Tampa Bay Rays defeat Orioles 5-4

Jerry Sands smacked a go-ahead, pinch-hit two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Tampa Bay Rays to a 5-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles in the opener of a three-game set.

Evan Longoria worked a leadoff walk against Darren O'Day (2-1) before O'Day struck out Ben Zobrist and induced a fly out off the bat of James Loney. Brian Matusz then came on and Sands, who replaced David DeJesus, belted a towering shot that curled around the left-field foul pole to give the Rays a 5-3 lead.

Juan Carlos Oviedo allowed a solo homer to Delmon Young with one out in the ninth, but recorded the final two outs without conceding another hit to pick up his first save of the season.

[SportsNetwork.com]