Tampa Bay Rays Drop Third-Straight, Lose Series to Orioles

BALTIMORE – Tuesday evening in Baltimore was a forgettable one for the Tampa Bay Rays, falling to the Baltimore Orioles, 6-1, as Shane Baz impressed against his former team for the second time this season.

Tampa Bay has now lost three or more consecutive games for the first time since April 19-21, looking to find a way to salvage the series on Wednesday night before heading back home to Tropicana Field for a six-game homestand, which starts on Friday night against the Los Angeles Angels.

Defense faults the Rays once again

After committing four errors in Monday’s 9-7 walk-off loss in 13 innings, which led to five unearned runs, the Rays followed that performance up with three costly errors, which led to all six of Baltimore’s runs on Tuesday being unearned.

“Up until that [Samuel Basallo] home run, it felt like we were right in that ballgame,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said postgame. “[Griffin] Jax, he got smoked and then almost made the pitch to get out of that unscathed. It just didn’t go our way.”

Two of Tuesday’s errors happened on potential double play balls: the one bobbled by Richie Palacios that would’ve ended the second inning for Tampa Bay, and the other a botched fielder’s choice as Oliver Dunn missed the bag at second when receiving the throw from Palacios in the fifth.

Cash argued postgame that the error charged to Palacios should’ve been a hit as the ball hit the second base bag, but it was ruled an error, leading to the first of two three-run innings.

“Sometimes, you have to overcome some bad breaks, and we did not tonight,” Cash said. 

Griffin Jax leaves game with back contusion 

Since beginning his transition back to a starting pitcher, Rays right-handed pitcher Griffin Jax has been stellar, allowing three earned runs across 19 innings of work, a 1.42 earned-run average (ERA) overall.

His last two starts, both of which saw him go five innings, were a much better indicator of his progress, allowing one earned run across that stretch.

However, he ran into a snag, or rather a snag ran into him, in Tuesday’s loss as Jax was struck in the lower back by a 107.2 MPH line drive off the bat of Leody Taveras.

“I didn’t know in the moment what it hit, where I was feeling it,” Jax said postgame. “It happened so fast, and I found myself on the ground. … It’s one of those things where in the heat of the moment, when adrenaline is surging, you can press through it.”

While Jax stayed in the game, finishing the second inning, he was pulled from the game, diagnosed with a back contusion and listed as day-to-day.

Cash said he isn’t expecting Jax to miss any significant time, but the incident proved to be an unfortunate and unlucky situation on a night that didn’t go Tampa Bay’s way.

“All in all, it was a scary moment, but thankfully, I was able to get up and finish that inning,” Jax said. “… We’re going to treat it like a soft tissue injury and look at it day-to-day. Where I stand right now, I feel 100 percent confident that I’ll be able to make my next start.”

Garrett Cleavinger shines in first outing since May 17

Upon Jax’s departure, the Rays needed bulk innings from numerous relievers, including left-hander Garrett Cleavinger.

Before Tuesday, Cleavinger, who warmed up twice during Monday’s loss, hadn’t pitched in a game since May 17, but he looked like he didn’t skip a beat across two scoreless innings of work against Baltimore.

His fastball touched as high as 97.7 MPH per Baseball Savant as he threw nine pitches registered at 96 MPH or higher. Cleavinger went on to strike out three in what was his best outing of the 2026 season to date.

Craig Kimbrel signs with Rays, makes team debut

With injuries seemingly piling up over the past week or so on both sides of the ball, the Rays have already searched for reinforcements.

On Tuesday, Tampa Bay added a veteran piece to the bullpen in 17-year right-handed relief pitcher Craig Kimbrel, currently fifth all-time in saves with 440.

“We’ve seen him compete against us,” Cash said pregame. “He’s certainly had a lot of success against us in the past, but to bring a guy with his experience, his knowledge, his reps, I think it’s only going to add to our overall group.”

Kimbrel made his team debut in the bottom of the eighth inning and looked sharp, striking out two in a scoreless inning of work.

“I don’t know how we’ll plan to use him, but we know he’s going to be a big part like all of them are,” Cash said.