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Tyler Wells made it back onto a mound this summer after his reconstructive elbow surgery in June 2024. He found a spot in the starting rotation, which is his preference among roles on the Orioles’ pitching staff.
The rehab and perseverance earn him a win every time he picks up the ball.
It won’t show on his record tonight.
Wells turned in his poorest showing among his four starts, allowing three runs over four innings in a 6-2 loss to the Rays before an announced crowd of 18,367 at Camden Yards.
More stressful was rookie Samuel Basallo leading off the ninth against Pete Fairbanks and getting hit on the right wrist by a 96.6 mph fastball. He was in obvious pain as he crouched and then walked off the field while tilting back his head, grimacing and holding onto his wrist, but X-rays were negative for a fracture.
Basallo stayed in last night's game after being nailed on the right elbow in the sixth inning. Neither incident was deemed by the Orioles to be intentional.
“Nobody wants to get hit like that, especially as hard as they’re throwing," said Ryan Mountcastle. "It’s unfortunate. I don’t think there’s any ill intent behind it. Hopefully, he’s fine and everything comes back good.”
Fairbanks blew a kiss in the direction of the home dugout after the Rays formed their congratulatory line, leading to speculation of some bad blood.
"I know there was somebody above our dugout screaming at Pete, and then as I was walking down the steps there at the end, I think he must have made some type of gesture in the direction of the dugout," said interim manager Tony Mansolino. "I don't know if it was at our dugout, there would be no reason to. I'm making the assumption it was at the fan above the dugout that was yelling at him. You'll probably have to ask him as to what that was. But our dugout didn't say a word.
"I'm assuming he heard the fan. Apparently, he made the gesture. I think there was maybe some confusion in our dugout as to the direction that he was making the gesture towards. Again, there should be no reason for anything to go towards our dugout in that situation. I hope that's what it wasn't, but that's just my understanding. I think it's probably a little bit of confusion and misunderstanding would be my guess.”
Mansolino was certain that Fairbanks didn't try to hit Basallo.
"Oh, no, no. Not at all," he said. "(Manager) Kevin Cash runs a classy program over there. There'd be no reason for them to do that. In this situation, under these circumstances, I think in a two-strike count that would be absolutely crazy to do that in that situation. So, no, I think it was an accident.
"It's an unfortunate part of the game. And again, my assumption is he heard the fans above our dugout, and you'll have to ask him as to why he gestured in that direction, whether it was towards us or whether it was towards the fans. That's ultimately his decision that really has nothing to do with us.”
Fairbanks waited for reporters at his locker to offer his side of the story.
"I was trying to blow his doors off," Fairbanks said. "But when you're throwing fastballs as hard as you can, and when you're throwing hard and people are trying to make decisions, sometimes you're getting stuck there. Obviously, to hit a guy, especially a young guy who's getting his first taste and looking to make an impression, is not something that I would ever want to do.
"It's a tough spot. Unfortunately, that is part of the game, right? When you're throwing a five-ounce ball and they're trying to hit it, sometimes stuff like that happens. I feel terrible. I hope that it's nothing lasting, and he's able to hopefully finish healthy and, if not, be full-go to, hopefully, make a good impression next year."
So, the fastball wasn't aimed at Basallo and the kiss wasn't aimed at the dugout.
"No, no, no," he said, before using modestly statured MLB.com reporter Adam Berry as a comparison.
"For people that want to speculate out there - this is straight from the source - it was to a guy about Adam Berry's size, wearing about a 2008 Majestic dugout jacket and a dad Orioles hat. Look, from everything I've heard about their squad from Bake (Bryan Baker) and everything, I don't think that I'd be chirping a group of LEGO-loving people like that, especially after unfortunately smoking their No. 1 prospect. So that is what it is.
"I'm not talking about it anymore. I don't think it needs to be addressed anymore. I had nothing to their dugout. I have nothing but respect for the guys over there that are playing hard, competing. That's the last thing on my mind is to do anything that could look like - obviously, it might have - but to rub in anything that I feel terrible about is not what happened."
Fairbanks provided humor but not a transcript of the fan's hazing.
"It's words I'm not allowed to say on air," he said. "You know, you want to tell me all sorts of things about myself? Cool. We're human professionals, but sometimes we respond."
Seven of the Rays' first 16 batters reached base through the third inning, forcing Wells to throw 67 pitches. Leadoff hitter Chandler Simpson singled in the first and scored on Brandon Lowe’s double. Richie Palacios and Hunter Feduccia doubled in the second. Lowe led off the third with a home run to right at 107.6 mph.
The Rays collected their seven hits off Wells in that stretch. He walked a batter in the fourth but got a double play and came out after 79 pitches. The final outing of the season left his ERA at 2.91.
“Honestly, felt pretty good in the first inning," he said. "Second inning and the first inning both kind of got long on me. So that third and fourth inning just kind of ran out of gas. I’ve been very fortunate to have really good outings so far and you’ve got to take the good with the bad. They just ran up the pitch count, hit mistake pitches and got me out there early. That’s their job, and my job is to go deeper into the game.”
Asked to assess his four starts, Wells replied, "Between all the rehab outings and the outings that I’ve had up here including today, I would rate them pretty high. ... With the organization, everyone’s been super supportive during this whole time and kind of looking at the big picture, these are the things that you don’t want to take for granted, you don’t want to miss. Not my best outing tonight, but at the same time, too, I’m going to take a lot of the positives I’ve had out of this whole experience and continue to build off of those."
The last home game will be played Thursday afternoon, before the Orioles (74-84) head to New York for a weekend series. They could use more offense. They were no-hit until Tyler O’Neill’s leadoff single against reliever Griffin Jax in the seventh inning and were nearing their 16th shutout until Jordan Westburg’s two-run single in the eighth against Baker.
Colton Cowser walked and Dylan Beavers singled to set up Westburg.
Gunnar Henderson reached on an error in the first inning and stole his 29th base. Cowser and Jeremiah Jackson had back-to-back walks against Shane Baz to begin the third. Cowser moved to third base on Beavers’ fly ball, but Westburg grounded into a double play.
O’Neill walked with one out in the fourth and was stranded.
Baz passed along the no-hit bid to Edwin Uceta, who retired the side in order in the fifth and struck out two. Former Orioles draft pick Garrett Cleavinger cruised through the sixth, but O’Neill lined a Jax sweeper over shortstop Tristan Gray’s glove in the seventh.
Another no-hit threat passed without incident. They’re getting used to it.
The Orioles have been no-hit seven times, the most recent by the Mariners’ Hisashi Iwakuma on Aug. 12, 2015 at Safeco Field. The Red Sox’s Hideo Nomo spun the only no-hitter at Camden Yards on April 4, 2001.
The Rays led 4-0 in the sixth after Gray’s double off Dietrich Enns and O’Neill’s fielding error that allowed Palacios to score an unearned run. Another unearned run scored against José Castillo in the seventh, and Jake Mangum hit a solo homer off him in the eighth.
Matt Garza has recorded the only no-hitter in Rays history in 2010. Tampa Bay pitching also lost its combined shutout but moved three games ahead of the Orioles for fourth place.
"I mea,n we didn’t want to go hitless through six or whatever it was," Mansolino said. "Tough night for us swinging the bats. Thought we swung the bats better last night. Unfortunate part of the game. We don’t get hits, so just wasn’t a good night for us offensively."
