Orioles get payback on Rays, completing sweep with dominant 11-2 win

Jacob Calvin Meyer, The Baltimore Sun on May 27, 2026

Published in Baseball

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BALTIMORE — A week ago, the Tampa Bay Rays were unstoppable.

They had the best record in Major League Baseball. Their old-school, small-ball style of offense was flummoxing opponents. They beat up on the Baltimore Orioles so badly during a series sweep that it caused Mid-Atlantic Sports Network broadcaster Ben McDonald to go on a two-minute postgame rant, during which he said he “briefly lost my mind.”

This week at Camden Yards, it’s the Orioles who looked like the best team in the American League, and the Rays who looked like the underwhelming, underperforming cellar-dweller.

Baltimore on Wednesday defeated Tampa Bay, 11-2, to complete a three-game series sweep of the AL East-leading Rays. The Orioles’ offense scored five runs in the first inning and totaled 16 hits in the victory, while rookie pitcher Trey Gibson fought through constant traffic for an excellent first start at Camden Yards.

To finish the Orioles’ most complete series of the season, they put together their best offensive performance of the year, letting the dogs out on Bark in the Park Night for a season-best scoring output. Gunnar Henderson homered twice to bring his season total to 13, tied for seventh in the AL. Blaze Alexander continued his scorching-hot May with three hits, a career-high six RBIs and his first homer of the season. Adley Rutschman smacked three hits, while Leody Taveras and Coby Mayo both recorded two knocks.

The Orioles are 5-1 since they were swept by the Rays (34-19) last week. At 26-30, they’re now back in the thick of an AL wild-card race.

Last week, the Orioles scored only 10 runs in their three games against the Rays. They totaled 26 runs in the three games this week. Baltimore didn’t waste any time Wednesday against Rays left-hander Steven Matz, as the lineup batted around in the first inning for the largest opening frame from the Orioles offense since May 2024.

The first six batters of the frame reached base. Taylor Ward led off the game with a single, and Henderson blasted a left-on-left homer onto the flag court. They then loaded the bases on an Alonso single, the 1,000th hit of his career, and walks from Rutschman and Mayo. Taveras then smacked an RBI single, and Alexander capped off the early scoring with a two-run single.

Tyler O’Neill then gave the Orioles a 6-0 lead with an RBI single to left field. Manager Craig Albernaz has continued to play O’Neill, one of the club’s highest-paid players, against southpaws because of the slugger’s historic success against them, even though he hasn’t during his time in Baltimore. But O’Neill came through against Matz on Wednesday for only his fourth hit in 43 at-bats against lefties this season.

Two innings later, Alexander doubled off former Oriole Jonathan Heasley to give Gibson an eight-run cushion. Gibson, the Orioles’ No. 1 prospect, was recalled Wednesday for the second start of his big league career. While he allowed 10 base runners on six hits and four walks, he escaped every jam he was in thanks to three double plays by his infield defense and a web gem by Henderson at shortstop.

The lone run Gibson allowed across his 5 2/3 innings was on the last pitch he threw, an RBI groundout by Ryan Vilade. The small crowd at Camden Yards then gave the youngster a standing ovation as he strutted off the mound.

Henderson blasted his second homer of the night off Heasley in the sixth for the third multihomer game of his career and the first since June 2024. While the superstar has slumped this month, he’s still on pace to hit 37 homers this season. An inning later, Alexander capped off the Orioles’ scoring with his third hit of the night, a 399-foot two-run homer to left field. The utilityman has been one of Baltimore’s best players this month with a .367 average and .934 OPS since May 3.

Relievers Keegan Akin, Yennier Cano, Andrew Kittredge and Anthony Nunez combined to allow only one run across the final 3 1/3 innings, though Cano exited with an injured hamstring.

The Orioles entered the series with a 3-11 record against the only three teams in the AL with a winning record (Yankees, Guardians, Rays). But they’ve now won three straight and climbed back to four games below .500. The Orioles welcome Toronto to Camden Yards on Thursday for the start of a four-game series against the Blue Jays.

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