Dylan Beavers homered on the first pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning to complete a comeback as the Baltimore Orioles won their home finale, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 6-5 on Thursday afternoon.
It was the fourth homer for Beavers, a rookie outfielder. Ryan Mountcastle and Coby Mayo also homered for the Orioles (75-84), who trailed 5-2 in the eighth. Mountcastle, Jeremiah Jackson and Gunnar Henderson all had two hits.
Reliver Keegan Akin (5-4) was the winning pitcher with one scoreless inning in the rubber game of the series.
Kevin Kelly (2-5) who gave up two home runs and a triple among the four batters faced, took the loss. Fellow reliever Jesse Scholtens, appearing in his second game with the Rays, was in line for his first victory since 2023 before Baltimore’s three-run eighth.
Jake Mangum posted three hits and Bob Seymour, Junior Caminero, Nick Fortes and Tristian Gray all had two hits for the Rays (77-82), who will finish the season below .500. Christopher Morel drove in two runs.
Drew Rasmussen made the start for the Rays, leaving after 2 1/3 scoreless innings in his career-high 30th start. That left him at 150 innings in his first full season since 2022.
Orioles starter Cade Povich was charged with five runs on 10 hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
The Rays scored three times in the third, beginning with Morel’s two-run double and capped by Richie Palacios’ sacrifice fly.
Mountcastle drilled his seventh homer of the season in the third. He added a run-scoring single in the fifth.
The Rays increased their lead to 4-2 in the sixth on Gray’s RBI double, though Carson Williams was thrown out at the plate on the play. Tampa Bay got its fifth run on Seymour’s two-out RBI single.
Tampa Bay loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth against Rico Garcia, who recorded two strikeouts before the threat ended on a lineout.
The Orioles made it 5-3 in the bottom of the inning courtesy of Scholtens’ wild pitch before Mayo tied it with a two-out, two-run homer off Kelly’s first pitch.
Rays outfielder Everson Pereira (lower back tightness) and designated hitter Yandy Diaz (right groin tightness) left the game early.
The Orioles won the season series 7-6.
