Bases-loaded walk in 11th inning pushes Baltimore Orioles past Tampa Bay Rays

BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Orioles took an early three-run lead, could not hold it, fell behind in the 11th inning and then rallied to pull out a victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night.

Seth Smith drew a bases-loaded walk off Danny Farquhar with two outs in the bottom of the 11th to give the Orioles a 5-4 victory.

"Every win is big," Smith said. "That's all that matters at the end of the day, at the end of the season. (To) be down in extra innings and come back and win is always good for the morale and moving forward."

Tampa Bay (11-12) took a 4-3 lead in the top of 11th on a Jesus Sucre single off Alec Asher (1-0). The Orioles (14-6) then bounced right back with two runs in the bottom half.

Chris Davis started the inning with a single off Alex Colome (0-1). Welington Castillo added a one-out single that moved Davis to second. Hyun Soo Kim then walked to load the bases before Jonathan Schoop tied it with a sacrifice fly.

Ryan Flaherty walked to load the bases again, and Farquhar took over for Colome. Smith walked on four pitches to bring home Craig Gentry, who pinch-ran for Castillo.

"My mindset was, obviously, to get ahead," Farquhar said. "By the time I started throwing strikes, it was too late. The zone was small."

Baltimore has won a lot of close games in the early part of the season, but this victory seemed to give the Orioles a lift afterward, as they were happy with the way they kept fighting back.

"Very seldom are you going to be functional on all cylinders, but those are the types of games you like to win," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.

Tampa Bay rallied from an early 3-0 deficit thanks to two Tim Beckham solo homers -- his first multi-homer game -- and tied it when Brad Miller grounded into a force play in the eighth.

The Orioles wasted another strong start from Dylan Bundy, who gave up two runs and four hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Bundy kept the Rays quiet throughout most of his start, the first time this year he did not get a decision. Two of the four hits he allowed were the Beckham homers.

Tampa Bay starter Alex Cobb allowed three runs (two earned) in five innings.

The Orioles took an early lead with three runs in the second, the first coming on a Flaherty single and two more after that on a bizarre play.

Smith started things with a single to center, and Kevin Kiermaier's throw to third to get Flaherty went past Evan Longoria. Flaherty started for home and went back, but Cobb's throw back to third also was wild and went into left field. That brought in Flaherty and let Smith, who kept on running, come around to score for a 3-0 lead.

Smith did not get an RBI on the play, though he was credited with a single, and Kiermaier and Cobb both were charged with errors.

The strange play gave the Orioles an early lift.

"I was trying to steal second and he put the ball in play and it turned into a circus," Flaherty said. "Going to third the ball gets away, try to go home, then you realize don't go home. You go back to third, it ends up hitting you in the helmet. It bounces in the outfield (and two runs score)."

Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said, "That was a deflating inning. No doubt about it."

Beckham cut the lead to 3-1 with a leadoff homer in the third. That was the first home run Bundy gave up in 33 1/3 innings, dating to 2016.

Beckham did it again in the fifth, hitting a homer to left and making it 3-2.

NOTES: LHP Zach Britton (left forearm strain) threw a side session before the game, and if he feels all right, will pitch a rehab assignment at Double-A Bowie on Friday. He should be just a few days from coming back to the Orioles. ...RHP Jake Odorizzi (strained left hamstring) threw a 65-pitch simulated game, felt fine and said he will be ready to pitch for Tampa Bay on Monday against Miami.