At this exact moment, the Orioles are tied for the third wild card spot in the American League. This is going to change as other games finish on Sunday. For now, that’s where they are. They pulled themselves up by exploding from having the bases empty and two outs in the seventh inning to score seven runs in the inning, blowing out a Rays team that’s been the best team in the AL by far. This 10-2 victory was the third straight win in the series for the Orioles. They can be a fun team when everything
is working. It’s easy to forget that when nothing is working.
The two teams traded zeroes in a first inning that was eventful in the top and the bottom half of the inning. After Pete Alonso was hit by a pitch – it hit his forearm, he seemed fine and stayed in the game – Gunnar Henderson rocketed a line drive that was headed for the right field corner. With a lucky stab and lunge, Rays right fielder Ryan Vilade caught the liner. Alonso was already around second base and missed re-tagging the base on his first pass, so he was easily doubled off. That’s some real Henderson 2026 luck right there.
In the bottom of the inning, Rays leadoff batter Yandy Díaz opened with a single. Great, you might have thought if you’ve watched enough of this team’s baseball this year. Here we go again. Orioles starting pitcher Trevor Rogers got the next two outs before Vilade added a single. This play involved Dylan Beavers throwing in to the wrong base, so Vilade actually made it to second base on the single while Díaz advanced to third. Rogers got Chandler Simpson to line out and end the inning, so none of this impacted the runs column of the scoreboard.
The scoreless tie remained until the bottom of the fourth inning, when it was once again Vilade victimizing the Orioles. He led off the inning with a solo homer. Rogers retired the next three guys, but the damage was done. The Rays had a 1-0 lead. Could the Orioles counter?
As it turned out, yes! The bottom of the lineup took advantage as command fled from Rays starter Freddy Peralta. Leody Taveras and Coby Mayo each drew walks. After Mayo’s walk, catcher Yohel Pozo came to the plate. Pozo hit a liner to the Rays shortstop that was initially ruled a double play on the field. After a replay review, the call was overturned because Taveras clearly slid back into second base in time. Tampa changed pitchers at this point, bringing in lefty reliever Garrett Cleavinger to face Jackson Holliday.
Given this new life in the half inning and with the lineup turning over to the top of the order, the Orioles did not miss their chance. Holliday lined the ball up the middle for a game-tying hit, then Alonso quickly gave the O’s their first lead of the day with a double down into the corner in left field, easily scoring both Mayo and Holliday. This was, as it turned out, all the runs that they would need. They went ahead and added to this 3-1 lead anyway.
Rogers followed with the often-elusive “shutdown inning,” which is to say that after his offense gave him a lead, he didn’t give the runs right back. The Rays did get a one-out single, but that was it.
You would not have guessed from the first two batters of the sixth inning that the Orioles were about to blow the game open. They each made outs that were not at all threatening. When Taveras came to the plate, there was nobody on and two out. Starting with Taveras, eight straight Orioles reached base, and when the dust settled on all of that, seven runs had crossed the plate.
Colton Cowser hit a two-run homer left-on-left to score Taveras. Holliday scored two runs with a double, in part thanks to Pozo doing a nifty slide even though the throw beat him home. The Rays challenged in vain. The bases were loaded after this and Christian Encarnacion-Strand cleared them with a double. Almost in no time at all, the Orioles scored seven runs here and put this thing out of reach.
The Rays got one back off Rogers in the bottom of the sixth inning, setting what ended up as the 10-2 final score. Rogers had a pretty good day, allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk over a six-inning outing. He struck out six batters. His “great since June 1” stretch of season continues. That’s 13 starts in that time with an ERA under 2.50.
Alex Hoppe, Grant Wolfram, and Albert Suárez each added a scoreless inning of relief on the way to the blowout victory. This was the third straight win for the Orioles over the Rays, guaranteeing them a win over the four-game set. There’s a chance for a sweep/mop tomorrow, if they can manage to keep playing well.
After this win, the Orioles still sit below .500 at 61-63. This is good enough to be in an AL playoff spot nonetheless. The competition has been tripping over themselves perhaps almost as much as the Orioles have done. They have a real, no-joke chance to do this thing. It’s not guaranteed. A tough schedule awaits them, including the Yankees starting on Tuesday and the Rays again in Baltimore next weekend. This is a lot more interesting than things looked ten days ago.
Brandon Young and Shane McClanahan are the scheduled starting pitchers as these teams wrap the set with a 6:05 start time on Monday.
