They sure didn’t make it easy. But the Orioles are back in sole possession of first place.
The O’s outlasted the Rays in a chaotic game three of the series, a contest that swung from the highest of highs — an early five-run explosion to stun Orioles killer Shane McClanahan — to the lowest of lows, a late-inning bullpen collapse that cost Grayson Rodriguez a deserved win, before a dramatic top of the ninth that featured Ryan O’Hearn’s pinch-hit, go-ahead RBI single. Félix Bautista locked it down with another dominant inning, bringing the large pro-Orioles contingent of Tropicana Field to its feet and surging the O’s back to the top of the AL East standings.