Major League Baseball
Tampa Bay 2, Baltimore 0
When: 7:05 PM ET, Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Where: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, Maryland
Temperature: 59°
Umpires: Home - James Hoye, 1B - Will Little, 2B - Jeff Kellogg, 3B - Tim Timmons
Attendance: 11472

BALTIMORE -- A couple of rainy days in Baltimore forced Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash to make some tough decisions.

Luckily, he has a strong corps of relievers fully prepared to improvise.

After starter Erasmo Ramirez was a late scratch, the Rays used five pitchers and limited the Orioles to two hits, leading the way to a 2-0 victory Tuesday night.

The Tampa Bay bullpen retired 17 consecutive batters before Orioles first baseman Chris Davis earned a two-out walk in the ninth. The Rays (11-11) won for only the second time in nine road games.

"We just kind of adjusted on the fly real quick," Cash said. "We were kind of in the same boat last night with (Chris Archer) starting; we didn't want to burn our starter. Having the versatility of having those guys who can go multiple innings, like (Chase) Whitley and (Austin) Pruitt, helps us a ton. Everything kind of worked out for us. We were really fortunate."

The Orioles (13-6) still have an opportunity to remain undefeated in seven series this year. They took opener of the three-game series Monday.

Pruitt made the spot start after Cash opted to move Ramirez into the bullpen because of the "uncertain weather conditions." Pruitt was used as a starter in the minors, and he made eight appearances as a reliever for the Rays this season.

"The mindset doesn't really change at all," Pruitt said. "You throw strikes and see what happens."

Pruitt pitched through a steady mist of rain and threw three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out three.

The fourth Rays pitcher, Whitley (1-0), threw three perfect innings with three strikeouts to get the Rays into the ninth. That opened the door for Alex Colome to pick up his fifth save.

"I think it was just an unbelievable job by the guys in front of me," Whitley said. "Pruitt set the tone and did a really good job of getting out of it early."

Left-hander Wade Miley (1-1) struggled with his command but managed to keep the Orioles in the game. Miley allowed two runs on four hits with eight strikeouts and six walks, one shy of a season high.

After Miley walked the first two batters to open the fourth, Tim Beckham lined an RBI single up the middle. Derek Norris followed with a sacrifice fly that increased the Rays' lead to 2-0.

"You know what, it gave us a chance," Miley said. "Their guys did a great job of making pitches tonight and overall the walks obviously hurt in the fourth inning. I had some command issues. I've got to nail that down and put some work in and find out what's going on with that and move forward."

Tampa Bay right fielder Steven Souza was back in the lineup after sustaining an elbow injury the previous night while scaling the wall in an attempt to haul back a home run by the Orioles' Hyun Soo Kim. Souza, who was named the American League Player of the Week on Monday, finished with three of Tampa Bay's six hits Tuesday.

"You've got to tip your hat to them," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "But what people miss, it's kind of the way the game changed, you're seeing all kind of different stuff and it's not always the starter. So many adjustments have to be made, and when they're all operating like they were tonight, it's really a challenge."

NOTES: Rays RHP Jake Odorizzi (hamstring) was expected to throw live batting practice Tuesday, but the wet weather in Baltimore derailed those plans. Instead, he will throw on the field Wednesday. ... The Orioles recalled LHP Paul Fry from Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday. To make room, RHP Stefan Crichton was optioned to the Tides. ... Rays OF Colby Rasmus (groin) got the day off Tuesday from his rehab assignment at Double-A Montgomery. The plan now is for him to play Wednesday and Thursday, manager Kevin Cash said.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Tampa Bay   Baltimore
Austin Pruitt Player Wade Miley
No Decision W/L Loss
3.0 IP 7.0
3 Strikeouts 8
1 Hits 4
0.00 ERA 2.57
Hitting
Tampa Bay   Baltimore
Steven Souza Jr. Player Chris Davis
3 Hits 1
0 RBI 0
0 HR 0
3 TB 1
.600 Avg .333
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Tampa Bay 6 0 6 .200 15 8 2 7 0 0
Baltimore 2 0 3 .069 9 9 0 2 0 0