Tampa Bay Rays at Baltimore Orioles

Sarasota, Florida: The over 7,000 fans that packed the newly renovated Ed Smith Stadium were treated to a duel treat, a nicely renovated stadium and a slugfest between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Baltimore Orioles. Both clubs combined for eight homeruns and when the bats quieted, the home team Orioles won the game 12-6.

The hit parade started in the first inning with the Orioles offense jumping all over the Rays starter Andy Sonnanstine. The Orioles struck for four runs on three home runs in the inning. Brian Roberts led off the inning with a single to right field. The remaining three hits of the inning all left the yard. Nick Markakis hit a two run homer while Vladimir Guerrero and Adam Jones each had a solo home run to put the Orioles ahead 4-0.

The Orioles went yard twice in the second inning. This time it was Jake Fox getting on the home run train followed by a second home run by Markakis to extend the lead to 6-0.

The Rays finally reached the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning. Sean Rodriguez led off the inning with a line drive single to center. Rodriguez then stole second and later scored on an RBI double by Evan Longoria to pull within five runs of the lead.

But the Orioles offense countered with some more run support in the bottom half of the fourth. JJ Hardy singled to left to lead off the inning. Hardy advanced to second on a wild pitch by Rob Delaney. Then Matt Wieters struck an RBI double to center, scoring Hardy. Wieters later scored on an RBI single by Fox. Roberts followed with a double to right, moving Fox to third and giving the Orioles two runners in scoring position. Then Markakis continued his tear at the plate, delivering an RBI single to score Fox. Guerrero drove home the final run of the inning with a sac fly and the Orioles now held a 10-1 lead.

The Rays added another run in the top of the fifth inning on a solo home run by Kelly Shoppach

Then the Rays found the long ball again in the sixth inning. This time back to back home runs by Manny Ramirez and BJ Upton added two more runs to the scoreboard.

The Rays continued to show signs of life and try to keep in the ballgame as they struck for two more runs in the top of the seventh. Brandon Guyer earned a walk to lead off the inning. He then advanced to second on a single by Desmond Jennings. Both runners advanced a base on a ground out by Tim Beckham. Justin Ruggiano played the first run of the inning with a double to right field. Then Jennings scored on a sac fly by Chris Carter to pull the Rays to within four runs of the lead 10-6.

But the Orioles closed the door in the seventh with two runs of their own. Brandon Snyder hit a two run double to center, scoring Ryan Adams and Brendan Harris, giving the Orioles the 12-6 margin of victory.

The bigger story of the day was ribbon cutting of the newly renovated Ed Smith Stadium. A special pregame ceremony thanked the contractors who worked hard in the offseason to renovate the stadium and have it ready for opening day. The $31 million dollar renovation has transformed the aging stadium into one of the premiere spring training stadiums. The stadium now features a second level concourse, VIP boxes, lounge, team store, café, HD video scoreboard and many more state of the art enhancements.

Click on the photo above for pictures from the Rays/Orioles game.

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