The Orioles sent the tying run to the plate three times in the 9th, but couldn’t come up with the clutch hit, losing the series finale 3-1 to the Rays.
After managing only one base runner through the first eight innings, Colton Cowser stepped up to the plate in the 9th looking to ignite a comeback against former Oriole Brian Baker. After Baker got ahead 1-2, he left a changeup over the plate and Cowser powered it over the scoreboard in right for his 12th homer of the year.
Leody Taveras then tried to bunt for a single off Baker, with a rushed throw by Rays’ 3B Junior Caminero sailing wide of first base and allowing Taveras to motor to second. The heroics by the bottom of the lineup set up Jackson Holliday, Pete Alonso and Gunnar Taveras each with a chance to tie the game or extend the rally.
Holliday became the first out when he sent a 99-mph sinking line drive into center field right at Cedric Mullins. Alonso then stung a ball 99mph right up the middle, only for a perfectly positioned Richie Palacios to snag it and throw onto first for the second out. Gunnar then got ahead of Baker and turned a 2-0 changeup. However, the 103mph ground ball again found the glove of Palacios, who flipped it onto first to seal the Orioles’ loss.
A 6th inning that quickly went from mundane to disastrous ruined an otherwise excellent afternoon from starter Shane Baz and ultimately doomed the Orioles. After allowing just four base runners through the first five innings, the Orioles’ right-hander started the inning with two quick outs. Baz got Richie Palacios to fly out on two pitches for the first out, before striking out Taylor Walls looking on a 3-2 fastball.
The 27-year-old righty then got ahead of Yandy Díaz 0-2, but spiked two knuckle curves to even the count at 2-2. Baz’s third straight curveball then caught the bottom of the zone, with Díaz spraying it to second for the would-be third out. Instead, the ball snuck just under the glove of Jackson Holliday for an inning-extending single.
That was the beginning of the end of Baz and the O’s Sunday, as his start unraveled from there. Rays’ 1B Jonathan Aranda bounced a first-pitch changeup through the right side to send Díaz to third and give Tampa their second runner in scoring position of the afternoon. The Orioles’ starter quickly got ahead of Rays’ star Junior Caminero 0-2 and again tried to put Caminero away with a knuckle curve. Instead, the breaking ball bounced off the dirt, ricocheted off Samuel Basallo’s mask, and rolled just far enough from Basallo to allow Díaz to score from third.
With the Rays up 1-0 and Aranda now on second, Caminero sent a hard ground ball up the middle to bring Aranda home and double Tampa’s advantage. Baz would get one more batter, but walked Liam Hicks on five pitches to end his afternoon. After Grant Wolfram came in and allowed another RBI single to Chandler Simpson, it closed Baz’s final line at 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB and 3 Ks on 96 pitches.
As has been the case with Baz for most of the season, the stats don’t speak to how effective he was Sunday. He cruised through the top of the 1st against former All-Stars in Díaz, Aranda and Caminero on only 12 pitches. When he allowed his first base runner on a Simpson single in the 2nd, he responded by getting Jonny DeLuca to line out to right before Basallo gunned down Simpson trying to steal second.
The 27-year-old was at times effectively wild, as he had to work around two walks to post a scoreless 3rd. After issuing free passes to Cedric Mullins and Taylor Walls, Baz ran a 3-2 sinker in on the hands of Díaz to induce an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. Baz then breezed through a 1-2-3 4th inning on 13 pitches while setting down the heart of the Rays order. DeLuca would reach on a line drive single to left in the 5th, but was then erased on an inning-ending, strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play.
Even with the unfortunate events of the 6th inning, Baz pitched well enough to give the O’s a chance to win the game. However, as we’ve seen in most of Baz’s recent outings, the Orioles offense continued to give him little to no run support.
Facing Rays’ All-Star Nick Martinez, the O’s had one base runner while Baz was still in the game. That came via a Colton Cowser double in the 3rd. With one out, Cowser turned around a Martinez cutter, lacing down the right field line and into the corner. With the game tied at 0-0, the O’s had a great opportunity to take a lead, but instead, a Leody Taveras pop-up and a Jackson Holliday fly out to the track stranded Cowser at second. Martinez and two Orioles relievers combined to set down the next 17 Orioles in a row before Cowser’s home run off Baker in the 9th.
Some other notes from Sunday:
- Baz now has 15 runs of run support in his last 12 starts, a stretch that has seen the O’s go 1-11
- Baz is now the first pitcher in the majors this season to reach 14 losses
- Pete Alonso’s 0-for-4 afternoon snapped his career-high 14-game hitting streak
- The loss immediately dropped the O’s to 1.5 GB of the final wildcard spot, pending the outcome of the Rangers and Guardians games
