Orioles opening day starter Jason Hammel took the mound against his former team the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday at Tropicana Field. He matched arms with American League Cy Young award winnder David Price and walked away a winner.
Hammel (1-0) opened the season with three scoreless innings before allowing a Ben Zobrist solo homer in the fourth. He allowed the Rays to take the lead in the sixth with two runs, but remained in the game long enough to see Baltimore rally for a 7-4 victory.
The right-handed starter allowed three earned runs on three hits and a walk over six innings and 75 pitches. He struck out two batters and 43 of his pitches went for strikes.
Hammel, who went 3-0 with a 1.73 ERA over his first four starts last year for the Orioles, will make another start this week on Sunday against Minnesota.