BALTIMORE _ The Orioles haven't had much of a September, but they wrapped up their home schedule with a 9-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday before 23,424 at Camden Yards.
J.J. Hardy delivered a tie-breaking two-run home run in the fourth inning and the O's prevailed even though scheduled starter Dylan Bundy had to be scratched before the game with a hamstring strain.
Chris Tillman took his place on a few hours notice and pitched the first four innings, allowing four runs on six hits before giving way to a parade of O's relievers. Tampa Bay starter Chris Archer also had a rocky start, allowing four runs in the first inning and leaving the game soon after allowing the two-run shot to Hardy.
Chances are that Hardy and Tillman were making their final appearances at Oriole Park as members of the home team.
Hardy has a large team option remaining on the contract he signed during the 2014 playoffs and there is little chance it will be renewed. Tillman is set to become a free agent this winter and will be coming off the worst season of his career, so it is unclear whether the Orioles will make an attempt to keep him.
The Rays scored a run in the first inning on a leadoff homer by Kevin Kiermaier and added three more in the second _ two of them on a long home run by catcher Jesus Sucre. Tillman retired nine of the last 11 batters he faced and left after throwing 65 pitches. The Orioles have five games left, so it's possible that he'll make one more start.
The O's had a number of offensive highlights. Adam Jones drove home the first two runs of the game with a solid double to right field and Chris Davis also drove in two runs. Rookie catcher Chance Sisco made his first major league start behind the plate and hit his second home run since joining the big-league club as a September call-up.
Rookie Trey Mancini singled in the eighth inning to extend his career-long hitting streak to 14 games and designated hitter Pedro Alvarez had his second multi-hit game in just his third start of the year.
Thanks to RBI hits by Jones, Davis and Alvarez, the Orioles jumped out to a very quick start against Archer, scoring four times in the first inning. That rally represented the most runs the Orioles have scored in the first inning since Aug. 12, when they scored seven runs in the first inning against the A's in Oakland.
Tillman stepped into Sunday's start to replace Bundy and did not get a moment to get comfortable on the mound. Kiermaier jumped on the first pitch of the game and drove it over the center-field fence for his third career leadoff home run.
Sunday's announced crowd of 23,424 brought the final 2017 Orioles attendance total to 2,028,424. That's the lowest total since the Orioles drew 1,755,461 in 2011 _ the last time they finished with a losing record.
