24 July 2023
As the Orioles approached the second half of the season, adding a high-leverage reliever was seen as the club’s biggest need.
Mike Baumann pitched like one Sunday.
The right-hander relieved a shaky Tyler Wells in the fifth inning of a tied game, pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings as the offense pulled ahead and handed the ball off to the dominant duo of Yennier Cano and Félix Bautista to lead the Orioles’ 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
The win was Baltimore’s third over the Rays this weekend in a pivotal four-game series between the American League’s two best teams. The Orioles (61-38) arrived in St. Petersburg tied with the Rays (61-42) atop the AL East. They’re leaving with a two-game lead.
Wells allowed just one hit, but struggled with his command throughout, walking four and hitting two batters. After three scoreless innings, the 6-foot-8 right-hander allowed a run in the fourth and a two-run, game-tying home run to Yandy Díaz in the fifth.
Gunnar Henderson and Ryan O’Hearn powered the offense with home runs. The former hit a majestic, two-run blast in the second that traveled 446 feet; the latter hit a go-ahead solo shot in the sixth that traveled just 331 feet. Adley Rutschman and Anthony Santander also recorded RBI hits.
The victory was Baumann’s seventh of the season — a surprisingly high total for a middle reliever — without a loss. He has more wins than Kyle Bradish (six) and as many as Wells (seven), the Orioles’ top two starting pitchers. Over his past 11 2/3 innings, Baumann has allowed just seven hits and one earned run.
Cano and Bautista followed Baumann, with the duo pitching for the fourth time in five days but not looking fatigued. Cano retired the side in order in the eighth, while Bautista recorded his 28th save with a scoreless ninth. The Orioles allowed just three hits in the win.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the four-game series win in St. Petersburg is just the Orioles’ second since the Rays joined MLB in 1998; the first was in April 2006. The last time the Orioles won a series of at least three games at Tropicana Field was in June 2017. They most recently won three games in a series at Tampa Bay in May 2014.
Around the horn
Right-hander Austin Voth (elbow discomfort) continued his minor league rehabilitation assignment Sunday, starting and pitching two innings for Double-A Bowie. Voth, who began the assignment Thursday in the Florida Complex League, allowed two hits and one run while striking out two without a walk. He gave up hits to Nationals top prospects Robert Hassell III (solo home run) and James Wood (double). He threw 27 pitches, of which 22 were strikes.
Left-hander T.J. McFarland, a veteran who returned to the organization on a minor league contract Saturday, pitched one inning of relief Sunday for Triple-A Norfolk. McFarland pitched four years in Baltimore between 2013 and 2016 and since played for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Oakland Athletics, St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets.
This story will be updated.
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