Rays vs Orioles Recap: Baltimore tops Tampa Bay 9-7 in Monday slugfest

The Tampa Bay Rays rolled into Baltimore on Monday with one thing on their mind: keep winning. They'd won 7 of their last 10 games and sat at 34-16 on the season. But the night before, they'd dropped a tough one 3-0. The Orioles? They were struggling at 23-30 and looking to turn things around at home. This game would be a wild ride with 13 innings of back-and-forth action. Both teams refused to quit. The final score told the story: Orioles 9, Rays 7. You were about to watch one of the most exciting games of the week unfold right before your eyes.

The first six innings stayed quiet. Both teams played solid defense and nobody scored. Then the 6th inning happened. Jonathan Aranda stepped up against Kyle Bradish and got ahold of a slider. The ball rocketed over right-center field and landed 371 feet away. The Rays took a 1-0 lead. But Baltimore wouldn't stay quiet. In the 7th inning, Blaze Alexander singled to center and Leody Taveras scored to tie things up at 1-1. Then Taylor Ward singled to right, and an error let another run score. Just like that, the Orioles grabbed a 2-1 lead. The game was alive now. Neither team was backing down.

The two teams kept battling through the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th innings with runs going back and forth. Victor Mesa Jr. smashed a home run 421 feet to right-center in the 11th. That made it 4-2 Rays. But Baltimore fought back. Pete Alonso singled and Jeremiah Jackson singled. The score tied 4-4. It stayed that way into the 13th inning. Finally, Cedric Mullins singled to left and scored Oliver Dunn. The Rays led 6-5. Nick Fortes hit a sacrifice fly and Richie Palacios scored. Now it was 7-5 Rays. Then Colton Cowser smashed a home run 425 feet. His two-run blast put Baltimore ahead 9-7. That was the final score. The Orioles won in 13 innings.