ST. PETERSBURG -- For a moment, Richie Palacios thought the ball was bouncing the Rays’ way Saturday night at Tropicana Field.
With two runners on, two outs and the Rays trailing by a run in the 10th inning, Palacios pulled a 1-2 pitch from right-hander Cam Sanders down the line, then breathed a sigh of relief as the chopper veered into foul territory before reaching first baseman Pete Alonso for the final out.
And when he knocked the next pitch in the exact same direction and got the exact same favorable hop into foul territory?
“I'm like, ‘All right, this must be a sign,’” Palacios said.
After taking the next pitch, Palacios hammered a changeup down the right-field line. He briefly thought he’d ended the game with that swing, that it would land safely in right field and drive in both runners. But it wasn’t meant to be this time.
The ball found the turf in foul territory, and Palacios went down swinging on the next pitch to end the Rays’ 4-3 defeat against the Orioles. After a 9-0 road trip, Tampa Bay has begun this homestand by dropping consecutive games for the first time since a five-game losing streak from July 12-19.
Of course, losing back-to-back one-run games is hardly cause for panic for the Rays, who still hold a 6 1/2-game edge over the Yankees for the American League’s best record.
“I think we'll rattle off nine more wins. That's just the way I think about it. I don't think we'll buy too much into two losses in a row,” closer Bryan Baker said. “We’ve got plenty of baseball left, and we're in a really good spot, so we'll be good.”
It looked like they might be good on Saturday night. Down by one with two outs in the ninth, the Rays once again put their grit on display.
First, Yandy Díaz swatted a single to center off Andrew Kittredge. Then Jonathan Aranda slapped a base hit through the right side of the infield, and pinch-runner Jorge Mateo sped to third base. Up came Junior Caminero, who reached across the plate and chopped a grounder toward third base.
As Mateo dashed home and Caminero hustled down the line, Christian Encarnacion-Strand couldn’t handle the ball. Caminero high-stepped past the bag, shouting in celebration as the crowd of 28,055 -- the highest attendance at this ballpark since May 7, 2023 -- roared in approval.
“He's come up big so many times for us this year. Sometimes you don't have to hit it 110 mph. You'll take the chopper that plays in the infield,” manager Kevin Cash said. “He was pumped. Really ignited our crowd, and what a great crowd we had.”
But closer Bryan Baker immediately gave up a run in the 10th on a Tyler O’Neill single. Although that was the extent of the damage, it turned out to be enough for the Orioles to hand the Rays their fifth extra-inning defeat.
“Tough to lose a ballgame on a runner that didn't earn his way there, but just got to execute better whenever they are out there and try not to give up any singles,” Baker said.
In the end, the Rays were left to lament the minor mistakes they made earlier in the night.
They finished 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position, and a missed opportunity in the fourth inning loomed large. They had two runners on with nobody out, but Jonny DeLuca, Cedric Mullins and Palacios went down in order against Orioles starter Kyle Bradish, who gave up two runs in six innings.
“Felt like we had some innings maybe starting to go our way,” Cash said, “but their pitching did a nice job.”
The Rays also had an opportunity to create a bigger inning in the third, when Palacios reached on a hustle double and scored from third on an errant back-pick attempt. Palacios had advanced to third on a hit by Taylor Walls, who was thrown out at second after shortstop Gunnar Henderson stepped on his forearm.
The Rays argued for obstruction, but Walls was called out. If Walls had been safe, he likely would have scored the go-ahead run on Aranda's single two batters later.
“Felt like he blocked the bag,” Cash said.
Meanwhile, left-hander Ian Seymour gave up three runs in six innings while striking out nine. It was his third straight quality start and the sixth time in 10 outings since June 25 he pitched at least six innings while allowing three runs or fewer, but Seymour was frustrated by the solo homers he allowed to Alonso in the fifth and Encarnacion-Strand in the sixth.
“Just can’t give up a home run in those situations in a tight ballgame,” Seymour said. “Maybe it doesn’t hurt you if you’re up by five, but in a one-run game, I’ve just got to make some better decisions and execute a little bit better.”