On Wednesday afternoon, their last game at home before heading out on the road, the Rays were hoping to continue to widen their lead in the AL East by sweeping the Orioles in their three-game series. To get there, they had Steven Matz on the mound, up against Shane Baz for the Orioles, and if you had to do a double-take on that name, same, because I sometimes forget players aren’t still with us, no matter how long it has been.
Gunnar Henderson got things going for the O’s in the top of the first with a one-out single, followed by a walk to Adley Rutschman. With two on, Matz worked out of the jam and got the final two outs. In the home half, Jonathan Aranda walked, and then, thanks to an ABS challege in the Rays’ favor, Ryan Vilade walked as well. They were both left stranded, though.
The Orioles went 1-2-3 in the top of the second. And just when it looked like the Rays might do the same, Hunter Feduccia got a two-out home run, his first homer in the majors. Taylor Walls walked, but the Rays would need to settle for just the one run.
With one out in the third, Taylor Ward walked thanks to an ABS challenge. Henderson then singled. With two outs, Pete Alonso singled, bringing Ward home and tying up the game. The Rays got the final out of the inning on a night Jonny DeLuca catch that might have just been an excuse to show off his incredible hair.
Junior Caminero started the home half of the third with a single, but Aranda grounded into a double play. They weren’t able to make anything else happen for the inning.
The Orioles went 1-2-3 again in the top of the fourth, and the Rays returned the favor in the bottom of the inning.
Matz was done after four with a final line of 4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K on 67 pitches. With Matz just returning from the IL it makes sense that they don’t want to overwork him. He was replaced by Jesse Scholtens. The O’s managed a two-out single by Henderson, but it was all they managed to get. The Rays went 1-2-3 in the home half.
Pete Alonso broke the tie game in the top of the sixth with a solo home run. Then, with one out and to almost the exact same place in the park, Samuel Basallo hit a solo homer of his own. Jeremiah Jackson singled, but the Rays got out of the danger zone, keeping the lead from getting any bigger. Still, they were going to need to dig themselves out of a hole if they wanted to come away with the win. They didn’t do themselves any favors in the home half, going three-up, three-down.
Ward got a leadoff walk in the seventh, then with one out he advanced to second on a balk, but despite the runner in scoring position, the Orioles weren’t able to make anything happen. Baz was done, being replaced by Tyler Wells, so if you’re keeping track with have a Taylor Walls, a Taylor Ward, and now a Tyler Wells in this game. He got the Rays out in order.
In the top of the eighth, Basallo and Colton Cowser got back-to-back singles with one out in the inning. The Rays did get themselves out of another jam, though, but they were running out of chances to stage a comeback. Anthony Nunez was the new Orioles pitcher in the eighth. Feduccia got a leadoff… bunt? Yup, a little soft bunt down the third base line got him safely to first, so who am I to question it? Highlight of the inning was the O’s challenging a ball call and hearing the home plate umpire with a hot mic go “Oh geez” when he realized it was actually a strike. With one out, Chandler Simpson grounded into a force out to eliminate Feduccia. Caminero fought out a good at-bat and finally got a well-placed single into right to advance Simpson to third and putting the go-ahead run at the plate. Aranda went right into hero mode, hitting a line drive to center that was deep enough to allow both baserunners to score and tying the game up again 3-3.
Vilade walked, and that was it for the pitcher. Rico Garcia was next out of the pen. Richie Palacios then came in, singled to right, and Aranda ran so hard his helmet could not contain his hair. The Rays had the lead. Then the vibes kept things rolling as Palacios stole second and Vilade stole home. A lineout ended the inning but the Rays were now up 5-3.
Ian Seymour came in for the ninth, now just needing to keep the score in check, and he did just that. The Rays made it tense for fun, but they got the sweep when all was said and done.
