The Tampa Bay Rays’ early-season trip to the Bronx is on the horizon. But first, there was bedlam at Tropicana Field.
A Rays team with the best record in baseball once again proved why it can’t ever be counted out Wednesday during a comeback win over the Baltimore Orioles. While The Trop wasn’t full, the Tampa Bay fans in attendance were fervent — some even continuing to hop on the “Tarps Off” trend — as the Rays rallied with a four-run eighth inning to win 5-3 and complete their MLB-best sixth sweep of the season.
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Tampa Bay (33-15) has won 21 of its past 25 games and is comfortably atop the AL East standings heading into this week’s highly-anticipated showdown with the New York Yankees, who are in second place in the division.
Baltimore (21-29), meanwhile, has dropped five of its last six games. The Orioles, at one point 15-15, have gone 6-14 since. They saw a road victory slip through their talons in their series finale versus the Rays on Wednesday.
Tampa Bay entered the eighth inning down 3-1. With two outs and runners on the corners, Rays Jonathan Aranda went low on a 1-2 count to golf a two-run double to right-center field. Center fielder Colton Cowser bobbled the ball as the Rays sped around the bases. Both Oliver Dunn and Chandler Simpson scored, tying the game.
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After Orioles pitcher Anthony Nunez issued a walk to Ryan Vilade, Baltimore manager Craig Albernaz pivoted to another right-handed reliever, Rico Garcia.
But Garcia threw three straight balls to the ensuing batter, Richie Palacios. Rather than taking the next pitch, Palacios took a hack at a high fastball, lashing it to right field.
“I took a swing, it hit the barrel, and then I didn’t know where the ball went,” Palacios said with a smile postgame, per MLB.com.
“I looked straight up, and then I just heard everyone screaming, so I just started running, and then I saw it in right field. So, thankfully, that landed safely.”
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That single plated Aranda, who accounted for the go-ahead run, and advanced Vilade all the way to third. Then a delayed double-steal resulted in Vilade supplying the Rays with an insurance run that they ultimately didn’t need.
Lefty Ian Seymour authored a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the ninth to secure Tampa Bay’s 13th come-from-behind win of the season.
Long before the late-game craziness, Hunter Feduccia recorded his first major-league home run. The 28-year-old catcher made his MLB debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 2024 campaign.
That 421-foot long ball gave the Rays a 1-0 advantage in the second inning. That said, the Orioles scored the game’s next three runs. Pete Alonso was responsible for two RBI, driving in one on a third-inning single and then another with a sixth-inning solo shot. Also in the top of the sixth, Baltimore catcher Samuel Basallo went yard to make it 3-1.
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That power surge was for naught. The Rays dove deep and emerged with their latest comeback victory.
They’ll start Friday’s series against the Yankees 18 games above .500, and it won’t even be the last week in May.
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