Rays Get Plenty of Heat and Rain, But Not Enough Runs in 5-3 Loss to Orioles

The Tampa Bay Rays played the hottest game of the season on Sunday and also had the longest rain delay. Between it all, Ryan Pepiot gave up three home runs and a ninth-inning rally fell short in a 5-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. Here's the game story.

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Ryan Pepiot gave up five runs on Sunday — the second-most he's allowed all year — in a 5-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

TAMPA, Fla. — No one is a bigger critic of Ryan Pepiot's pitching than Ryan Pepiot himself, and the Tampa Bay starter had a lot to be critical of Sunday. He took full responsibility for the Rays' 5-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, missing out on a sweep right out of the All-Star break

Pepiot gave up a leadoff home run to Jackson Holliday in the first inning just two pitched into the game on a 93-degree day, the hottest home game in Rays history. He also gave up leadoff homers to Alex Jackson and Ryan O'Hearn in the third and sixth innings, respectively, plus a two-run double in the third. The five earned runs were the second-most he has allowed all season, topped only by the six he allowed to Boston April 15.

"Usually you say solo shots don't kill you, but three of them? And then two more runs in third on the double?'' a frustrated Pepiot said. "Overall, it's frustrating with the end line of it. I filled up the zone and threw a lot of strikes, but it's just one of those days.

"I'm hard on myself, probably too hard. A lot of people tell me that. I just care about everybody in this room and I want to win every time I take the mound. It's on me. Give up five runs, and it just sucks.''

It was frustrating all around because the Rays had won the first two games of the series in dramatic fashion and really wanted the sweep. They scored solo runs in the third and fourth on a Junior Caminero RBI single in the third and a Danny Jansen homer, his 11th of the year, in the following frame.

It was 5-2 through six innings when the rains showed up Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, and everyone sat through a 2 hour, 36 minute rain delay, the longest of the season by far at their temporary outdoor stadium.

When play resumed, not much happened until the bottom of the ninth. Jansen led off the inning with a walk and went to second on a passed ball. Taylor Walls, who got the start at shortstop, then singled to center field to score Jansen. With two outs, Orioles closer Felix Bautista walked Ha-Seong Kim and Yandy Diaz to load the bases, and then went to a 3-0 count on Caminero, the All-Star who's had a hot bat.

Caminero thought he had a walk on a 3-0 pitch on the outside edge, but it was called a strike. He then chased a sinker away to make it 3-2 and couldn't catch up with another 96 mph sinker to end the game.

"Getting the tying run to the plate is kind of the name of the game in the ninth and we did that. We got it going and we had our chance,'' Walls said. "Unfortunately, we just couldn't scratch enough across. But you can't hang your head too low on that. We did what we could. We fought back and got runners on, and Junior had a great at-bat. Maybe the 3-0 was a ball, I'm not sure.''

The Rays are now 52-48 and are 100 games into the season. The three teams ahead of them in the American League East — the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox — all won on Sunday, leaving the Rays 6.5 games out in the division race and 1.5 games outside of the wild-card picture behind Boston.

The Rays are back at home on Monday night, opening a three-game series with the Chicago White Sox. First pitch is at 7:35 p.m. ET

Related Rays stories

• RECORD RAIN DELAY: The Tampa Bay Rays are no strangers to rain delays, especially when calling an outdoor stadium home. However, Sunday's delay against the Baltimore Orioles marked the longest of the season. CLICK HERE

• SIMPSON CONTINUES TO SHINE: Tampa Bay Rays rookie center fielder Chandler Simpson is epitomizing what it means to be reliable and consistent while developing along the way. CLICK HERE

• TOM BREW COLUMN: Tampa Bay Rays All-Star third baseman Junior Caminero must not have gotten the memo that the Home Run Derby was over, mashing two home runs in Friday's 11-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. He's turning into a national superstar. CLICK HERE

• McCLANAHAN STRUGGLES: Tampa Bay pitcher Shane McClanahan, who's missed nearly two years with arm injuries, didn't make it out of the first inning of his rehab start in Durham. Here's what went wrong. CLICK HERE