Huff, Olson help O's cool off Rays

Aubrey Huff hit a two-run homer as the Baltimore Orioles downed the Tampa Bay Rays, 7-4, in the opener of a three- game set at Camden Yards.

Melvin Mora drove in a pair of runs while Luis Hernandez went 2-for-4 with two runs scored for the Orioles, who snapped a two-game skid. Garrett Olson (1-0) picked up the win as he gave up just two runs on four hits with five walks and six strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings of work.

B.J. Upton smacked a two-run homer while Carl Crawford and Akinori Iwamura each drove in a run and scored a run for the Rays, who had a six-game winning streak stopped. Jason Hammel (2-2) got the loss as he was banged up for three runs on six hits in 2 2/3 innings of work.

The Orioles grabbed the lead in the second with a pair of runs. With one out, Ramon Hernandez and Luis Hernandez hit consecutive singles. After Brian Roberts flied out, Mora and Nick Markakis hit back-to-back RBI singles and Baltimore had a 2-0 lead.

Baltimore grabbed another run in the third on an RBI double from Ramon Hernandez that scored Huff, who led off the inning with a walk, for a 3-0 lead.

Tampa threatened in the fifth when the team put its first two runners on base. However, Olson retired the next three batters to get out of the jam.

The Orioles further padded their lead in the sixth with four runs. With runners on second and third, Mora lifted a sacrifice fly to left that scored Luis Hernandez. After Scott Dohmann took the mound, Kevin Millar punched a run-scoring single to center and Huff followed with a shot over the center field wall for a 7-0 lead.

The runs proved fortunate as Tampa plated four runners in the seventh inning to get back into the contest. With Jason Bartlett on first, Iwamura punched a double to center to score Bartlett. After Randor Bierd took the mound, Crawford belted a run-scoring single to center and Upton followed with a shot over the right field fence to make it a 7-4 game.

The Rays were unable to get any closer, though, as George Sherrill worked around a two-out walk to pick up his 10th save of the season.

(abcactionnews.com)