AL-leading Rays are on fire, while Orioles looking for a spark

The Tampa Bay Rays, baseball's best team since the start of May, will look to continue their dominant play as they welcome the Baltimore Orioles for a three-game set starting Monday evening in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Tampa Bay used a timely two-out, three-run triple by Taylor Walls to take down the visiting Miami Marlins 6-3 on Sunday. Manager Kevin Cash's team is 12-3 since May 1, a stretch that has allowed the Rays to take over first place in the American League East and build a three-game lead on the New York Yankees.

The Rays (30-15) own the best record in the American League. They also have not lost consecutive games in nearly a month, when Tampa Bay fell 6-3 on April 19 to the host Pittsburgh Pirates and dropped the first two home games against Cincinnati on April 20-21.

"We're a good team," Cash said after Sunday's win. "I feel like that we're representing ourselves very, very well. We've got to do little things right, and you know, I feel like the guys have done that."

Walls represented that approach in Sunday's win, as the nine-hole hitter jumped on the first pitch he saw in the fourth inning to clear the bases with his triple, turning what was a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 advantage.

The shortstop is riding his second six-game hitting streak of the season. It matches the longest streak of his career, which he also accomplished in 2023 and 2025.

While the Rays have caught fire, the Orioles have struggled. Baltimore was 15-15 after winning the first game of an April 30 doubleheader against the visiting Houston Astros. Manager Craig Albernaz's team has won just six times in its last 17 games.

Baltimore avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of the Washington Nationals on Sunday, thanks to its 7-3 road win. A couple of struggling batters led the way.

Colton Cowser, who hit 40 home runs across the past two seasons, finally hit his first of the season in Sunday's win. Meanwhile, Gunnar Henderson went 4-for-5 with a double, his 10th homer of the season and two RBI.

The 2023 AL Rookie of the Year, Henderson has struggled through the first quarter of this season. He entered Sunday with an MLB-leading 191 at-bats, but his .199 average was 17th-worst in the majors among players qualifying for the batting title.

The four-hit performance allowed Henderson's average jump to .214. He also ended a 17-game stretch without a long ball.

Albernaz said his team's superstar shortstop has shown signs of a breakout dating back to the Orioles' three-game series in Miami nearly two weeks ago.

"He's been showing it," Albernaz said. "He had a rough stretch, but he's been working... It wasn't like he wasn't doing anything."

A pair of left-handers will get the start Monday.

Since losing at Pittsburgh on April 19, Rays pitcher Shane McClanahan (4-2, 2.27 ERA) has not allowed a run over his last 21 2/3 innings. He allowed just one hit and a walk and struck out seven Toronto batters last Tuesday, but he did not factor in the decision, breaking a string of three straight wins.

In nine starts against Baltimore, the 29-year-old is 6-0 with a 2.86 ERA.

Trevor Rogers (2-4, 5.77), meanwhile, has suffered four straight losses and allowed 19 runs (18 earned) in 15 1/3 innings over those starts. Monday will mark his fifth start against Tampa Bay, and he's 1-0 with a 3.98 ERA against the Rays.

--Field Level Media