Shane Baz impressed, and the Orioles took advantage of a bad night for the Rays infield. It all added up to a 6-1 O’s win on Tuesday night at Camden Yards
This game sure didn’t feel like a winning performance out of the gate. Shane Baz, facing his old teammates, got into some trouble early. Chandler Simpson led off the game with a double, and then came in to score moments later on a Jonathan Aranda single into right field.
That easily could have been a situation that snowballed into an even deeper
ditch that may have proved impossible for the Orioles to dig out of. Instead, Baz got a double play off the bat of Richie Palacios to end the frame, and was dynamite from there on out.
From the second through the seventh innings, Baz allowed a handful of baserunners on singles and walks, but would work his way out of trouble each time. That was despite not having his best stuff. His fastball was down half a tick on the radar gun, but his whiff rate was right around where it normally sits at 21% in this one. The final line is a good one: seven innings, seven hits, one run, two walks, and nine strikeouts. His season ERA dropped for the third straight start, now at 4.48 on the year.
The Orioles offense showed some fight as well. They were outhit by the Rays 9-7, but they took advantage of their opportunities, going 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Three of their runs came in a wacky second inning. Samuel Basallo reached on an error by Rays starter Grffin Jax. Leody Taveras added injury to the insult by smacking a line drive off of Jax’s back to give the O’s two runners on with no outs. The Rays staff came out to check on Jax. He remained in the game though he would exit at the conclusion of this inning. Not before Jeremiah Jackson loaded the bases. Then, it seemed Jax had worked his way out the jam with a grounder up the middle, made to be a double play. Instead, the second baseman Palacios bobbled the grounder and got no outs at all. Jackson Holliday cashed in with an RBI single before Taylor Ward drove in the third run of the inning with a sac fly to center.
The Baltimore bats picked back up in the fifth inning. Holliday led off with a single, and then got to second on a Gunnar Henderson grounder that was bungled yet again by the Tampa defense. Palacios had fielded the ball cleanly and fed to Oliver Dunn covering the bag at second base. Dunn then threw to first but couldn’t retire the speedy Henderson for the twin killing. It seemed like a routine fielder’s choice, but the O’s video review crew noticed that Dunn’s foot was off the bag when he received Palacios’ throw. Craig Albernaz challenged and the call on the field was overturned, giving the good guys two runners on with just one out. That would come back to a bite a few batters later when Samuel Basallo launched a 405-foot homer to right center field, extending the Orioles lead to 6-1.
Outside of the two innings where they scored runs, the Orioles offense was rather quiet. Taveras and Holliday were the only two O’s with more than one out, and Basallo’s homer was their only extra-base knock. But if you score six runs in a game, you are going to win more than you are going to lose. And that was exactly the case tonight.
The bullpen did its job as well. Grant Wolfram allowed two hits but managed to work a scoreless eighth inning. And then Andrew Kittredge looked good in the ninth, retiring the Rays in order and recording a strikeout in the process. Getting both of them right will be key to returning this ‘pen back to the form we saw in April.
This was a relatively low-stress game from the Orioles perspective. For once, the bone-headed fielding mistakes and the fluky injuries were happening to the other team. We’ll take it.
Baz is the story of the game. The Orioles made a big investment in him this offseason. First, they traded a haul of prospects to a division rival in order to get him in the organization, and then they inked him to an extension. Considering all of that, they need him to be a frontline starter. Over the last few trips through the rotation, he has finally looked the part. The length and quality of his most recent outings has been impressive. Hopefully there’s more on the way.
This game earned the Orioles a series win against the current beasts of the AL East. That’s big. It’s now the second time this Orioles team has bounced back from disastrous showings the first time they face a division opponent to be much better the second time around. First it was the Yankees and now the Rays. Maybe there’s something to that.
Another win tomorrow would give them a sweep. That would be neat. First pitch of the series finale is set for 6:35 at Camden Yards. The Orioles are yet to confirm a starter while the Rays have committed to Steven Matz for the evening. Trey Gibson could be in line for the start. He is with the team as a member of the taxi squad.
Most Birdland Player
Presented for your consideration, here are the nominees for Most Birdland Player on May 26, 2026:
- Shane Baz (win, seven innings, one run, nine strikeouts)
- Samuel Basallo (three-run homer, two runs scored)
Who do you think is worthy of the honor? Let us know in the comments!
