 struck out eight, walked none and lowered his AL-best ERA to 1.47. It's been an impressive turnaround for the right-hander, who entered this season with a 4-16 lifetime record.The first time Glasnow went up against Baltimore this season, he retired the last 10 batters he faced in a 4-2 victory. This time, Glasnow started with 11 straight outs before Dwight Smith Jr. beat out an infield grounder.Glasnow gave up a single in each of the next two innings but did not allow a runner past first base. He is the first pitcher in franchise history to begin the season with seven consecutive starts of at least five innings without yielding more than two runs.On this occasion, Glasnow received ample offensive support from a variety of teammates. Zunino snapped an 0-for-17 skid with a three-run homer off Dan Straily (1-2) to make it 4-0 in the fourth inning, Tommy Pham had three hits and two RBIs and rookie Nate Lowe picked up his first big league RBI with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.In an AL East matchup between the first place Rays and the last place Orioles, Tampa Bay got the only run it needed before Straily recorded the first out.Brandon Lowe and Pham opened the game with successive doubles for a 1-0 lead. The Rays wasted a leadoff triple by Kevin Kiermaier in the second but batted around in a four-run fourth that including a sacrifice fly by Ji-Man Choi.Baltimore finished with five hits, all of them singles, in falling to 3-11 at home.TRAINER'S ROOMRays: INF Matt Duffy (hamstring tightness) began his rehabilitation assignment Friday night with Class A Charlotte., going 0 for 3 and playing third base. ''We'll just kind of take it day to day and see what we're hearing from him,'' manager Kevin Cash said. ... RHP Jose De Leon (Tommy John surgery) is slated to pitch two inning for Charlotte on Saturday, his first outing since August 2017. ... OF Austin Meadows (right thumb sprain) had the cast removed and has started to hit off a tee.Orioles: LHP Richard Bleier (left shoulder tendinitis) has been throwing well in extended spring training and ''coming out of games healthy,'' according to manager Brandon Hyde. Bleier's velocity is on the rise but Hyde said there is no timetable for his return. ... Eager to get back to the big leagues after a 20-game debut in 2017, minor league OF Austin Hays (thumb injury) began his rehab assignment with a six-inning stint in extended spring training.UP NEXTRays: RHP Yonny Chirinos (4-0, 3.48 ERA) plays the role of the opener Saturday, making his fourth start and seventh appearance of the season. He's averaged six innings in his three starts.Orioles: RHP Dylan Bundy (0-4, 6.67) starts for the seventh time, still looking for his first win of 2019. He's allowed nine HRs in 28 1/3 innings and has lost four straight starts.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Rays' Glasnow (5-0) starts opener at Baltimore Tampa Bay's Tyler Glasnow, the American League Pitcher of the Month for April, looks to improve to 6-0 when the visiting Rays open a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday.Glasnow, who is 5-0 with a league-leading 1.75 ERA, has benefitted from excellent control, striking out 38 hitters and walking just seven in 36 innings.His last time out, Glasnow allowed two runs on six hits in 6 2/3 innings of a road win against the Boston Red Sox on Sunday. The right-hander struck out nine and walked one."I thought he was outstanding," manager Kevin Cash told the Tampa Bay Times. "He kind of picked up where he's been all season. To limit that offense like that in this ballpark is really challenging. And it speaks volumes to how good his stuff was." Glasnow, 25, went 1-5 with a 4.20 ERA in 11 starts last season for the Rays after they got him in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 6-foot-8 California native said the biggest difference this season has been his mental approach."Just mentality and confidence," he told the Times. "Just going out and believing in my stuff. Just really going out and competing." Glasnow's mound counterpart Friday will be Dan Straily (1-1, 6.75 ERA). The Baltimore right-hander is coming off a no-decision against the Minnesota Twins in which he allowed an unearned run over four innings, though the run scored on his throwing error.Straily has a 2.57 ERA in his past three starts."Seems like every pitch I threw, these guys found a way to foul it off today," Straily told the Baltimore Sun. "Just wasn't able to go deep into the ballgame like you want to as a starting pitcher. But I was able to give our team what I had inside me today." Straily is 1-1 with a 3.75 ERA in two career starts versus the Rays.Glasnow is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in two career starts against the Orioles. He beat them in St. Petersburg, Fla., on April 16 when he allowed two runs in seven innings while striking out 11.The Rays head to Baltimore after earning a split of their four-game road series against the Kansas City Royals with a 3-1 win on Thursday. Brandon Lowe hit a two-run, tiebreaking homer with two outs in the ninth inning on the day when he was selected the American League Rookie of the Month for April."To win an award like that, you have to be doing something right, and he did it right again today," Cash said. "He came up in a huge, clutch situation." Tampa Bay trailed 1-0 after three innings but tied the score in the fifth on consecutive singles by Willy Adames, Nate Lowe and Guillermo Heredia.The Orioles, who were off Thursday, returned home after splitting a doubleheader with the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.Stevie Wilkerson hit a three-run homer, and the Orioles won the opener 5-4 on Jonathan Villar's tiebreaking sacrifice fly. The White Sox rallied with two runs in the ninth for a 7-6 victory in the second game."It was a chilly day and a long doubleheader, and I think we battled for 18 innings," Wilkerson told reporters. "We got the win in the first one. Came up short there in the second game." --Field Level Media
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