Rays veteran pitcher Nick Martinez proves to be an effective skid stopper for AL East leaders

BALTIMORE (AP) — Mired in an uncomfortable slump that uncomfortably shortened their lead in the AL East, the Tampa Bay Rays were desperate for a victory.

As he had done for much of the season, 36-year-old Nick Martinez delivered.

Martinez retired 18 of the 19 batters he faced Sunday, and the Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-1 to avert a three-game sweep.

After losing three straight and seven of nine, Tampa Bay turned to the crafty right-hander to end the skid. Martinez and former Rays starter Shane Baz traded zeros until Tampa Bay broke it open with a three-run sixth.

“We needed a big start, obviously, and Nick provided that,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.

It's been that way for much of the season. Signed as a free agent in February, Martinez (13-4) has been a steadying force for the Rays. Tampa Bay is 7-1 after a loss when Martinez starts, and few of those wins were bigger than this one.

“Hopefully, it creates some momentum for us going forward,” said Martinez, whose only mistake over six innings was yielding a third-inning double to Colton Cowser.

His fifth scoreless outing of the season came after he yielded six runs over 3 2/3 innings in a loss against Toronto on Aug. 18.

“There's no real correlation between starts,” Martinez insisted. “You have to have that mentality after some outings not to let it snowball. I was able to do that today, and hopefully get us going in the right direction.”

There was no margin for error in this one, because Baz was mowing down the Rays for five innings. Then, after Tampa Bay broke through in the top of the sixth, Martinez knew he had to ring up another scoreless inning to keep the lead intact.

“I was focusing on throwing up a zero right there after you see the team put together a good inning,” Martinez said. “I was able to do that.”

Martinez has won a career-high four straight road starts. Now the Rays head to Detroit to try to build back up a lead over New York that has shrunk from 6 1/2 games on Aug. 15 to just three games on Sunday night.

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