The Tampa Bay Rays will leave Baltimore one game closer to .500 after dropping the final two games of their three-game series against the Orioles, including a 2-1 defeat in Wednesday’s finale.
Both sides struggled to get on the scoreboard, as Orioles starter Dean Kremer and Tampa Bay’s Jalen Beek and Yonny Chirinos all kept the game scoreless through the first five innings, but going into his fourth inning of work, Chirinos would be the first to blink. He loaded the bases on a single by Adley Rutschman, a double from Anthony Santander, and a walk to Ryan Mountcastle. Adam Frazier would break the stalemate with a fielder’s choice that erased Mountcastle, and Austin Hays delivered a RBI single that brought in Santander.
Meanwhile, the Rays still could not drive in a run to close the gap until the top of the eighth, when Yandy Diaz doubled off reliever Austin Voth with one out, and scored on a base hit by Wander Franco, the first hit with runners in scoring position Tampa Bay had all series. But they could not get the tying run across, as Danny Coulombe relieved Voth and struck out both pinch-hitter Randy Arozarena and Harold Ramirez to escape the jam, and Yennier Cano worked a scoreless ninth to end the game.
Tampa Bay will spend the next week in New York City, facing both teams that call the metropolitan area home. That begins with a four-game series with the Yankees that starts Thursday night. Drew Rasmussen (3-2, 3.11 ERA) will get the start, taking on Domingo German (2-2, 4.35 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05.
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
