TAMPA – Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino gathered his players today for a post-break meeting, a “good talk” with details that he wanted to keep private.
“I’m not gonna tell you the message, but it was multiple things,” he said this afternoon during his media scrum inside the visiting dugout at steamy George M. Steinbrenner Field. “Just a lot of the things kind of surrounding us, the challenges that kind of lay ahead, and also the opportunities that lay ahead.”
Mansolino wants his team to block out the distractions, including trade deadline talk, and to keep pushing. Play up to the level of talent. Treat the second half like a fresh start.
The Rays took all of the air out of an uplifting speech, busting it like a balloon.
Junior Caminero hit a three-run homer off Charlie Morton in the bottom of the first inning, Danny Jansen followed with a solo shot in the second, and the Orioles saw the game go from bad to worse in an 11-1 loss before an announced sellout crowd of 10,046.
Yandy Díaz hit a grand slam off Grant Wolfram in the sixth inning, Caminero homered again, and a third consecutive defeat lowered the Orioles’ record to 43-53.
Caminero destroyed a two-out curveball from Morton, sending it 439 feet to left field at 114.6 mph off the bat. He was runner-up in the All-Star Home Run Derby and didn’t ruin his swing.
The rally began with Chandler Simpson’s leadoff double, and Díaz walked with one out.
Morton retired the first two batters in the second and Jansen tagged a fastball left over the plate. Josh Lowe batted with two on and two outs in the third and doubled into left-center field for a 5-0 lead. Morton couldn’t get back to the dugout without damage.
Jake Mangum led off the sixth with an infield hit and stolen base, and he scored when right fielder Ramón Laureano caught Ha-Seong Kim’s fly ball along the line, tried to hit the cutoff man and bounced his throw between Henderson’s legs for an error.
Wolfram inherited a runner from Morton, loaded the bases and served up the slam. Caminero also cleared the right field fence for his 25th homer and an 11-0 lead.
Caminero entered the game hitting .316 at home and .177 on the road this season. The difference of 139 points would be the largest split by a qualifying American League hitter since Kansas City’s Michael Tucker in 2002, according to STATS.
Morton was charged with seven runs in 5 1/3 innings, tying his season high, and the eight hits exceeded his season high. The seven runs matched his total over his previous five starts.
Taj Bradley allowed a combined 11 earned runs and 12 total with 14 hits in 6 2/3 innings in his two June starts against the Orioles, but he shut them out tonight on three hits over six frames.
Colton Cowser singled in the second and fourth. Gunnar Henderson tripled with two outs in the sixth and Ryan O’Hearn struck out on seven pitches. Henderson led off the ninth with a double off Kevin Kelly, and the Orioles avoided their 11th shutout on Laureano's RBI grounder. Cowser had a three-hit night with another single in the ninth.
Cowser and Henderson had the only hits.
Mansolino spoke from the heart earlier today. His players received the message but couldn’t give him the desired response.
“We have a really talented team here, we can control our effort and how we go about our business,” said Coby Mayo. “I think if you go into it with a negative attitude, the team might not perform as we want to. So it’s, just go out there and see the next few weeks, what happens.”
It’s got to be better than tonight.
* Jackson Holliday got to experience the thrill Sunday night of his younger brother, Ethan, being the fourth overall pick in the draft.
“It was really cool,” he said. “Luckily, our flight kind of got delayed, so I was able to watch it on my phone.”
If Ethan couldn’t go No. 1 to the Nationals, perhaps the second-best outcome was landing with the same organization that drafted his father, Matt, in 1998.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Jackson said. “One of his best buddies from back home is pretty high up, and I think he was pretty excited to be able to help draft Ethan. It’s really, really fun to watch him do his thing and now to be drafted by the Rockies, where my dad played for a good while. It’s really exciting.”
Asked what advice he’d pass along to his brother, Jackson spoke about his own good fortune.
“I just hope that he ends up getting drafted with guys that are as cool as the guys that I got drafted with, because that made it a whole lot easier for me,” Jackson said. “I was really lucky to walk into a clubhouse and a draft room with some of my best buddies. I hope and pray he has the same situations I did, because it makes going to the minor leagues a lot more fun.”
* Zach Eflin tossed three scoreless innings with the Florida Complex League Orioles and allowed five unearned runs in the fourth. He threw 68 pitches, 40 for strikes, and could be ready for reinstatement.
Dylan Beavers hit his 11th home run for Triple-A Norfolk, a three-run shot in the fourth inning.
Cionel Pérez tossed a scoreless inning but allowed two hits. His ERA is 7.43.
Zach Fruit started for Double-A Chesapeake and allowed two earned runs and three total in 4 1/3 innings.
Juan Rojas tossed four scoreless innings for High-A Aberdeen.