Rich Dubroff

Eflin throws 7 shutout innings against his old team as Orioles beat Rays, 4-1

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida—Exactly two weeks after the Tampa Bay Rays traded right-handed starter Zach Eflin to the Orioles, he returned to Tropicana Field to face the team he’d played with for the better part of two years.

Eflin pitched seven scoreless innings, equaling a season-high, allowing just four hits as the Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-1, before 20,673 on Friday night.

It was his third start for the Orioles, and Eflin (8-7) has won all three.

Colton Cowser led off the game with his 18th home run, the 11th leadoff homer by the Orioles. Ryan O’Hearn had a two-run single against Tampa Bay starter Zack Littell (5-8) in the fifth, and Cedric Mullins hit his 12th home run off Richard Lovelady in the sixth.

CONTINUE READING BELOW

Eflin walked Brandon Lowe, his second batter, in the first, and allowed singles to Jonny DeLuca in the second, Christoper Morel in the fourth and Tyler Walls in the fifth. Jose Caballero doubled with two outs in the seventh.

Eflin walked one and struck out seven, equaling a season high, throwing 94 pitches.

Seranthony Dominguez pitched a spotless eighth. Yennier Cano allowed a leadoff home run to Dylan Carlson in the ninth before retiring the final three batters of the game.

With the win, the Orioles (69-48) take over first place in the American League East by ½ game. The Yankees game with Texas was rained out.

Rich Dubroff

Rich Dubroff grew up in Brooklyn as a fan of New York teams, but after he moved to Baltimore, quickly adopted the Orioles and Colts. After nearly two decades as a freelancer assisting on Orioles coverage for several outlets, principally The Capital in Annapolis and The Carroll County Times, Dubroff began covering the team fulltime in 2011. He spent five years at Comcast SportsNet’s website and for the last two seasons, wrote for PressBoxonline.com, Dubroff lives in Baltimore with his wife of more than 30 years, Susan.

Share
Published by
Rich Dubroff

Recent Posts

  • Midday Mailbag

Could Orioles trade for Garrett Crochet? | MAILBAG

Question: Let’s kill two birds to tackle the O’s needs in one fell swoop. What…

November 22, 2024
  • Rich Dubroff

Orioles seem likely to bring back arbitration-eligible players

This week, Mike Elias marked his sixth anniversary as the Orioles’ executive vice president/general manager.…

November 22, 2024
  • Midday Mailbag

Will Orioles lose players in Rule 5 draft? | MAILBAG

Question: I see that the Orioles added two pitchers to the 40-man roster, ostensibly to…

November 21, 2024
  • Rich Dubroff

Burnes finishes 5th in Cy Young voting; Orioles’ bullpen additions; 2025 home game times

For the first half of the 2024 season, Corbin Burnes looked to be a contender…

November 21, 2024
  • The Bird Tapes

The Spirit of ‘66

BaltimoreBaseball.com is delighted to be partnering with John Eisenberg, the author and longtime Baltimore sports…

November 20, 2024
  • Rich Dubroff

Burnes, Santander reject $21.05 million qualifying offers from Orioles

Corbin Burnes, the top pitcher on the free-agent market, and Anthony Santander, who hit 44…

November 19, 2024