Cruz 2 homers, Rays hand Orioles 13th straight loss, 10-0

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Nelson Cruz homered twice, three pitchers combined on a four-hitter, and the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays extended the Baltimore Orioles' losing streak to 13 games with a 10-0 victory on Tuesday night.

Cruz moved past Dave Kingman into 42nd place on the all-time home runs list with 443. His three-run shot off John Means (5-5) during a five-run fifth inning made it 8-0, and he hit a two-run shot in the sixth against Tanner Scott. The slugger, acquired from Minnesota on July 22, has seven of his 26 homers this season with Tampa Bay and has 39 career multi-homer games.

“He has really thickened us a lot,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We have guys like that in our league that you just know where they're at and you know the positive effect it has on everybody throughout the lineup.”

Next on the home run list for Cruz are Vladimir Guerrero and Jeff Bagwell, who are tied for 40th with 449.

“Never imagined growing up that I'm going to hit that many homers and I'm going to be on that list,” Cruz said. “I played with Vladdy. He was my idol growing up, the guy I wanted to play like. Just blessed.”

Drew Rasmussen allowed one hit over four innings, Adam Conley worked a hitless fifth and Chad Ellis (1-0) got his first major league win with three-hit ball over the final four innings.

Mike Zunino homered in his fifth consecutive game for the Rays, who are 13-1 against Baltimore this season. Tampa Bay has scored at least nine runs nine times and reached double digits five times in the season series.

Tampa Bay holds a season-high five-game divisional lead over Boston and the New York Yankees, who swept a doubleheader from the sliding Red Sox.

Baltimore has been outscored 123-36 during its current skid and is in danger of overtaking Arizona as the majors'...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Cruz-2-homers-Rays-hand-Orioles-13th-straight-16394130.php