Bradley, Rays Bats Sparkle in 11-1 Rout of Orioles to Start Second Half

TAMPA, Fla. — There isn't a team in baseball that's knocked around Taj Bradley quite like the Baltimore Orioles have. On Friday night, though, the Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher turned the tables.

Bradley pitched six scoreless innings in the first game out of the break, allowing just three hits in an easy 11-1 win. He was on cruise control, which was a bit of a shocker considering the Orioles have smacked him around in six career starts. He has an 8.65 ERA over three years, but this season he's 0-1 with a 14.85 ERA and gave up seven runs before getting chased in the second inning.

He is well aware of the Orioles' success against him, but it doesn't get between his ears.

"Yeah, but that's just fuel to the fire to me, and I'm trying to get get-back,'' a smiling Bradley said in the Rays' jubiant postgame clubhouse. "You don't want to have their success be hanging over you whenever they come to a game. So they can be, he got us, we got him and the next time it can be a challenge again.

"It's a great way to start your weekend on a Friday night. Hits everywhere, runs everywhere. It's just a great way to start the second half.''

Bradley was never really threatened, and when he gave up two-out hits or a walk, he immediately ended the inning with the next batter. It was the fourth time in his last nine starts that he didn't allow an earned run and opponents are hitting just .168 against him with two outs.

His fastball was electric, and his cutter — ''my best secondary pitch right now'' — was untouchable. He's 6-6 now and his ERA is down to 4.35 now. He's been wildly inconsistent however — in those other four bad starts since June 7, he's given up 21 runs in 16 2/3 innings — but we saw no signs of that Friday night.

"I'm really happy that Taj came in and pitched so well,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "I mean, this team has come in and gotten some good swings off of him and he didn't let that affect the way he went about his business. He had a really good fastball, and he blew some of them right by some really good hitters. That was encouraging.''

The Rays gave him plenty of run support right from the get-go, and never let up. Fresh off his Home Run Derby and All-Star Game performances in Atlanta, Junior Caminero opened the scoring in the first with a three-run home run to left field, a 439-foot no-doubter. They added another run in the second on a Danny Jansen homer, his 10th of the year, and scored again in the third on a Josh Lowe double to take a 5-0.

They blew the game open in the sixth off former teammate Charlie Morton, scoring six runs. The big blast was a grand slam by Yandy Diaz, the second of his career. Jake Mangum and Brandon Lowe had infield hits ahead of him, and Chandler Simpson had a hit to left. Diaz now has 57 RBIs.

Caminero closed the scoring with a solo home run, his 25th of the season already. He has a team-leading 64 RBIs, He's third in the AL in homers, and fifth in RBIs.

With the win, the Rays — who went 2-8 brefore the break — are now 51-47 and remain 5.5 games behind Toronto in the AL East race. The Blue Jays beat San Francisco 4-0, but the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox both lost. The Rays need a hot start out of the break with home games against the last-place Orioles and Chicago White Sox, and this was a good start.

The two teams get together again on Saturday night, with Zack Littell pitching for the Rays against Dean Kremer, who's beaten the Rays twice already this season. The game starts at 7:05 p.m. ET, and the series ends Sunday with a 12:10 p.m. ET start.

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