Battery to build around: Orioles' Baz, Basallo lead 6-1 win over Rays

Matt Weyrich, The Baltimore Sun on May 26, 2026

Published in Baseball

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

BALTIMORE — Shane Baz retired his last batter on a lazy fly ball to left field, capping off seven innings of one-run baseball. As he returned to the dugout amid a standing ovation from the Camden Yards crowd, Samuel Basallo greeted him at the first base line for a glove tap.

It’s a sight Orioles fans could be seeing a lot over the next five years.

Baz struck out nine to haunt the team that traded him to Baltimore last winter, and Basallo hit his eighth home run of the season in the Orioles’ 6-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday. The win clinched the series for Baltimore (25-30) and put the club in position for a surprise sweep over the first-place Rays in the finale on Wednesday.

Leading the way were Baz and Basallo, the two players Baltimore signed to long-term extensions over the past year. Baz, acquired from Tampa Bay for four prospects and a draft pick, inked a five-year, $68 million deal in March, and Basallo agreed to an eight-year, $67 million extension last August. Their upside was on full display Tuesday.

Baz worked an efficient seven innings, allowing a run in the first on an RBI single by first baseman Jonathan Aranda and silencing the Rays’ bats from there. He allowed seven hits and one walk while setting a new season high in strikeouts. The right-hander even one-upped his last outing, also against the Rays, in which he gave up one run in six frames.

His catcher was the Orioles’ biggest source of offense for the night, getting the green light on a 3-0 pitch in the fifth and going deep for a 405-foot, three-run homer. With the blast, Basallo became the youngest player in Orioles history to hit 12 home runs over his first 75 career games. His .810 OPS ranks fifth among qualified rookies this season.

Rays starter Griffin Jax left the game after being hit by a line drive off the bat of Leody Taveras in the second inning. He initially remained in the game, and the Orioles plated three runs in the frame on a Blaze Alexander fielder’s choice, Jackson Holliday single and Taylor Ward sacrifice fly.

All six of the Orioles’ runs in the game were unearned thanks to three errors by the Rays, who have made an uncharacteristic seven miscues in two games to open the series.

Grant Wolfram pitched a scoreless eighth, and Andrew Kittredge closed out the game with a 1-2-3 ninth.