Rays Can't Complete Sweep of Orioles, But Still Thrilled With Series Win

TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays failed to sweep the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday, but they are still holding their heads high.

Tampa Bay took two out of three games from Baltimore, securing their first series win since sweeping the Kansas City Royals on June 24-26. For a team that stumbled into the All-Star break, it’s a return to the right direction.

“We always talk about series wins, and we already won it,” Rays right-hander Ryan Pepiot said after a difficult start on Sunday that lead to a 5-3 loss to the Orioles. “We tried to go for the sweep today, and it didn’t happen, but we still won the series.

“If you win every single series, at the end of the season, you’re going to be in pretty good shape.”

With 100 games down, the Rays sit on the outside of the wild card bubble, trailing the Boston Red Sox by 1.5 games. Moreover, they trail the Toronto Blue Jays by 6.5 games for first place in the American League East.

“Winning the series is huge,” Rays catcher Danny Jansen said. “Obviously, we wanted the sweep today, but we’ll try to carry that momentum into the next series for sure.”

Rays infielder Taylor Walls echoed the sentiments of his teammates as the Rays look forward to staying at home for a three-game set against the Chicago White Sox. 

“I mean, at this point, especially with where we’re at in the season, we need to try to rattle off as many wins as possible,” Walls said. “Everybody in here knows that we’re capable of it. And, yeah, we’re just coming out, looking to put up a lot of runs early.”