Orioles Fall Just Short Of Four Game Sweep Of Rays In 7-6 Defeat

The Orioles accomplished what they had to do on a 10-game road trip that could have shattered their season.

And after the first two series of this sojourn, it seemed like they were in fact on life support. Three straight wins over the Tampa Bay changed the tenor of all that, and they pushed the Rays for nine innings Monday, coming up just short. Baltimore fell, 7-6, to the AL’s top team, finishing this trip a more-than-respectable 5-5 and getting a chance to keep testing their mettle against quality opponents this week with the Yankees and Rays coming to Camden Yards.

The Orioles (61-64) continued to show guts and spunk lacking most of the season in this series finale, taking the lead on several occasions but unable to overcome inept outings by starter Brandon Young and reliever Yennier Cano. The bats brought thump again, finishing the series with slug after barely putting the ball in play in Texas and Minnesota. They did enough to keep things interesting with the schedule remaining tough.

“We would have liked to have won this one,” rookie skipper Craig Albernaz said, “but overall it was a really good series.”

Pete Alonso is certainly trying to carry this offense, Christian Encarnacion-Strand capped a great series with three hits and four driven in, but it wasn’t quite enough. Alonso produced his fifth straight multi-hit game, he extended his team lead to 28 homers and he also has 30 more runs driven in than anyone else on the roster.

Alonso has a .981 OPS since the All-Star break and is getting on base 41% of the time in that 28-game stretch. Its an MVP pace, over a short sample, and it probably has to continue if the O’s are going to make something of this season.

Gunnar Henderson has been responding to being dropped to the fifth spot for the third time in this series and he had a few more hits as well. Putting the ball in play, often a problem for this team this season, wasn’t an issue in Tampa. Tyler O’Neill hit in the leadoff spot for the second time in the past three days and he delivered two base hits, including one in the eight with one out and a full count that brought Alonso back to the plate with two on and the O’s down, 7-6.

Alonso struck out and Holliday grounded out against former Oriole reliever Bryan Baker. Baker, an All Star this season who hasn't been asked to get five outs previousy this season, completed the save in the ninth and was really feeling himself after, literally grabbing his crotch twice in a gesture toward the O’s dugout after the game.

Bats Were Not The Problem Tonight

Coby Mayo produced the first run with a 470-foot blast of Shane McClanahan (he owns lefties). Encarnacion-Strand, locked in and quite productive overall since he recall from Norfolk, delivered a two-run blast in the fourth (McClanahan couldn’t complete four innings), and the Orioles led, 3-1.

Young – in his first full season in MLB and seeming to tire some lately – was not crisp. He kept finding the middle of the plate and the Rays teed off on him whenever Young’s teammates staked him to a lead. He gave up eight hits in four innings and three homers in what was his least competitive start in quite some time.

"He just didn’t have his best command," Albernaz said.

Yandy Diaz hit a no-doubt bomb, Ryan Vilade’s homer made it 3-2 and ex-Oriole Jorge Mateo ended Young’s evening with a two-run blast in the fourth to give Tampa a 4-3 lead. Alonso’s opposite field shot tied it in the fifth and Encarnacion-Strand got a ball just over the left field wall to put the Orioles ahead, 6-4, after six.

Cano, in a funk and having issues commanding the bottom of the zone (where he lives), came undone in the seventh. Mayo couldn’t handle a ground ball at first (he rarely plays there) for an infield hit (Alonso, who has been dealing with a calf strain, likely makes that play). Cano hit the next batter, then Jonathan Aranda singled in a run and Cano, who has struggled against the Rays this season, left with the bases loaded after he could not field a grounder to the right of the mound as he charged it.

"Hopefully getting him out of the Trop … will get him back to being Yenny," Albernaz said.

Josh Walker entered the unenviable spot and Jonny DeLuca scored two runs with a high-chopper to left for a 7-6 lead. The Rays have been a scrappy operation all season, shattering expectations and getting contributions from all over. Taking four straight off them in their place was never going to happen without a fight, but the Orioles road trip was plenty to keep them in the hunt.

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