Orioles Take 3 of 4 from Rays for Two Game Lead in American League East

There are a few surprise teams this season in major league baseball, both underperforming (like the New York Mets) and those exceeding expectations. One of the latter is the Baltimore Orioles.

Baltimore at one time was a powerhouse in the American League, winning three World Series and three additional American League pennants between 1966 and 1983. Since ’83, when they beat the Phillies in the World Series, they’ve made just five post season appearances, in 1996 and ’97, 2012, 2014, and 2016. Since that last post season in ’16, the Orioles records include 47-115 in 2018, 54-108 in 2019, and 52-110 just two years ago. Last year they had their first winning record since ’16, finishing 83-79.

This season, Baltimore got off to a pretty good start, but the early season story in the A.L East was the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays started 13-0 were 51-22 on June 16th in a highly competitive division, and held a 6 ½ game lead over Baltimore going into July. But then the best team at the beginning of the season turned into the worst in July, and are an A.L. worst 4-14 in the month. Three of those losses in the month were at the hands of Baltimore, who took three of four from the Rays in a weekend series July 20th-23rd in St. Petersburg. Baltimore left town in first place with a two game lead over the Rays. The Orioles lead the season series with Tampa Bay 6-3. The two have one series left between each other, a four game set in Baltimore September 14th-17th. Baltimore also owns the beat record in the league at 61-38, ahead of Tampa Bay (61-42) by 24 percentage points.

There’s a long way to go in the season, and the A.L. East is a bear, with last place New York and Boston both at 53-47. (By comparison, the Minnesota Twins are in first place in the A.L. Central at 53-48). The Orioles are at Philadelphia for three games starting July 24th, and the Rays will host Miami for two July 25th and 26th, before embarking on a nine game trip to Houston, the Yankees, and Detroit.

Here’s highlights of Baltimore’s 5-3 win to close out the series on July 23rd: