Grayson Rodriguez retired the leadoff batter of a game tonight for the first time in his seven major league starts. He needed nine pitches and a 99.1 mph fastball to get a called third strike on Tampa Bay’s Yandy Díaz. But he did it.

Wander Franco was next, and he launched another fastball to center field for his seventh home run of the season.

Rodriguez keeps experiencing the ups and downs that can nauseate a rookie pitcher. Nothing to do except ride it out.

For longer tonight than any other time with the Orioles.

The defense turned a couple of double plays behind Rodriguez, the offense sprung back to life and the Orioles held on to defeat the Rays 4-2 before an announced crowd of 10,017 at Camden Yards.

As the Orioles continue a stretch of games against some of MLB’s best teams tonight, hosting Tampa Bay in game two of a three-game series, they look for continued strong starting pitching.

O’s starting pitchers have an ERA of 5.31 for the year, ranking 11^th in the American League. And their eight quality starts also ranks 11^th in the AL, well behind the league leaders Toronto (18) and Seattle (17). 

But since facing Atlanta in a series that began on Friday night, O’s starters have pitched to an ERA of 2.86 over the last four games, allowing two earned runs or less in three of four games and throwing two of their eight quality starts. And most of that was against Atlanta, which has a team OPS of .804 – second in the majors only to Tampa Bay at .865. 

But the O’s starters have stepped up in this stretch, even as the Baltimore offense has scored just six runs in the last three games while going 2-for-29 with runners in scoring position. The O’s have been outscored 11-6 during the three-game losing streak.

Now 22-13 on the year, the Orioles remain in second place in the AL East, but are 6.5 games back of Tampa Bay, which sits at 29-7. Toronto is in third place, 7.5 out, with Boston 8.0 back and New York 10.0 games out. The Rays have been so good that the other four AL East teams are all closer to the cellar than to first place at this point.

Manager Brandon Hyde said Gunnar Henderson will see a lot of time at third base after Ramón Urías went on the injured list today with a strained left hamstring. Henderson is at third tonight and batting seventh as the Orioles try to even their series with Tampa Bay.

Urías sustained the injury last night in the ninth inning while running to first base on a single.

“Do not have a firm grasp of the expected length of his IL stay,” said executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias. “We hope it’s not going to be an overly significant amount of time, but when you talk about a hamstring, it’s definitely something that we went ahead and put him on the IL and expect him to miss a good bit of time.”

Adley Rutschman is catching and trying to snap an 0-for-18 streak. Adam Frazier is batting fifth and playing second base. Kyle Stowers is batting ninth and starting in right field.

For the Orioles
Cedric Mullins CF
Adley Rutschman C
Anthony Santander DH
Ryan Mountcastle 1B
Adam Frazier 2B
Austin Hays LF
Gunnar Henderson 3B
Jorge Mateo SS
Kyle Stowers RF

After a 10-game road trip to Detroit, Kansas City and Atlanta where the Orioles went 6-4, the club returns home tonight to take on American League East leading Tampa Bay. The Rays (28-7) have the best record in the majors, playing .800 ball and lead the Orioles by 5.5 games atop the division.

The Orioles (22-12), after losing two of three in Atlanta, have a .647 win percentage that would have them in first place in four of the other five divisions in MLB. Tonight they open a 10-game homestand with three against Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh followed by a four-game series with the Los Angeles Angels.

The Orioles have played 62 percent of their games so far on the road, going 9-4 at home and 13-8 away from Oriole Park. The Orioles are 3-1 in home series, losing one to the Yankees and winning the others versus Oakland, Detroit and Boston. The Orioles are 6-1 in their last seven games at Camden Yards.

The best overall records in MLB right now:

.800 – Tampa Bay (28-7)

The Orioles – and everybody else in the American League East – have been looking up in the standings at the Tampa Bay Rays all season. From just about the first pitch of the 2023 year.

The Rays went 13-0 to start the year and began play yesterday at 22-5 (.815) with the best record in baseball. For a while, they were looking like they would pull off a 1984 Detroit Tigers start of 35-5. As of yesterday afternoon, they still could do that, the math was still possible.

And while the Orioles' 17-8 start heading into yesterday was one of their best-ever, they began Saturday’s doubleheader four games out of first place. But their .667 win percentage would be good enough to be first in four of the other five divisions in MLB.

However, in this division, they continue to look up to the Rays.

The Orioles and Rays have something in common beyond getting off to good starts. Both teams play schedules that were and are in April much softer on paper than what they will both face in May.

The Orioles have had a pair of impressive wins over the Tampa Bay Rays and can win this series with a victory tonight. It's the third game of a four-game series and the sixth of a seven-game homestand.

The Orioles (49-48) moved ahead of the Boston Red Sox and into fourth-place with Tuesday's 5-3 comeback win. Ramón Urías hit a two-run homer to take Baltimore from behind by one to ahead by one. It was his first career go-ahead homer in the eighth inning or later.

