On Monday the Tampa Bay Rays touched down in Baltimore as the leader of the AL East with a 34-16 record, 4.5 games ahead of the New Tork Yankees. They left Baltimore on Wednesday still in first place with a 34-19 record but their lead had shrunk to 1.5 games. All of this thanks to a three-game sweep by the Baltimore Orioles that was punctuated by an 11-2 beatdown Wednesday night.
Baltimore struck early and often, scoring runs in the first, third, fifth, sixth and seventh innings and hitting 3 homeruns in the game. Gunnar Henderson hit a two-run shot in the first inning and a solo shot in the sixth. Blaze Alexander hit his first Orioles’ homer, a two-run shot in the seventh.
Alexander had quite the night, going 3 for 4 with a double, a homerun, 1 run scored and 6 RBI. Henderson matched that with a 2 for 4, 2 run, 3 RBI game. Every Oriole starter with the exception of Jeremiah Jackson recorded at hit in the game. Adley Rutschman went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles while Coby Mayo and Leody Taveras each tallied a pair of hits.
Baltimore’s # 4 prospect, RHP Trey Gibson (1-0), earned his first MLB victory with a 5.2 inning effort. He allowed a run on 6 hits with 4 walks, 1 strike out and a wild pitch thrown. Gibson’s father was on hand to witness the win.
Of concern was the fact that Yennier Cano left the game in some sort of discomfort in the eighth inning.
Pete Alonso went 1 for 5 with a run scored; the hit was his 1000th career hit.
2026 Record: 26-30
Next Game: Thurs. 5/26 @ 6:35 pm vs. Toronto Blue Jays
