ST. PETERSBURG -- In a season where so much has gone wrong for the Orioles, so much went right for them against the AL-leading Rays at Tropicana Field on Wednesday.
And it still wasn’t enough.
A four-run eighth inning quickly turned what had been a very positive series finale for Baltimore into a demoralizing 5-3 defeat before what will likely seem like a long flight home.
“It’s a big-time gut punch, for sure,” manager Craig Albernaz said.
The Orioles were one out away from taking a two-run lead into the ninth inning, but getting that third out proved to be extremely difficult for reliever Anthony Nunez, just as it was for starter Trevor Rogers in Monday’s loss. A Junior Caminero single put the tying runs on base for Jonathan Aranda, who was able to drive a two-strike changeup at the very bottom of the zone into right-center field for a game-tying double.
“Aranda, I tip my cap to him,” Nunez said. “I located a great pitch … and he drove it into the gap.”
Nunez’s outing ended after a walk to Ryan Vilade, but for the second consecutive game, setup man Rico Garcia couldn’t put out the fire in the eighth. He permitted a go-ahead single to Richie Palacios before the fourth run of the inning scored on a double steal. Baltimore ended its six-game road trip at 1-5 and is now 13 games behind the Rays in the AL East after this three-game sweep.
“Thought we had them,” first baseman Pete Alonso said of the Rays, “but we've got to close the door.”
This series was a homecoming for Alonso, who is a Tampa native. He sported a Plant High School T-shirt before each of the three games as a show of support for his alma mater, which is about a 30-minute drive to the east.
Speaking of drives, Alonso got the Orioles on the board in the third inning with a game-tying RBI single. Then, in the sixth, he put Baltimore ahead with his ninth home run of the season. The Polar Bear got a four-seamer in the middle of the plate from reliever Jesse Scholtens and muscled it into the right-field seats for a solo shot.
Alonso, who also had two lineouts on the afternoon, came into this series batting just .215 with a .712 OPS. He picked up five hits and four RBIs in 12 at-bats in his journey back home, where he looked much more like the $155 million bat the Orioles landed this past winter.
“We’ve got to trust our instincts, trust our preparedness, and go out and play free and play with our heads on fire,” he said. “Because I think that's the biggest thing.
“[The season] obviously hasn't gone great. But right now, I think we're kind of playing back on our heels. People, myself included, are trying to be a little too perfect at times, so I think if we kind of just free up a little bit, free up and just play ball, I think that execution and being more aggressive is going to come.”
Alonso’s solid day at the plate, as well as a three-hit afternoon from shortstop Gunnar Henderson, supported starting pitcher Shane Baz, who experienced a different kind of homecoming.
Five months after the Orioles acquired Baz from the Rays for four prospects and a 2026 Draft pick, the right-hander put together what he admitted was probably his best start of the season. Entering the day with a 5.26 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP over 51 1/3 innings, Baz limited his former team to two hits and one run over six innings while striking out six. He retired the final 11 batters he faced in his 11th career start at Tropicana Field.
“A little weird at first, definitely, just not really being here for so long,” Baz said about his return to the Trop. “I felt like I settled in well and started making pitches and got some stuff working for me, so it was good.”
Alas, what looked like it would go down as Baz’s second win with the Orioles ended up being a tough-luck no-decision for him in the team’s last game before opening a 10-game homestand Friday against the Tigers.
“We'd love to have a few of those games back, but I think everybody in the clubhouse is really good about just looking forward,” he said. “I know guys are ready to get home and just put up a good series.”