Rays come back for the kind of win that can pay off months from now

Newly-acquired reliever Forrest Whitley is part of a string of Rays pitchers who don't allow an Orioles hit after the second inning.

TAMPA — Wednesday started as one of those days, with starter Taj Bradley struggling mightily and the Rays falling behind by eight runs by the second inning.

But it ended up a special night, the kind the Rays will draw on later this season, and one they will reflect on as a key moment if they end up playing into October.

From that early eight-run deficit, they came all the way back, tying the Orioles by the fifth inning and going ahead in the seventh, rallying for an inspiring 12-8 victory.

“Big picture, it’s a single game,” said Brandon Lowe, who had the biggest hit, a two-run, pinch-hit tying homer. “But the way that the game was won, the way that it was played, the at-bats that were put together, the bullpen that came through — I mean, it’s hard to quantify just what this can do for a team."

Junior Caminero, center, reacts as he and Josh Lowe both score in the seventh inning.

The Rays have been on an impressive run for nearly a month, with a 20-7 record since May 20, winning games in a variety of ways.

Wednesday was dramatic and historic, as they matched the largest comeback win in franchise history, having rallied from eight down to win at Anaheim in 2012 and in Toronto in 2019.

“It’s big,” said Garrett Cleavinger, one of six relievers who teamed to blank the O’s after the second inning. “To go down big like that, and then make a big comeback. Everyone’s excited in here. We’re all having fun. You could feel it in the dugout, guys were kind of vibing on it. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. It was a good win.”

The Rays' Josh Lowe (15) reacts as Yandy Díaz (2) slides into home in the seventh inning.

Good enough to improve the Rays to a season-high-matching eight games over .500, to move them within 1 ½ games of the American League East-leading Yankees, and to make them feel even better about themselves.

“I think right now we are the best team in MLB,” said Yandy Diaz, who singled and then scored the go-ahead run, via team interpreter Eddie Rodriguez. “And a victory like that gives us way more confidence.”

Bradley had a third straight rough start, allowing seven runs (six earned), six hits and a walk in getting four outs. As bad as it looked for the Rays coming up in the second down 8-0, it actually got worse as they loaded the bases and got nothing from it as Diaz flied out deep to left.

“That might be the most impressive thing for me is that you don’t get many opportunities like that,” manager Kevin Cash said. “It’s easy to get frustrated after you don’t get the big hit, and then you kind of settle and (there’s) not much left to show for it the rest of the game. Our guys had a different thought.”

That they did.

Between the hitters working quality at-bats and chipping away at the lead and the bullpen posting zeroes, the Rays battled their way back.

They cut the led to 8-3 in the third, Curtis Mead walking, Junior Caminero rapping the first of his four hits, Christoper Morel doubling in a run, Jake Mangum singling in two. Then they made it 8-4 in the fourth when Mead tripled and Caminero singled him in.

The Rays' Junior Caminero, second from right, and outfielder Christopher Morel, far right, celebrate the homer by Brandon Lowe, which allows Yandy Díaz to score the tying run in the fifth inning Wednesday night.

“We didn’t put our heads down,” said Caminero via Rodriguez. “That’s why we were able to come back.”

The confidence kept building, leading to the most pivotal moment.

A Jose Caballero walk, a two-out Taylor Walls triple and a Diaz single made it 8-6. Cash summoned Brandon Lowe to pinch hit against reliever Yennier Cano, and he worked the count full, then crushed a fastball 401 feet for a tying homer.

“You felt kind of the momentum being created,” Cash said." But Brandon coming up there, probably the matchup that we really wanted in the moment, and got it. And he didn’t miss it."

From there it seemed just a matter of when the Rays would take the lead, and they did in the seventh.

Diaz singled with two outs off old mate Andrew Kittredge, moved to second on a wild pitch, and raced home on a Caminero single off the glove of second baseman Jackson Holliday, celebrating as he scored the go-ahead run, the first of four that inning.

“We were losing 8-0, and that was the run that put us ahead, so of course I was excited about it,” Diaz said.

The bullpen deserved as much credit, as Kevin Kelly, Edwin Uceta, Cleavinger, rookie Mason Montgomery, newcomer Forrest Whitley and closer Pete Fairbanks didn’t allow a hit (and just one baserunner on a hit batter) after the second inning, retiring 23 of the final 24 Orioles.

“I didn’t realize that they didn’t get a hit after the second inning,” Cash said. “That’s unbelievable.”

The whole night was something, pretty much the whole team contributing.

“Wins like these just bring this team that’s already close just that much closer together,” Brandon Lowe said. “There’s nobody left on the bench that I feel like wasn’t doing something. ... It’s one of those things where everybody was clicking, everybody was picking each other up, everyone was doing what was best for the guy next to him, and those kind of things really help a team.”

Noting how they responded to the “the initial, ‘Oh crap, 8-nothing’ type of thing,” B-Lowe considered it one of their top wins.

Diaz said there was no doubt: “In my opinion, that’s the best game that we’ve had this season.”

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