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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Baltimore Orioles starter Ubaldo Jimenez pitched the team's first complete game in two years while Chris Davis did what he has been doing against the Tampa Bay Rays all season. Davis went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs to lead the Orioles to a 7-3 win against the Rays at Tropicana Field on Monday.
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Jimenez (6-11) retired 25 of the final 26 batters he faced.
"It's never easy to get people out," Jimenez said. "(Matt) Weiters helped me out a lot. He put the right fingers down and everything was good."
Jimenez said he felt good after seven innings and thought he could finish the game. He threw 114 pitches, 75 for strikes, and struck out six while giving up three runs and two hits.
"I looked up and I only had 80 pitches," Jimenez said. "So I was like, 'I have a chance.' I just needed another quick inning and I got it."
Davis hit a solo homer, his 34th of the season, off Rays starter Matt Andriese in the top of the fourth inning and added a two-RBI single in the top of the fifth.
Baltimore (75-62) erased an early three-run deficit and blew the game open with five runs in the fifth inning.
Trailing 3-2 in the top of the fifth, left fielder Hyun Soo Kim hit a double to right field and center fielder Adam Jones singled to put runners at the corners with no outs. Andriese appeared to be on his way out of the jam when he struck out designated hitter Pedro Alvarez and third baseman Manny Machado.
But Davis' short single to center plated both runners to give the Orioles a 4-3 lead. Right fielder Mark Trumbo and second baseman Jonathan Schoop added RBI singles to finish the surge.
"I have been trying to do that the whole year," Davis said. "I was hoping I could rise up to the challenge and I was happy with the way things turned out today."
Andriese (6-7) gave up seven runs and nine hits in five innings. He struck out seven but had two wild pitches.
"They're an aggressive team," Andriese said. "I was trying to make a pitch where we needed a couple strikeouts. Maybe I was a little too fine in the fifth inning, and things got away."
Tampa Bay (58-78) jumped on Jimenez in the bottom of the first when first baseman Logan Morrison hit his 13th homer of the year, a three-run shot that scored Kevin Kiermaier and Evan Longoria for a 3-0 lead.
"Overall we have to do a better job of getting the ball in the zone and barreling him up," Morrison said. "There's no reason he should've thrown a complete game against us today. I think we got ourselves out a lot."
Jimenez shut down the Rays after that, limiting them to just one base runner in the final eight innings.
"It was fun," Davis said of Jimenez's outing. "I felt like there was a sense of urgency on the field and the outfield to make the play when you see a guy battling like that and just continuing to go out there and throw strikes."
Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Jimenez has handled the season well despite his ups and downs and it was nice to see him put it all together in a start.
"I don't think there's anybody on the team that our guys pull for more just because of the way he conducts himself through adversity," Showalter said. "He's pitched some really good baseball for us."
NOTES: Rays 3B Evan Longoria left the game in the fifth inning with soreness in his right hand. He was hit on the hand by a pitch from Ubaldo Jimenez. X-Rays on the hand were negative. "The best news of the game was negative on Longo," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "He'll go day-to-day." ... Rays INF Matt Duffy was out of the starting lineup with a sore Achilles after playing the past three games. He was brought in as a replacement for Longoria in the fifth inning. ... Orioles LHP Brian Duensing is with the team after coming off the 60-day disabled list. He had cartilage chips removed from his left elbow in June. He worked some extended innings outings in rehab and manager Buck Showalter said he may help the team in that area. ... Orioles RHP Chris Tillman threw a bullpen session Sunday and RHP Darren O'Day threw off a half-mound. Both are expected to throw again Wednesday.
