in five innings. He fanned six and walked two and is 7-0 in 10 starts against the Orioles.
Baltimore’s Pete Alonso had three hits, including a two-run double, and Weston Wilson and Rutschman (2-for-4, two RBIs) popped solo homers.
Wilson, who started at third base, pitched a scoreless eighth.
Struggling hurler Trevor Rogers (2-5) lost his fifth straight start by surrendering eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings with three whiffs and two walks.
The Rays were aided in the first inning by a fielding error by shortstop Gunnar Henderson that allowed Diaz to move to third and score on Vilade’s sacrifice fly.
Diaz and DeLuca each had two-run doubles in a six-hit second frame that produced five markers, and Caminero singled in one as the home side built a 6-0 lead.
Following Rutschman’s run-scoring hit, Vilade tripled in Caminero in the fourth to chase Rogers after both reached base with two outs. DeLuca’s infield single against reliever Cameron Foster made it 8-1 after four complete.
Wilson led off the fifth with his first homer, and Alonso doubled in two more to trim the deficit to 8-4.
Jonathan Aranda’s groundout and Caminero’s 13th blast made it 12-4 in the fifth.
In a four-run sixth, Richie Palacios had an RBI single, Diaz stroked his second double to score two and Vilade singled one in.
Rutschman homered in the seventh, and Blaze Alexander doubled in the eighth to close the scoring.
