Rays carry combined perfect game into 9th, beat Orioles 4-1
BALTIMORE (AP) - The Tampa Bay Rays took a combined perfect game into the ninth inning before Hanser Alberto beat the shift with a leadoff single against Ryan Yarbrough, wrecking history in the making and taking some of the edge off their 4-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.
Ryne Stanek pitched the first two innings before Yarbrough took over.Yarbrough was literally unhittable - until the ninth.
Tampa Bay's try for the first combo perfect game in the majors came two days after a pair of Los Angeles Angels pitchers teamed up for a no-hitter.
Alberto pushed a grounder to the right side, precisely where the second baseman usually stands. Stevie Wilkerson followed with a single, and an RBI single by Anthony Santander off Oliver Drake enabled Baltimore to break up the shutout.
Emilio Pagan struck out Trey Mancini for his sixth save.
Yarbrough (8-3) allowed only five balls out of the infield by Baltimore, all of them becoming routine outs.
Michael Brosseau and Austin Meadows homered off Tom Eshelman (0-2) as Rays won three of four from the Orioles, who own the worst record in the majors.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.