Rays rally in 9th, but can't quite complete comeback as win streak ends at 9

ST. PETERSBURG -- For nine straight games out west, it felt like the Rays could do no wrong. Their lineup blasted homers and strung together rallies. Their starting staff was solid, and the bullpen shut things down behind them. They scored nearly twice as many runs as their opponents.

It takes a lot to put together a perfect three-series road trip, and it all seemed to go the Rays’ way.

That magic did not follow them back to Tropicana Field, although it looked like they were ready to create some more on their home turf Friday night. Instead, the Rays’ ninth-inning rally fell just short in a 6-5 loss to the Orioles, snapping their nine-game winning streak.

As much as they would have liked to keep the good times rolling at home, the Rays know they’re still in a good position with an American League-leading 74-47 record and a 6 1/2-game lead over the Yankees.

“It's just one loss, and we're coming off a great road trip, winning those nine straight,” first baseman Jonathan Aranda said through interpreter Kevin Vera. “We're one of the best teams in the league at home, so we've just got to keep doing what we do. Again, it's just one game. Nothing to worry about.”

In the ninth inning, the Rays provided a strong reminder that they didn’t leave their fighting spirit along the Pacific Coast. Trailing by four runs after a rare lapse by left-hander Garrett Cleavinger, a go-ahead hit off setup man Kevin Kelly and a two-run homer by Gunnar Henderson off Chris Roycroft, the Rays rallied once again.

The bottom of the order got it started against Orioles right-hander Yennier Cano, as Richie Palacios and Taylor Walls smacked back-to-back singles, then each moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch. Yandy Díaz struck out, but Aranda delivered a two-run single to right.

Chandler Simpson whiffed on the first pitch he saw, then took the next four to work a walk. Then he and pinch-runner Jorge Mateo pulled off a double steal. The heist gave Simpson an AL-best 35 stolen bases on the year and allowed Mateo to score on Junior Caminero’s groundout, making it a one-run game.

With the tying run at second, the Orioles pulled Cano, intentionally walked Liam Hicks and turned to right-hander Cam Sanders to face Ryan Vilade, who had replaced right fielder Victor Mesa Jr. in the eighth after Mesa exited due to a tight left hamstring.

Sanders got Vilade to swing at a first-pitch fastball, and it stayed in the ballpark and found the glove of center fielder Leody Taveras for the final out.

“I thought they had a bunch of good at-bats right there off a very talented pitcher in Cano,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Would expect that, just [with] the way this group goes about it. We just came up a little bit short.”

Had things gone differently earlier in the game, of course, the Rays wouldn’t have needed such a significant comeback effort.

They scratched across two runs against Orioles starter Chris Bassitt, with Palacios driving in one in the second and Mesa delivering an RBI single in the third. But their best scoring opportunity came and went in the second, as they loaded the bases with one out for Díaz and Aranda.

But Díaz popped out on the first pitch he saw from Bassitt, and Aranda flied out two pitches later to end the threat. Bassitt wound up working into the sixth inning, allowing only two runs on five hits.

“It was a big inning. It was a big spot, and we obviously want it back,” Aranda said. “In a perfect world, we're able to come through every single time, but it wasn't the case today.”

Still, the Rays had a chance with the game tied going to the seventh. They got to that point by cobbling together innings from opener Steven Matz, bulk-inning right-hander Jesse Scholtens (three innings, two runs), Cam Booser and Tyler Wells. They then turned to Cleavinger, who gave up a double to Henderson and a single to Christian Encarnacion-Strand within his first three pitches.

After Cleavinger fell behind pinch-hitter Jeremiah Jackson with one out, the Rays elected to intentionally walk Jackson and bring in Kelly. With the bases loaded, Kelly was looking for a strikeout or a double-play grounder from pinch-hitter Dylan Beavers. He got a grounder, but it rolled through the right side of the infield for a tiebreaking two-run single.

“I mean, the way our defense has been playing, I thought, 'Oh, ground ball. We've got a double play there,’” Kelly said. “It's just the way it goes sometimes.”

It just hadn’t gone that way for the Rays in a while before Friday night.