Dylan Beavers didn’t need long to make his mark Friday night. A pinch-hit single in the seventh gave the Orioles the break they were hunting, and Gunnar Henderson added the final punch with a homer in the eighth as Baltimore slipped past the Rays, 6-5, in the opener of the series in Tampa Bay.
The Orioles never let the AL-leading Rays get in front, even with Tampa Bay carrying a nine-game winning streak into the game. Baltimore and Tampa were locked at 2-2 heading into the seventh when Henderson opened the frame with a double to right. Christian Encarnacion-Strand followed with a hard single to left to move him along, and then the inning got messy for the Rays.
Leody Taveras came up trying to lay down a safety squeeze, but he chopped the ball down the third-base line and Henderson got caught in a rundown. Henderson managed to retreat to third, while Encarnacion-Strand was tagged out as Taveras reached second.
After Kevin Kelly entered for Tampa Bay and intentionally walked Jeremiah Jackson, Baltimore turned to Beavers instead of No. 9 hitter Carlos Narváez. Beavers delivered, sending a single under Jonathan Aranda’s glove at first to plate two runs and push the Orioles ahead 4-2.
Henderson wasn’t done. In the eighth, Tyler O’Neill lined a single up the middle with two outs to bring up the Orioles shortstop again. Chris Roycroft got ahead 0-2, but left a cutter over the middle, and Henderson hammered it into the right-center bleachers for his 20th homer of the season and a 6-2 Baltimore lead.
The ninth was anything but smooth. Yenneir Cano nearly handed the game back, turning in what was easily his roughest outing of the year.
Richie Palacios and Taylor Walls started the inning with back-to-back singles, and after Cano struck out Yandy Díaz, a wild pitch during the at-bat moved both runners into scoring position. Jonathan Aranda then ripped a single to right to bring home two and slice the lead in half.
Cano walked Chandler Simpson next, and Simpson and pinch-runner Jorge Mateo stole second and third. Junior Caminero kept the pressure on with an RBI groundout to third that made it a one-run game. Craig Albernaz then went to Cam Sanders with one out left to get, and Ryan Vilade jumped on the first pitch he saw, but the fly ball to left was harmless and ended the game.
Baltimore did all of this without ever trailing. The Orioles struck first in the second inning when Tyler O’Neill walked to open the frame and moved to third on Henderson’s soft single to center.
Encarnacion-Strand brought him home with a sacrifice fly to right on a close play at the plate. Tampa Bay answered in the bottom half, but Colton Cowser restored the lead in the third with a solo shot into the Ray tank in center field.
Chris Bassitt was making his first start for Baltimore since June 3rd and looked sharp early. He opened by getting Yandy Díaz to ground out, then struck out Aranda and Caminero looking around a Simpson single.
The second inning has been a trouble spot for Bassitt all year - he entered the night with a 9.75 ERA in that frame - but he steadied himself after giving up a leadoff single to catcher Liam Hicks. Víctor Mesa Jr. followed with a first-pitch fly out, and Cedric Mullin then punched a single to right. Richie Palacios worked ahead 1-2 before lining a curveball into a double just beyond O’Neill’s reach, scoring Hicks and tying the game at one with runners on second and third.
What could have snowballed turned into a big escape. Bassitt walked Taylor Walls to load the bases, then got Yandy Díaz and Jonathan Aranda to pop up and fly out, stranding all three runners.
The third brought a strange sequence and an ABS overturn. After Cowser’s homer put Baltimore back on top, Bassitt got Simpson to ground out.
He then walked Caminero, and with a full count on Hicks, Caminero broke for second just as Bassitt threw a curveball that was initially called ball four. Narváez challenged right away, and ABS changed it to a strikeout looking.
Craig Albernaz argued that Caminero should have been sent back to first because Narváez’s reaction to the challenge appeared to keep him from throwing to second, but home plate umpire Jordan Baker did not agree. Caminero stayed at second, and Mesa Jr. followed with a low curveball into center for an RBI single that tied it at two.
Bassitt settled in after that. In the fourth, he outlasted Palacios in a seven-pitch at-bat for a soft fly to center, got Walls to bounce out to second on six pitches, and finished the inning with a Díaz groundout to second. He breezed through the middle of the Rays order in the fifth, retiring Aranda, Simpson and Caminero on just six pitches.
He returned for the sixth, but his command started to fade. Hicks drew a leadoff walk on four pitches, Mesa Jr. later flew out to left, and Bassitt exited after 5.1 innings. Josh Walker finished the frame, leaving Bassitt with a line of 5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB and 3K in a solid return after more than two months on the IL.
The Orioles’ win snapped Tampa Bay’s nine-game streak and pulled Baltimore within one game of the AL’s final Wild Card. Baltimore will keep pushing tomorrow with Kyle Bradish on the mound at Tropicana Field.
In Other News...
Former Orioles Catcher Is On The Move Again After Latest Roster Shift
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For Orioles followers, the name still carries a familiar edge after Jackson spent last year in Baltimore. Minnesota is now set to move forward with Jeffers and Victor Caratini behind the plate, which leaves Jackson in limbo again as the veteran catcher waits for his next landing spot. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Fans Have A New Prospect To Dream On
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For an organization that has built plenty of its recent optimism around young talent, Booths rise only adds to the inventory. Baltimore now has four prospects in MLB Pipelines Top 100, with Anthony Eyanson, Joseph Dzierwa and Caden Hunter also on the list, giving the system another layer of depth while the spotlight shifts to a teenager whose ceiling has already caught the industrys attention. [Read more 🡒]
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For now, the Orioles are treating Witherspoon less like a project to overhaul and more like a pitcher to get comfortable. Pitching coach Jordie Henry is focused on helping him acclimate first, rather than rushing into mechanical tweaks, which makes sense given how fresh the move is and how much attention comes with being part of a trade built around a franchise face. The real question for Baltimore is how quickly Witherspoon can turn that early transition into something more permanent in the system. [Read more 🡒]