Samuel Basallo exited after being hit by a pitch for the second consecutive game.
Tyler Wells set the bar high in his first three appearances of the year, but the 31-year-old finally ran into some trouble this evening. The Rays got to Wells early, while the Orioles failed to record a hit their first two times through the lineup. Tampa evened the series with a 6-2 victory, but the attention shifted late toward an injured player and a gesture in the direction of the Orioles dugout.
The Rays tagged Wells for a run in each of the first three frames. Wells made a few clutch pitches to prevent a big inning, but Tampa put plenty of traffic on the bases.
Chandler Simpson jumped out of the gate with a leadoff single. Brandon Lowe followed with a double to right field, and Simpson raced home to score the first run before the first out. Wells buckled down and retired the next three batters to keep the lead at one.
Richie Palacios led off the second with a double before stealing third. Hunter Feduccia could have got the job done with a sacrifice fly, but he ripped the Rays second run-scoring double in as many innings. Wells, to his credit, limited the damage once again. He induced a harmless pop out from Bob Seymour, and struck out Simpson to end the threat.
After a leadoff single in the first and a double to start the second, the Rays were on pace for a triple to start the third. Lowe declined to deliver the three-bagger, opting for a leadoff homer instead. The Rays followed with a pair of singles, but Wells stranded a runner in scoring position for the third consecutive inning.
Wells walked Hunter Feduccia to put the leadoff batter on for the fourth straight inning, but he found a way to post a zero with a strikeout and a quick double play. Tony Mansolino elected to pull Wells after four frames. He ended the day with seven hits, three earned, four strikeouts, and one walk.
Wells posted a 2.91 ERA over 21.2 innings in September. The results may not have been there tonight, but the Orioles must be thrilled to see Wells and Kyle Bradish appear healthy to end the season. Wells could work out of the rotation or the bullpen in 2026, but he looks like a valuable piece moving forward.
While the Rays racked up the hits early, Baltimore struggled to get going. Gunnar Henderson reached on an error and stole second in the first, but Tyler O’Neill struck out to end the thread. The Orioles went down in order during the second, and they failed to take advantage of a pair of free passes in the third.
Starter Shane Baz recorded four no-hit innings, but the Rays pulled him after that. The Birds failed to record a hit off Edwin Uceta in the fifth, and Garrett Cleavinger kept the Birds off the board in the sixth.
O’Neill finally ended the no-hit bid with a single in the seventh. Adley Rutschman followed with a one-out walk, but Ryan Mountcastle hit into a bad-luck double play to end the inning.
The Rays broke things open with runs in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. Tristan Gray plated a run in the sixth when O’Neill struggled to field a double in right field. José Castillo allowed an RBI groundout in the seventh and a solo homer to Jake Mangum in the eighth to stretch the deficit to six.
The Rays provided Bryan Baker a chance to face his former team in the eighth inning, and Baltimore’s offense finally woke up. Baker, clearly amped up, walked Colton Cowser to start the inning. Dylan Beavers followed with a one-out single and advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch.
Jordan Westburg ensured the O’s would not be shutout with a two-run single up the middle. Baker bounced back to strikeout out Gunnar Henderson and retire O’Neill to keep the score at 6-2.
Yennier Cano blanked the Rays over 1.1 innings, but the most significant moment of the game came in the ninth. Samuel Basallo fell behind 0-2 against Tampa Bay hurler Pete Fairbanks. Fairbanks then threw a 97-MPH fastball up and in that hit Basallo in the hand/wrist. Basallo immediately appeared to be in pain and quickly exited toward the Orioles dugout. Tony Mansolino said after the game that the team had yet to receive results of an X-Ray.
The Rays plunked Basallo in consecutive games, but few assumed foul play until Fairbanks blew a kiss in the direction of the Orioles dugout after the final out. Mansolino speculated that Fairbanks could have been gesturing to a fan—as opposed to Oriole players—but insisted that reporters would need to ask Fairbanks.
Both teams have been eliminated from the playoffs, but tensions can always run high on a baseball field. At a minimum, the situation will be worth monitoring into the series finale. The Orioles will shoot for a series win with Cade Povich on the mound tomorrow afternoon.
Category: General Sports
