The Orioles raced out to an early 2-0 lead and got seven excellent innings from their starter, only for the bats and bullpen to doom Baltimore to another loss.
Seranthony Domínguez imploded in the 8th inning, ruining an excellent start from Dean Kremer and allowing the Rays to steal a 4-3 win from the Orioles.
After seven strong innings from Kremer, Domínguez entered with the O’s up 2-1 in the bottom of the 8th, looking to bridge the gap to closer Félix Bautista. Instead, Domínguez gave up a lead-off single to Ha-Seong Kim and everything unraveled from there.
No. 9 hitter Matt Thaiss lofted a fly out to right that allowed the tying run to move to third. Baltimore then pulled the infield in, only to see Rays’ lead-off hitter Chandler Simpson slap a ball up the middle to score Kim and tie the game at two.
Speed then continued to kill Domínguez and the O’s, as Simpson swiped second to move the winning run into scoring position. The Orioles reliever then seemed to lose all composure, walking José Caballero and Yandy Díaz to load the bases.
With the O’s hoping to keep the game tied, interim Manager Tony Mansolino pulled Domínguez in favor of Gregory Soto. The hard-throwing got Jonathan Aranda to ground a ball to Ryan O’Hearn at first, only for ROH to uncork a wild throw to the plate that skipped past catcher Jacob Stalling. The errant throw allowed Simpson and Caballero to score and for Tampa to take a 4-2 lead.
The late-inning meltdown ruined an early lead for the O’s. After not scoring until the 9th inning in Friday’s loss, the Orioles got off to a much quicker start Saturday. Jackson Holliday led off the game by lining a hanging slider into right field. Jordan Westburg then attacked a low slider from Rays starter Zack Littell, shooting it into the right-center gap and giving the O’s runners at second and third.
The O’s heavy hitters then came through to give Baltimore an early lead. Gunnar Henderson slashed a fastball to left field, and even though it found the glove of LF Jake Mangum, it was deep enough to score Holliday from third.
All-Star Ryan O’Hearn then turned on a low Littell splitter, sending a worm burner under the first baseman’s glove and into the RF corner. Westburg scored easily from second on the single and the O’s exited the 1st with a 2-0 lead.
Offense was hard to find the rest of the game, but it looked like it wouldn’t matter thanks to an excellent outing from Dean Kremer. The O’s 29-year-old right-hander came into the game having already pitched 12 innings of one-run ball against the Rays this season—and looked just as sharp Saturday. He started the game by punching out Simpson on a splitter down and away, but freezing Brandon Lowe on a 3-2 fastball for a backwards K.
After a 1-2-3 1st inning, Kremer allowed his first base runner when he surrendered a leadoff walk to Jonathan Aranda in the 2nd. It didn’t phase the sixth-year vet, as he got All-Star Junior Caminero to fly out to right, before closing the inning with another flyout and a groundout.
That was a trend for Kremer all night: allowing an early baserunner only to work around it and keep Tampa off the scoreboard. In the 3rd, Ha-Seong Kim led off the inning with a bloop single to CF, only to be erased when he tried to steal second and Daniel Thaiss lined out to O’Hearn for an unassisted double play.
Yandy Díaz was the Rays’ token base runner in the 4th, reaching on a one-out single to right. Kremer then punched out Aranda on another splitter down and away, before ending the frame via a grounder to short. Josh Lowe led off the Rays’ 5th with another lead-off walk, but again, Kremer didn’t blink. The O’s righty punched out Mangum on another splitter, got Kim to line out to left and then saw the inning end when Stallings gunned down Josh Lowe trying to steal second.
The only time Kremer couldn’t pull off a Houdini act was his last inning in the 7th. Díaz worked the Rays’ third lead-off walk of the game, and moved into scoring position two batters later when Caminero rocketed a double down the left field line. Brandon Lowe then grounded out to second to plate the Rays’ first run of the game. Mangum would fly out to leave Caminero stranded at third and keep the O’s lead intact—though only temporarily.
Even though Kremer didn’t ultimately factor in the decision, he was far and away the O’s best player Saturday. His final line of 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB and 6 K means he now has a 0.95 ERA in three outings against Tampa this season. Kremer also now owns a 2.98 ERA since the beginning of May, with six quality starts.
While the bullpen will shoulder a lot of the blame for not bringing home the win, the offense wasted several opportunities to provide Baltimore with some insurance runs. The O’s two best chances to increase their early lead came via a pair of unlikely doubles from Ramón Urías.
In the 5th, Urías lined a ball into the right-center gap that got past Simpson when the Rays’ CF overran the ball. With the O’s 3B at second, Jacob Stallings grounded out to short on a first pitch fastball. That put the onus on Holliday, who almost got a run-scoring single through the right side, only for Brandon Lowe to make a diving stop that left Urías stranded.
In the 7th, Urías got to second in an even more unlikely way, lofting a pop-up down the right field line that evaded all Rays fielders before bouncing into the stands for a double. Stallings and Holliday were no more successful this time, with the Orioles catcher striking out before Holliday ended the inning on another ground out to second.
The Orioles’ offense was only able to break through again in the 9th, but it proved to be too little, too late. Trailing 4-2 and facing Rays’ closer Peter Fairbanks, Tyler O’Neill tried to jumpstart a game-tying rally with a double to right-center. After Urías flew out to left, Cedric Mullins pinch-hit for Stallings, trying to stave off defeat. Mullins did just that, blooping a single into right field to score O’Neill.
After Mullins stole second, Holliday had one final chance to redeem his previous failures at coming up clutch. After working the count full, the Orioles 2B attacked a Fairbanks slider and sent it 401 feet to center—only for it to end up in Simpson’s glove. In ten other parks, including Camden Yards, it would’ve been a two-run homer to give the Orioles a 5-4 lead. But in Tampa on Saturday, it was the final out of another heart-wrenching Orioles loss.