ST. PETERSBURG — The Tampa Bay Rays’ nine-game winning streak ended Friday night at Tropicana Field, where a furious four-run ninth-inning rally fell one hit short in a 6-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.
The defeat barely dents Tampa Bay’s standing atop the American League at 74-47, with a 6 1/2-game lead over the Yankees. First baseman Jonathan Aranda, who delivered a two-run single in the ninth, waved off any alarm through interpreter Kevin Vera. “It’s just one loss, and we’re coming off a great road trip, winning those nine straight,” Aranda said. “We’re one of the best teams in the league at home, so we’ve just got to keep doing what we do. Again, it’s just one game. Nothing to worry about.”
Trailing 6-2 entering the bottom of the ninth, the Rays loaded the bases against Orioles right-hander Yennier Cano on back-to-back singles by Richie Palacios and Taylor Walls and a wild pitch. Aranda’s two-run single cut the deficit, and Chandler Simpson worked a walk before pulling off a double steal with pinch-runner Jorge Mateo — giving Simpson an AL-best 35 stolen bases on the season. Junior Caminero’s groundout scored Mateo to make it 6-5, but reliever Cam Sanders retired Ryan Vilade on a fly ball to center to end it.
“I thought they had a bunch of good at-bats right there off a very talented pitcher in Cano,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Would expect that, just the way this group goes about it. We just came up a little bit short.”
The Rays scratched across two runs against Orioles starter Chris Bassitt — an RBI from Palacios in the second and an RBI single from Victor Mesa Jr. in the third — but squandered their best chance in the second inning when they loaded the bases with one out. Yandy Díaz popped out on the first pitch and Aranda flied out two pitches later. Bassitt worked into the sixth, allowing only two runs on five hits. “In a perfect world, we’re able to come through every single time, but it wasn’t the case today,” Aranda said. Mesa exited in the eighth with a tight left hamstring.
The game turned in the seventh. Left-hander Garrett Cleavinger surrendered a double to Gunnar Henderson and a single to Christian Encarnacion-Strand within his first three pitches. After an intentional walk loaded the bases, setup man Kevin Kelly entered and got the ground ball he wanted from pinch-hitter Dylan Beavers — but it rolled through the right side for a tiebreaking two-run single. Henderson later added a two-run homer off Chris Roycroft. “I mean, the way our defense has been playing, I thought, ‘Oh, ground ball. We’ve got a double play there,’” Kelly said. “It’s just the way it goes sometimes.”
Bulk-inning right-hander Jesse Scholtens gave the Rays three innings and allowed two runs in the middle of the game after opener Steven Matz. The Rays continue their series against Baltimore at Tropicana Field on Saturday.