The Rays jumped out to a big lead. They could not hold it as the Orioles’ offense went bonkers against them.
Um, wow. It’s fair to say that tonight’s game between the Orioles and the Rays did not go the way anyone expected. The Orioles’ offense went absolutely wild tonight. They scored 22 runs on 21 hits and eight walks. The pitching wasn’t great, but when you score 22 runs the pitching doesn’t really matter. The end result was a huge 22-8 win for the Orioles to kick of their weekend homestand.
Nine days ago, the Orioles and Rays met in Florida. In the top of the second inning, the Orioles teed off on Taj Bradley. They scored eight runs and looked ready to coast to an easy victory. Instead, the Rays scored 12 unanswered runs and the Orioles did not have another hit. It was an embarrassing loss.
Tonight, the Orioles flipped the script. Instead of Taj Bradley in the top of the second, it was the Orioles’ Tomoyuki Sugano. After a sharp first inning, things went south for him in a hurry. The Rays hit three home runs and scored six runs, putting the Orioles in a huge hole. It’s hard for a game to feel over in the second inning, but it did. It was the opposite of how I felt in the top of the second inning nine days ago.
Ryan Pepiot, who pitched eight one-run innings and struck out 11 the last time he faced the Orioles, started for the Rays. He came into tonight with a 3.04 ERA and had allowed more than three runs in just one start this year. It seemed that a six-run lead would be safe in his hands. He began unraveling almost immediately.
The first three batters of the bottom of the second were Ramón Laureano, Colton Cowser, and Gary Sánchez. All three reached base and it was the start of a big night for each of them. Laureano and Sánchez sandwiched walks around a Cowser double, which loaded the bases.
Cedric Mullins lined out to shortstop for the first out, but Coby Mayo came through in the clutch. He worked the count to 2-2, then reached out for an outside slider and smacked it into left field. Laureano and Cowser scored. Jackson Holliday struck out and it felt like the rally would come up short. Enter pinch hitter Ramón Urías.
Urías replaced Jordan Westburg, who again jammed a finger on a base sliding into second base on a first-inning double. You may remember he just missed a few games for the same reason. I hope he’s back on the field quickly, and maybe it’s time to try feet-first sliding.
Anyway, Urías. For coming off the bench, he didn’t look cold. He lined a hit down the left field line for a single. Both runners scored and the Rays’ lead was cut to 6-4. In the next inning, they cut it to just one run. Again, Laureano and Sánchez were in the mix.
After Laureano worked his second walk of the game, Sánchez lined a one-out single back up the middle. Laureano stopped at second, but not for long. He took off for third base and looked to have the base stolen. Rays’ catcher Danny Jansen threw the ball away and Laureano raced home.
Sugano came back out to pitch after his six-run disaster and he lasted longer than I thought he would. He pitched a 1-2-3 third inning, then allowed a run on three singles in the fourth. He finished his night with a scoreless fifth inning. His final line: 5 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 3 HR. The incredible thing was that he left the game in line for, and ended up getting, the win!
After running Pepiot out of the game, the Orioles started hitting the stuffing out of the relievers. They had a three-run fifth again thanks to the hot trio of Laureano, Cowser, and Sánchez. Laureano finally got on the hit train with a double, and Cowser followed with his second double of the game to knock him in. Sánchez showed them both up with a home run to left-center field. The two-run shot was the death blow to the Rays. It put the Orioles up 8-7, a lead they would not relinquish.
From then on, it was pretty much all Orioles, all the time. Keegan Akin did allow a run in his inning of work, but the offense was so prolific that it barely registered.
In the sixth, Laureano came up to bat with two runners on and one out. He struck out and was SO mad at himself. But his buddies Cowser and Sánchez picked him right up. Cowser knocked in one run with his third double of the game, and Sánchez singled in two more. Make that 11 runs for the Orioles. And that is only HALF of the runs they’d score in this game!
The next inning, the Orioles loaded the bases for the triple threat. Laureano singled in two runs and Cowser walked, bringing up Sánchez again. At this point, the crowd went wild for Gary Sánchez. They started a “Gary! Gary! Gary!” chant, which is hilarious. Gary hit a ground ball to shortstop José Caballero, who booted it for an error. That was the start of Caballero’s bad night. Ryan O’Hearn scored and as Sánchez stood on first, the Gary chants began anew.
The Orioles had one more run in them in the seventh; it came via bases bases-loaded walk by Cedric Mullins. The Orioles led, 15-8, and they still had seven more runs to score!
The eighth inning was a blur. It started with the only starter to not yet reach base, Jackson Holliday. He didn’t appreciate being the only starter to not reach base, so he went ahead and hit his 10th home run of the year. That gave the Orioles an eight-run lead, which is the threshold to bring in a position player to pitch. Rays’ manager Kevin Cash did not hesitate to bring in Caballero.
Remember I said his error was the start of his bad day? Caballero allowed six runs in his inning pitched and gave up home runs to Gunnar Henderson and Coby Mayo. Mayo’s was the first of his big league career and, as he adorably announced in his postgame interview, it came on his mother’s birthday. Henderson, by the way, had a four-hit night himself and was just a double short of the cycle.
Gary! Gary! Gary! Sánchez finished off his incredible night with a double against Caballero. Cowser grabbed another walk. Urías and Mullins doubled as well. It was a blood bath.
The Orioles and Rays are back in action tomorrow at 4 p.m. for the battle of the Zach/ks. Littell vs Eflin. Let’s hope the Orioles saved a few runs.