The Orioles lost to the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 5-3 on Saturday afternoon. The loss was the Orioles 14th consecutive loss to their AL East rivals dating back to 2021. It makes for a frustrating start to the 2022 season and shows just how far away from the top of the heap in the AL East the Orioles are.
Tampa put the Birds in a 3-run hole in their half of the second inning simply by putting traffic on the bases against Baltimore pitching.
For the second straight day, an Orioles batter was hit by Tampa Bay pitching; Anthony Santander (2 for 3) took one just above his left knee cap in the first inning.
Ryan Mountcastle hit a two-run homerun, his first homerun of the 2022 campaign, in the third inning to draw the birds within one. He finished the day with a line of 2 for 4, 1 run scored and 2 RBI.
The Rays countered with two runs in their half of the third thanks to a Francisco Mejia two-run homerun off Orioles starter Jordan Lyles. Double plays turned behind Lyles in the 4th and 5th innings kept the score at 5-2. Lyles grinded to a line of 5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 BB and 2 K. He was tagged with the loss.
Jorge Mateo (1 for 3, 1 2B, 1 Run Scored, 1 RBI, 1 K and 1 SB) hit a ground-rule double that scored Ramon Urias (2 for 4, 1 2B, 1 Run Scored) for the Orioles final run of the game.
Keegan Akin pitched well in relief of Lyles by allowing 1 hit and striking out 3 over 3.0 innings pitched.
Record: 0-2
