*Photo from the Baltimore Sun*
This game had all the drama you could want in a playoff race. Adley Rutschman homered, Cedric Mullins drove in the winning run, and the Baltimore Orioles rallied to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 in extra innings on Sunday afternoon in Baltimore.
During the game, the Texas Rangers lost to the Cleveland Guardians. That loss by the Rangers secured a playoff spot for both the Orioles and Rays. It was made all the more sweeter for the Orioles when they walked off the Rays in extra innings shortly thereafter.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said after the game that "We were disrespected, honestly, going into this year, just from where we were from projections, smart people thinking they know what the records are going to be at the end of the year. I thought we were underappreciated. Everybody thought that we were going to have a setback this year, and I wanted our players to be offended by that a little bit, the guys that were here last year. I thought that wasn’t accurate. I thought we were going to be a good club."
The Orioles have made the playoffs for the first time since 2016, while the Rays secured their spot in the postseason for the 5th straight year, continuing to search for the ever-elusive World Series title after coming up just short in 2020 to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Brandon Lowe gave the Rays a 1-0 lead in the first inning, blasting a solo home run to center field. In the 4th inning, Austin Hays evened the score for the Orioles, making it 1-1 with an RBI single that scored Ryan O'Hearn. It stayed that way until the 8th, when Tristan Gray and Christian Bethancourt hit back to back solo home runs to make it 3-1 Rays.
Rutschman answered back in the 8th for the Orioles, hitting a solo home run to make it a 3-2 game. In the 9th, the Orioles tied it on an RBI double by Adam Frazier, forcing extra innings. An RBI groundout in the top of the 10th and an RBI single in the bottom kept it tied 4-4. In the 11th, Mullins hit a sac fly, deep enough to score Rutschman to give the Orioles a walk off win.
Mullins said after the game "That's exactly how we've played all year. We pass it off to the next guy, and even if one guy doesn't get through the other guy's going to. It's not easy. The way we're celebrating right now kind of shows just how difficult it is to get to this point."
Dean Kremer allowed one run in 5 innings in his start for the Orioles. Danny Coulombe worked 1 1/3 innings before Jorge Lopez allowed two runs in 1 1/3 innings. Cionel Perez and Shintaro Fujinami combined for one inning before Yennier Cano worked 1 1/3 innings. DL Hall got the win in the 11th.
Zack Littell pitched 4 2/3 innings for the Rays, allowing one run. Colin Poche worked 1 1/3 innings before Robert Stephenson pitched one inning and Pete Fairbanks allowed two runs in two innings. Shawn Armstrong allowed a run in the 10th and Jake Diekman got the loss in the 11th.
Rays manager Kevin Cash said "Two great teams going at it. We did everything to win the game, and then they answered and kind of came back and they did everything to win the game. You saw great pitching, great defense, clutch hitting. You saw it all. We just came up a little short right there at the end."
Up next, the Orioles square off against the Houston Astros on Monday, with John Means to make his second start of the season. The Rays get a day off before a series against the Los Angeles Angels begins on Tuesday, with Taj Bradley set to get the start.
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