Rays fall in finale after atypical struggles from Bradley, bats

BALTIMORE -- As hot as the Rays have been lately, with 26 victories in their past 37 games, it almost feels unusual when they don’t find a way to win.

But there was no dramatic rally in store on Sunday afternoon. There were no crooked numbers lining the scoreboard. They fell behind early, couldn’t come back and left Camden Yards with a 5-1 loss to the Orioles.

It was a rare series defeat for the Rays, only their fifth in their past 20 sets. But they weren’t going to let the disappointment follow them home, where they’ll play three games against the A’s before heading back out on the road for 10 games.

“There's no point in dwelling on losses and stuff like that in such a long season,” second baseman Brandon Lowe said. “It's, 'What can we do better?' You think about it right about here [in the clubhouse], and the shower kind of takes off the loss, then you get on the plane and it's time to get ready for the A's.”

Here are three takeaways from Sunday’s series finale.

1. Mixed results from Bradley
Taj Bradley couldn’t have been much better in Kansas City on Tuesday night. The right-hander carried a perfect game into the sixth and ultimately allowed two hits over 6 2/3 scoreless innings. After a frustrating stretch in which he allowed 19 runs (13 earned) in 9 1/3 innings over his previous three starts, it seemed like he had turned a corner.

Then Bradley gave up five runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings on Sunday. It was an unusual outing, as he wasn’t hurt by home runs, and his lone walk was erased when Danny Jansen and Taylor Walls caught Jackson Holliday stealing in the first inning.

But Bradley only struck out two of the 24 batters he faced, and Baltimore simply beat him with balls in play.

“Just a competitive lineup,” said Bradley, who has an 8.65 ERA in six career starts against the Orioles. “They put bat on ball, got a bunt for a hit, did the small-ball stuff to get runs in.”

The lack of strikeouts is worth noting, though. Bradley has recorded two strikeouts or fewer in three of his six starts this month (including both starts against Baltimore) after having only two such outings in his first 11 games of the season, and he had two strikeouts or fewer in only two of his 25 starts last season.

“That goes back to the Oriole lineup. They do a good job of hitting balls hard and working deep counts and hanging in there and preventing swing-and-miss,” manager Kevin Cash said. “They did a good job.”

2. An unusually quiet afternoon
The Rays racked up 19 runs in the first two games of the series, which was impressive but not really out of the ordinary for a lineup that entered Sunday leading the Majors in runs per game (6.1) and all three triple-slash statistics (.285/.352/.474) since May 20.

But they couldn’t get anything going in the series finale. In fact, they didn’t even get a runner to third base until Lowe broke up the Orioles’ shutout bid with a ninth-inning homer off Félix Bautista.

“It’s baseball. I think that they executed over there,” said Jansen, who was robbed of a two-run homer by Colton Cowser in the eighth. “I think that we competed in the box, every guy throughout the lineup all day, and [they] definitely just silenced us when it mattered.”

The Rays were shut down by Orioles starter Dean Kremer, who allowed only three hits and a walk while striking out six over seven innings. Kremer has been tough on Tampa Bay for years, going 4-0 with a 1.15 ERA in seven starts against the Rays since the beginning of 2022.

“He does pitch us really tough,” Cash said, “and no different today.”

3. Veteran hitters on a roll
Lowe’s 18th homer of the season extended his hitting streak to 16 games, the longest active run in the Majors. He’s hitting .403 with five home runs during that streak, which has boosted his average to .275 and his OPS to .815.

Yandy Díaz extended his on-base streak to 23 games with a first-inning single and a ninth-inning walk. Díaz’s return to form has produced an incredible month, as he’s batting an MLB-best .406 with a 1.102 OPS, five homers and 13 RBIs in June.

With one more game left in June, Díaz could join Fred McGriff (.422 in July 1999) and Matt Joyce (.414 in May 2011) as the only Rays hitters to bat .400 or better over a full calendar month.