ST. PETERSBURG -- After 18 straight innings without a run, the Rays finally broke through, just in time to squeeze out a 3-0 win over the Orioles in Friday night's series opener at Tropicana Field. Yunel Escobar broke a scoreless tie in the eighth with a single off second baseman Jonathan Schoop's glove, and Ryan Hanigan added a two-run single to left.Tampa Bay was shut out by the Blue Jays on Thursday and hadn't scored since the eighth inning of Wednesday night's game. 
But on Friday, facing the American League East leaders, the Rays loaded the bases with nobody out, bringing Escobar to the plate. The Tampa Bay shortstop hit a hard ground ball to second and Schoop couldn't handle the hop, with the ball squirting through into right field. Two batters later, Hanigan laced a base hit to provide the insurance.At first, though, it looked like the 14,632 fans in attendance at The Trop might be watching a repeat of Thursday night's 10-inning, 1-0 loss, when the Rays wasted Jake Odorizzi's dominant start and a golden opportunity for a ninth-inning walk-off.This time, it was Alex Cobb who turned in a gem for the Rays, tossing seven innings with six strikeouts a day after Odorizzi went 7 1/3 without allowing a run. Cobb's split-change didn't have the bite it often does, leading to several of the Orioles' six hits and some hard outs, but nothing on the scoreboard.Cobb notched his 11th consecutive start allowing two runs or fewer, extending the franchise record he set in his last outing.But the Rays' offense again looked helpless, this time against Wei-Yin Chen. Tampa Bay managed just four hits in six innings off the Baltimore southpaw -- one fewer than they got in seven innings against Blue Jays starter Mark Buehrle on Thursday.The Rays again wasted offensive opportunities, leaving the bases loaded in the second inning and failing to advance Evan Longoria after a leadoff double in the sixth. In the second, Sean Rodriguez struck out to end the inning, and in the sixth, it was Logan Forsythe who went down swinging.Rodriguez and Forsythe had both struck out with the bases loaded in the ninth inning Thursday in a 0-0 game before the Rays lost in the 10th.Finally, though, in the eighth, the Rays capitalized on their chance.David Adler / MLB.com
But on Friday, facing the American League East leaders, the Rays loaded the bases with nobody out, bringing Escobar to the plate. The Tampa Bay shortstop hit a hard ground ball to second and Schoop couldn't handle the hop, with the ball squirting through into right field. Two batters later, Hanigan laced a base hit to provide the insurance.At first, though, it looked like the 14,632 fans in attendance at The Trop might be watching a repeat of Thursday night's 10-inning, 1-0 loss, when the Rays wasted Jake Odorizzi's dominant start and a golden opportunity for a ninth-inning walk-off.This time, it was Alex Cobb who turned in a gem for the Rays, tossing seven innings with six strikeouts a day after Odorizzi went 7 1/3 without allowing a run. Cobb's split-change didn't have the bite it often does, leading to several of the Orioles' six hits and some hard outs, but nothing on the scoreboard.Cobb notched his 11th consecutive start allowing two runs or fewer, extending the franchise record he set in his last outing.But the Rays' offense again looked helpless, this time against Wei-Yin Chen. Tampa Bay managed just four hits in six innings off the Baltimore southpaw -- one fewer than they got in seven innings against Blue Jays starter Mark Buehrle on Thursday.The Rays again wasted offensive opportunities, leaving the bases loaded in the second inning and failing to advance Evan Longoria after a leadoff double in the sixth. In the second, Sean Rodriguez struck out to end the inning, and in the sixth, it was Logan Forsythe who went down swinging.Rodriguez and Forsythe had both struck out with the bases loaded in the ninth inning Thursday in a 0-0 game before the Rays lost in the 10th.Finally, though, in the eighth, the Rays capitalized on their chance.David Adler / MLB.com
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