The Baltimore Orioles hit four solo home runs off Chris Archer and defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 6-1 Friday night for their first 4-0 start since 2011.
Chris Davis homered and scored three runs for the Orioles, who were coming off a three-game sweep of Minnesota. The best start in franchise history is 5-0 in 1970.
Davis hit his second homer of the season in the second inning, and three of his teammates went deep in the fifth: Jonathan Schoop, Nolan Reimold and Manny Machado.
Archer (0-2) allowed six runs, 10 hits and a career high in homers over five innings. The Rays' opening day pitcher is winless in eight starts since Aug. 31 at Baltimore.
Chris Tillman (1-0) gave up one run and four hits in five innings. He retired the last nine batters he faced.
Evan Longoria homered for the Rays, who have gone deep in a club-record 19 consecutive games. It's the longest streak in the majors since Seattle connected in 23 straight games in 2013.
But that was the extent of the Tampa Bay offense. The Rays were limited to five hits, four of them singles.
Longoria's first home run of 2016 staked Tampa Bay to a first-inning lead. It was his seventh career homer off Tillman, the most against any pitcher.
Davis tied it in the second with a shot to center, his 800th career hit.
Matt Wieters put the Orioles ahead with an RBI single in the fourth, and Baltimore pulled away with a four-run fifth. Schoop started the barrage with a drive to center on Archer's first pitch of the inning, and two outs later Reimold and Machado connected in succession.
Wieters made it 6-1 with a liner up the middle that struck Archer.
The Orioles played a second straight game without center fielder Adam Jones, who is experiencing soreness in his ribcage.
"Take another day and see how it feels," Jones said before the game.
Baltimore shortstop J.J. Hardy also sat out the game with "calf tightness," according to manager Buck Showalter.
To fill the hole, Machado moved from third base to shortstop and Ryan Flaherty stepped in at third for his first action of the season.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rays: Manager Kevin Cash intended to shuffle his lineup this series to prevent some of his starters from pulling muscles in the cold. "We're not looking to risk any additional injury because of the temperatures," he said.
Orioles: LHP Brian Matusz (ribcage) pitched a scoreless inning for Double-A Bowie against Akron and could come off the DL on Sunday.
UP NEXT
Rays: Weather permitting, Drew Smyly (0-1) gets his second start of the season Saturday night. Snow is in the forecast.
Orioles: Right-hander Mike Wright is looking to make his 2016 debut Saturday. He went 3-5 in 12 games last season.
