J.J. Hardy homered twice, doubled and drove in five runs, and the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 9-2 Tuesday night and moved into a tie for the AL East lead.
Hardy went 4-for-5 to help Baltimore pull even atop the division with the New York Yankees, who lost 4-3 at Boston. The Rays are two games behind the co-leaders.
Chris Davis homered and Matt Wieters had three hits and two RBIs for Baltimore.
Hardy hit a two-run homer in the third inning, doubled and scored in the fifth, singled in a run in the sixth and added his 21st homer with a runner on in the eighth. It was his ninth career two-homer game, the second this season.
Baltimore starter Jason Hammel left in the fourth inning with an injured right knee. The right-hander underwent arthroscopic surgery on that same knee in mid-July and was making his second start since returning from the disabled list.
Hammel had no problem with the knee on Thursday night against the Yankees, and retired 11 of 13 Tampa Bay batters before exiting.
Steve Johnson (3-0) got the win with 1 1 of hitless relief. /3 innings
Ryan Roberts and Elliott Johnson hit solo homers for Tampa Bay. It was the first time since Aug. 4 that the Rays lost by more than two runs; eight of their previous 12 defeats were by one run.
Roberts left in the sixth inning with a left forearm strain, the result of a tag he made at second base.
Tampa Bay left-hander Matt Moore (10-10) threw 94 pitches over four innings.
