Flushed! Rays Bounce Back From Ugly Rout With 11-3 Gem Over Orioles

BALTIMORE, Md. — The Tampa Bay Rays were embarrassed Friday night, but to a man they all vowed one thing. They promised, as professionals, that they would flush that loss and be ready to go again less than 24 hours later.

Boy, were they ready.

The Rays roughed up the Baltimore Orioles 11-3 on Saturday afternoon at Camden Yards. The rout came on the heels of a franchise worst 22-8 loss on Friday night, and they completely flipped the script a day later, right from the first pitch. And that was one big flush.

"After last night, to come out and put up a four-spot in the first, that was something,'' said outfielder Jake Mangum, who had three hits. "It continues to speak on what this team can do and the type of team we are. It's not like it was a must win, but to put up four in the first says a lot about this team.''

What said a lot — and should be shouted about — was how they scored those four runs in the first inning off of former teammate Zach Eflin. Josh Lowe led off the game with a double just four pitches in, and four pitches later, Brandon Lowe singled to center for a quick RBI.

After a Yandy Diaz ground out, first baseman Jonathan Aranda hit a massive 467-foot two-run home run onto Eutaw Street behind the right field wall at Camden Yards. It was the third-longest home run at the ballpark in the Statcast era (since 2015), and also the third-longest in Rays history.

It went a long, long way. But even Aranda was stunned it went that far.

"I was happy for the result, but I wasn't expecting it to be a home run, and even less that it was going to be the distance that it was,'' Aranda said through translator Eddie Rodriguez. "I'm happy for the result, but I didn't expect it to go that far.

"It feels good to hit a ball like that, but you don't really know what you have in storage. It feels good. I think we were able to turn the page real quick, and that's what good teams do. ''

They also got a great start from Zack Littell, who pitched seven innings and gave up just one run and three hits, saving a taxed bullpen that had to cover seven-plus innings in Friday's blowout. It may not have been his most important win of the year, his seventh, but the timing was certainly excellent.

"After you take that lead in the first inning, you just want to get your guys off the field. I'm very proud of what I did,'' Littell said. "But for these guys to go out and do that, getting four runs in the first, especially after last night when (the pitchers) let the guys down, that is a testament to them. That's why we've been winning the way we have, and that was pretty cool to watch.''

Eflin left after the first inning with lower back issues, but the Rays continued to hit anyway. They added four more runs in the fourth, and tacked on solo run run in the fifth and two more in the seventh. Five guys — Josh Lowe, Yandy Diaz, Junior Caminero, Mangum and Chandler Simpson had multiple hits.

Shortstop Taylor Walls was the only starter without a hit, but he had two RBI sacrifice flies. And lefty Joe Rock, who was called up earlier in the day, pitched the final two innings in his major-league debut.

The win raised their record to 47-36. It's too early to be scoreboard watching — or is it? — but with the New York Yankees' 7-0 loss to the A's on Saturday afternoon, the Rays are now just a half-game out in the American League East race. Since May 20, a good six weeks now, the Rays are 25-10, the best record in baseball.

The blast was Aranda's 10th home run of the year, matching his career total from parts of three seasons in 2022-24 where he never played more than 42 games and hit .221 in 293 at bats. Now he's playing every day and hitting .330 with 43 RBIs

Littell, who's been around the 27-year-old Mexican for nearly three years, isn't surprised by Aranda's success. It was just a matter of time — and playing time — he said.

"Honestly, it wasn't like he wasn't this guy the first couple of years, it's just more about being able to get him in the lineup every day,'' Littell said of Aranda. "He had a torrid spring in 2024 too, and then broke his hand. That slowed him down.

"It was just a matter of time to get him in the lineup every day, and this kind of stretch he's having has been impressive, especially from a quote-unquote younger guy.''

The Rays and Orioles will wrap up the series on Sunday, with Taj Bradley taking on Dean Kremer. The game starts at 1:35 p.m. ET.

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