“Our approach can certainly be better,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We just have to come together a little better as a group.”

With the score 1-all in the seventh, Cedric Mullins reached on a bunt against Jalen Beeks (0-1). Chaz Roe entered and Mullins stole second before Alberto hit an opposite-field liner to right. Núñez followed with an RBI single, and José Iglesias added a run-scoring double into the left-field corner.

Valaika made it 5-1 with a solo shot in the eighth.

“Things are happening really good for us,” Núñez said. “Pitchers are throwing really good — starters, relievers. Everybody’s swinging the bat well. We’re bonding.”

Evan Phillips (1-0) pitched the seventh to earn his first major league win, and Cole Sulser picked up his third save as part of a Baltimore bullpen that held the Rays hitless over four innings.

“Just some bad situational hitting,” Tampa Bay outfielder Hunter Renfroe said. “We’ve got a day off tomorrow, so we’ll get a breather and get our feet back under us.”

Tampa Bay starter Yonny Chirinos allowed one run and four hits over 4 2/3 innings, the lone glaring flaw a drive by Núñez in the third. That’s the only earned run Chirinos has given up this season, leaving him with a 1.04 ERA in two starts.