Field Level Media
May 13, 2018
Joey Rickard made his return to the major leagues in style, hitting two homers and driving in five runs as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 17-1 on Sunday at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Rickard was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk on Sunday and hit a solo homer in the second inning and got the big hit in a seven-run fourth inning, a three-run blast to give Baltimore an 11-0 lead.
The Orioles took three of four from the Rays in this series and have won five of their last six games after having hit four homers in Sunday's contest.
Danny Valencia and Rickard hit back-to-back homers off starter Blake Snell (4-3) in the second for a 2-0 lead. Later in the inning, Trey Mancini banged a third solo homer.
The Orioles added a run in the third and four more in the fourth before Rickard's homer made it 11-0.
The Orioles also scored six in the eighth for a 17-0 lead and finished with 19 hits. Valencia (four hits) drove in four runs while Mancini, Manny Machado, Craig Gentry and Jonathan Schoop also knocked in two.
Baltimore finished with season highs in both runs and hits.
That gave starter Dylan Bundy plenty of support on a day when he was trying to turn things around.
Bundy (2-5) rebounded strongly from three poor starts where he allowed a total of 22 runs in nine innings. The right-hander gave up just two hits in seven shutout innings.
Snell had not allowed more than two runs and five hits in any of his last six starts. This time, though, the left-hander gave up five runs on six hits in 3 1/3 innings, including those three homers in the second.
The Orioles also called up pitcher Donnie Hart from Norfolk and sent Rule 5 selection Anthony Santander to Double-A Bowie and pitcher Jimmy Yacabonis to Norfolk. In addition, they claimed infielder Renato Nunez from Texas in a waiver deal and moved infielder Tim Beckham to the 60-day disabled list.
Hart gave up the only Tampa Bay run, which scored on a Denard Span RBI single in the eighth.
Outfielder Johnny Field pitched a scoreless eighth for the Rays.
--Field Level Media