The Orioles took the field tonight in pursuit of a four-game sweep against the first-place Rays. The offense put the team in a position to pull it off, but the bullpen failed to hold the advantage. Yennier Cano allowed three runs in the seventh, and the Rays got the last laugh with a 7-6 win.
Coby Mayo got the Orioles on the board with the fourth longest home run of the season. Mayo has salivated at the sight of lefties this season, and he took Rays starter Shane McClanahan to task. Mayo got ahead in the count before receiving a fastball down the middle. The 24-year-old barreled the ball and sent it 468 feet to an area of Tropicana Field that does not see many baseballs.
Brandon Young got through the first two innings unscathed but gave one back in the third. Young caught too much of the plate with a 2-2 fastball, and Yandy Díaz evened the score at one with a solo shot.
The Orioles offense did not waste any time reclaiming the lead. Jackson Holliday led off the fifth with a single to right, and Mayo responded with another extra-base hit against a southpaw. Mayo ripped a ball down the left field line to put two runners in scoring position with nobody out. Gunnar Henderson struck out swinging, but Christian Encarnacion-Strand came up with the big hit. With the infield playing in, CES smoked a ball up the middle to provide Baltimore a 3-1 advantage.
Unfortunately, Young failed to deliver a shutdown inning. Ryan Vilade trimmed the lead in half with a solo homer, and Richie Palacios reached base with a two-out single. Young came within one strike of escaping the inning with the lead, but former Oriole Jorge Mateo smoked an 0-2 slider for a go-ahead, two-run homer.
Once again, the Orioles offense came to life for their starter. Facing former teammate Tyler Wells, the Orioles followed Tampa’s blueprint from the prior inning. Pete Alonso quickly evened the score at four with an opposite-field homer. Henderson came through with a two-out single, and Encarnacion-Strand delivered a big fly to secure a 6-4 advantage.
The Orioles did not provided Young another opportunity at a shutdown inning. Instead, Craig Albernaz handed the ball to Cam Sanders. Sanders continued his Cinderella start to his Baltimore career with two shutout innings. Sanders struck out three and did not allow a base runner in the fifth or sixth innings.
Baltimore had its bullpen setup after a blowout win yesterday, and Sanders bridged the gap with two strong innings. Regrettably, things did not go as planned.
Yennier Cano replaced Sanders in the seventh and failed to record an out. Cano allowed a leadoff single to Taylor Walls, plunked Díaz, and surrendered a run-scoring single to Jonathan Aranda. Junior Caminero followed with an infield single, and Albernaz summoned Josh Walker with the Birds clinging to a one-run advantage.
Jonny DeLuca flipped the one-run deficit into a one-run lead for Tampa Bay. With the infield playing in, DeLuca delivered a perfect Baltimore chop that skied over Encarnacion-Strand at third.
The inning could have continued to spiral, but Henderson helped stop the bleeding with a wonderful play at short. Chandler Simpson ripped a ball up the middle, but Henderson picked the ball, tagged second, spun and fired to first for a double play. The Orioles intentionally walked Vilade with two outs, and Walker got Cedric Mullins to fly out to left field.
Baltimore attempted to battle back in the eighth. Carlos Narváez worked a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and made it to third base with only one out. The Rays summoned All-Star closer (and former Oriole) Bryan Baker to face Pete Alonso. Alonso looked at multiple fastballs before striking out on a changeup, and Jackson Holliday grounded out with the tying-run still 90 feet away.
Rico Garcia kept it a one-run game with a scoreless eighth, but Baker returned for his first five-out save of the season. Coby Mayo popped a ball up, and Gunnar Henderson grounded out for the first two outs. Encarnacion-Strand punched a two-out single the other way, and Dylan Beavers entered as a pinch-runner. Albernaz sent out Leody Taveras to hit for Jeremiah Jackson, but Taveras went down swinging for the final out.
Baltimore won a pair of one-run games at the start of the series before smoking the Rays 10-2 last night. The offense showed plenty of life again tonight by out hitting the Rays 14-12. Unfortunately, Tampa Bay is a good team. It’s difficult to fault the Birds for only taking 3-of-4 on the road, but this team needs every win it can get if it hopes to secure that final playoff spot.
Nevertheless, Baltimore should return home feeling confident. They’ll start a three-game series against the Yankees with Shane Baz set to face Carols Rodón. The Orioles are 61-64.