Roberts' three-run homer caps Orioles' sweep of D-Rays

Orioles 10, Devil Rays 7

BALTIMORE (AP) -- There was no music in the clubhouse, no loud laughter. Maybe it's because the Baltimore Orioles figured it wouldn't be right to celebrate too heartily after a three-game sweep of the woeful Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Or maybe it was because they knew the New York Yankees are coming to town.

Brian Roberts hit a three-run homer, walked three times and scored twice, leading the Orioles past Tampa Bay 10-7 Thursday.

Kevin Millar, Nick Markakis and Chris Gomez had two RBIs apiece for the Orioles, now 9-4 since the All-Star break. Baltimore has won four straight and is 18-13 under interim manager Dave Trembley.

"I think this team is playing as good as we have all year long," Millar said. "We're finding a way to win, whether it's pitching, defense or outslugging the other team."

The validity of that statement will be tested this weekend, when Baltimore hosts the Yankees in a three-game series after completing a game suspended on June 28.

"It's as big as there is all year. We've got a hot team coming to town," Millar said. "I think we've been playing great baseball, so it's going to be a great series. We've got to bring our A game."

The Orioles had it going against the Devil Rays. After winning 3-0 and 6-1, they completed the sweep with a 12-hit attack.

"Everybody's picked it up, everybody's stepped up. It's been fun," Roberts said.

And then there are the Devil Rays, who have been outscored 64-20 during a six-game skid that included three losses in New York. Despite getting home runs from Carlos Pena and Ty Wigginton, Tampa Bay lost its ninth straight in Baltimore and fell to 1-8 against the Orioles this season.

The Devil Rays are 5-23 since June 25 and 4-19 in their last 23 road games.

"We've got to turn that around. We ran into the Yankees, and four games in three days hurt us there," manager Joe Maddon said. "These guys, we caught them at a bad time. They're playing pretty good."

Tampa Bay cut a four-run deficit to 6-5 in the fifth, but the Orioles pulled away with a four-run eighth against Al Reyes. After Jay Payton hit a sacrifice fly, Roberts hit his seventh homer.

The Devil Rays then scored two in the ninth off rookie Cory Doyne.

"I sure am glad we got that three-run homer in the eighth," Trembley said.

The victory put the Orioles (47-53) within six games of .500 for the first time since June 12. They were 29-40 when Trembley replaced fired manager Sam Perlozzo.

"We weren't playing up to our capabilities, and the last three weeks or so we have," Trembley said. "The reason we're going that is because guys are buying into playing as a team. We get contributions from a lot of people a lot of different ways."

Rob Bell (3-1), the first of four Baltimore relievers, got four straight outs after replacing ineffective starter Steve Trachsel.

Trachsel gave up five runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings, extending his run of starts without a win to six. He's 0-3 in that span.

"It wasn't a problem throwing strikes. It's that the strikes were up in the zone," Trachsel said. "I wasn't making very good pitches."

Tampa Bay starter Edwin Jackson (2-10) allowed six runs, seven hits and three walks in 3 1/3 innings. He threw six shutout innings against the New York Yankees in his previous start, but couldn't follow up with a strong encore and walked off the mound with a 7.00 ERA.

"It's not really disappointment. I know what I did. It's all on me," Jackson said. "I have to remind myself to be more aggressive and not to get behind in the count."

Pena's 24th homer put the Devil Rays up 1-0 in the first inning, their first lead in the series. Millar doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Gomez in the bottom half.

Carl Crawford doubled in a run in the Tampa Bay third. Baltimore batted around for only the third time this season in its half, scoring five times to take a 6-2 lead. Markakis hit a two-run single and Millar drove in two runs with a ground-rule double before scoring on a single by Gomez.

Wigginton hit his 16th homer in the fourth, and the Devil Rays used RBI singles by B.J. Upton and Delmon Young to chase Trachsel in the fifth.

Upton left the game in the seventh inning with back and leg cramps.

Game notes
Brandon Fahey had three hits for the Orioles, who have won six straight at home. ... Seventeen of Pena's 24 homers have been solo shots. ... Tampa Bay is 4-17 at Camden Yards over the last three seasons.