BALTIMORE — The Tampa Bay Rays absorbed their first series sweep of the season Wednesday night, falling 11-2 to the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards to cap a four-game losing streak — their longest of 2026.
The loss dropped the Rays to 34-19, still atop the American League standings but reeling after three straight defeats in Baltimore. Starter Steven Matz surrendered five runs on five hits and two walks while facing 10 batters in a 36-pitch first inning — only the 10th five-run inning of his career and his first since April 10, 2022.
“This is going to happen. We built a nice cushion for ourselves. We’ve played really good baseball these first few months, so I don’t think anybody’s panicking,” Matz said. “We’re in a good spot, and we’re just gonna keep putting our best foot forward.”
Matz lasted just three innings, throwing 62 pitches before his night ended. Baltimore’s first six hitters reached safely in the opening frame, with Gunnar Henderson going deep on a 1-1 changeup and Leody Taveras driving in a run on a single to right. Blaze Alexander added a two-run single before Matz escaped the inning.
“It looked like he was fighting himself a little bit,” manager Kevin Cash said. “The Orioles just had some good at-bats early on. They jumped on him in that first inning. Maybe he settled in, but that was a lot of pitches through three innings.”
The sweep followed a 13-inning, 9-7 defeat Monday in which Tampa Bay wasted four leads, and a 6-1 loss Tuesday that featured six unearned runs off defensive miscues. The Rays’ offense managed little against Orioles prospect Trey Gibson in the finale, loading the bases in the third with one out but failing to score when Yandy Díaz struck out and Henderson retired Richie Palacios on a diving play at shortstop.
“It’s baseball, to be honest. We’re going to have ruts,” Palacios said. “When we’re winning, we’re driving those guys in. And then when we’re in tough ruts like now is when we’re not getting that big hit.”
Right-hander Hunter Bigge pitched one inning before the Rays turned to Jonathan Heasley, called up from Triple-A Durham earlier in the day. Heasley allowed five runs over four innings in his first big league appearance since May 23, 2024, with the Orioles. The right-hander’s path back to the majors wound through two seasons derailed by injuries — a nerve issue in his shoulder in 2024 and a stress reaction in his elbow in 2025 — and a near-departure to pitch for Olmecas de Tabasco in the Mexican Baseball League before the Rays offered him a Triple-A opportunity.
“Obviously would love to see a little bit better results out there, but at the end of the day, I think just kind of putting things in perspective and kind of remembering what it took to get here and just how much it means to get back out there,” an emotional Heasley said. “For me there’s definitely some reward in that.”
The Rays return home to begin their next series, looking to snap the four-game skid and protect their AL-best record.