Urías has recorded a hit in eight straight games while batting .419/.419/.903 (13-for-31) with three doubles, four homers, seven runs and 10 RBIs during the stretch. The eight-game streak is one shy of his career-high nine-game streak from May 15 to June 29, 2021.

He has hit .397/.426/.707 (23-for-58) with three doubles, five home runs, 11 runs scored and 18 RBIs in 17 games since being reinstated from the 10-day injured list on July 4. Urías has hit safely in 14 of those 17 games with seven multi-hit efforts. Last night, Ramón and Luis Urías of the Milwaukee Brewers became the first brothers to record game-winning RBIs on the same day since Lourdes (TOR) and Yuli (HOU) Gurriel in 2021.

O's shortstop Jorge Mateo has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games with an at-bat since July 10 - including four multi-hit efforts - hitting .342/.359/.632 (13-for-38) with four doubles, two triples, one home run, seven runs scored, three RBIs and three stolen bases during this stretch. He has also hit safely in seven straight games, and 11 of his last 14 games with an at-bat. The O's are 28-22 when Mateo records a hit, 9-2 when he records multiple hits and 16-4 when he drives in a run. Mateo's 24 stolen bases rank second in MLB behind only Miami's Jon Berti (28 SBs).

Adley Rutschman is batting second tonight as the Orioles attempt to secure another series win against the Rays.

Terrin Vavra has media gathered at his locker this afternoon, but his name isn’t in the lineup. His major league debut remains on hold.

Ramón Urías, who hit the decisive two-run homer last night in the eighth inning, is batting .397/.426/.707 in 17 games this month with three doubles, five home runs and 18 RBIs.

Cedric Mullins hit his 13^th career leadoff home run last night, tying him for second in club history with Don Buford, Al Bumbry and Brian Roberts. Brady Anderson is first with 44.

Tyler Wells is 7-6 with a 3.69 ERA and 1.096 WHIP in 19 starts. He’s allowed 11 runs and 17 hits in his last three starts over 14 2/3 innings.

Ryan McKenna dived across home plate today in the second inning, hopped to his feet with hands clenched into fists, and yelled. The energy that’s been running through this team reaching high voltage.

The unfortunate part of the day for the Orioles was how quickly the Rays flipped the switch. The familiar part was the comeback by a team that stubbornly refuses to submit to its apparent fate.

The Orioles had to settle for another moral victory. They’d rather get the kind that's reflected in the standings.

Rookie Kyle Bradish surrendered four runs in the top of the third inning and two more in the fifth before the Orioles stormed back to tie the game in the sixth. Dillon Tate loaded the bases in the ninth, and Harold Ramírez’s sacrifice fly gave the Rays a 7-6 win at Camden Yards.

A walk, single and hit batter set the stage for Ramírez, who lined to right fielder Trey Mancini.

After going through a recent stretch where their starting pitchers produced just one quality start in a 14-game span, the Orioles have now gotten two straight quality starts as they head into the second game of their series with the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Orioles (29-37) got consecutive six-inning outings from Tyler Wells Thursday at Toronto and Dean Kremer last night versus the Rays. They combined to throw 12 innings, allowing 10 hits and one run. The Orioles now have 14 quality starts for the year and are 10-4 in those games. Wells and Jordan Lyles lead the club with four each.

Kremer lowered his ERA to 2.35 in three starts with an 82-pitch outing. It was the Orioles fourth scoreless start of five innings or more this year. Bruce Zimmermann threw five scoreless on April 17 versus New York and Lyles went five scoreless on April 20 at Oakland. Wells pitched six scoreless May 30 at Boston before Kremer allowed no runs on just five singles last night.

The O’s bullpen took it from there in a 1-0 win to open this series. Félix Bautista, Cionel Pérez and Jorge López combined to strikeout eight batters in the last three innings with no walks as Bautista touched 101.4 mph with his fastest pitch, while Perez got to 98.6 mph and Lopez 98.4. Lopez recorded his 10^th save and his fifth of more than one inning, getting the last four outs. His ninth-inning ERA of 1.21 is second-lowest among all major league relievers.

On June 12-13, in back-to-back games at Kansas City and Toronto, the Orioles' bullpen allowed 11 runs over 7 2/3 innings. But over the past four games the ‘pen has yielded just two earned runs in 14 innings.

The Orioles activated reliever Joey Krehbiel from the 15-day injured list and optioned right-hander Logan Gillaspie to Triple-A Norfolk. Gillaspie was informed of the move last night.

Krehbiel, who was sidelined with right shoulder tendinitis, has a 2.74 ERA and 1.130 WHIP in 23 innings. Gillaspie has appeared in 11 games with the Orioles and allowed five earned runs (six total) and 15 hits in 10 1/3 innings.

Gillaspie was charged with four runs and five hits Monday in 1/3 of an inning in Toronto.

Adley Rutschman and Cedric Mullins are on the bench today.

Austin Hays is leading off and serving as the designated hitter. Trey Mancini is in right field, Ryan McKenna in center and Anthony Santander in left.