Wynns' grand slam can't snap Orioles' road losing streak (updated)

What could pitching coach Chris Holt say to Jorge López in the first inning after approaching the mound? What could catcher Austin Wynns say as López sat in the dugout with three runs against him?

More strikes were needed, but so was much better luck.

The Rays rode four groundball hits, a slow mode of transportation, to an early lead that they held throughout, withstanding Wynns' grand slam in the fifth in a 5-4 victory over the Orioles at Tropicana Field.

Left-hander Rich Hill faced the minimum heading into the fifth, but his five-run cushion deflated to one after Wynns' first career slam. Four Tampa Bay relievers combined to allow only two hits with no walks and the Orioles (22-41) set a club record with their 14th road loss in a row.

Manager Brandon Hyde came out of the dugout before the bottom of the third inning to speak with umpire Tripp Gibson. A MASN camera showed Holt and third base coach Tony Mansolino talking to López.

"We had some discussions about Lopie, how he comes set, because Lopie comes set in a little bit of an unusual way and I wanted to make sure they understood," Hyde said on his Zoom call. "A balk hasn't been called on him, but I didn't want to put Lopie in a bad spot. So, it was about our pitcher."

Wynns patted López on the shoulder after the bottom of the first, but he made a bigger impact with his first major league home run since Sept. 24, 2019 in Toronto.

Ryan Mountcastle led off the inning with a walk, his first since May 23 in D.C., and Freddy Galvis singled with one out. Maikel Franco struck out on a full-count curveball, but Hill threw a wild pitch, Pat Valaika walked and Wynns lifted a high fly ball that kept carrying.

"Day like today, squared something up and I was just trying to get the boys on the right track," Wynns said. "We're trying, we're playing hard, all right? Their bullpen shut us down and we're just trying to get something going."

The first inning is supposed to be a breeze for López, even with a roof over his head. He allowed two earned runs and opponents batted .182 before today, but Brandon Lowe's leadoff single and a walk to Yandy Díaz instantly put López in a bind.

Lowe challenged Mountcastle's arm and raced to third base on Taylor Walls' fly ball, Austin Meadows struck out on a changeup down and in, and Joey Wendle slapped a double down the left field line to give Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead.

Manuel Margot reached on an infield single to score Díaz - Franco couldn't make the barehand pickup but likely had no play - Kevin Kiermaier shattered his bat and reached on a grounder to short, and the Rays gifted Hill three early runs.

Four ground balls felt like jabs that might knock out López, who threw 33 pitches with only 15 strikes.

Statcast's expected batting average (xBA) was .190 on Lowe's single, .060 on Wendle's double and .210 on Margot's single. Deficit by a thousand paper cuts.

"One thing is I really focused from the first to the 95th pitch, even though I had really bad luck and nothing going our way," López said.

"Today was bad luck," Wynns said. "They just found holes against him. He pitched one hell of a game. Didn't show it, but he did."

López retired the side in order on 12 pitches in the second and seven in the third, because, again, baseball is weird. But Kiermaier singled with one out in the fourth, López hit Brett Phillips and Lowe had a two-run double on a ball that bounced over Mountcastle's head.

The luck was still lacking for López, who for a brief moment was able to smile.

Phillips was drilled on the back by a 95 mph fastball, dropped his bat and gestured to López, then broke character and began to laugh. They're former teammates in the Brewers and Royals organizations, part of the same Mike Moustakas trade, and close friends, but plate umpire Nick Mahrley had no idea and rushed to get between them.

"It's like a brother for me," López said. "We kind of grew up together and we were traded to Kansas City and we really have a great relationship. He's funny. He's a decent dude. Much respect for him. I know I didn't want to hit him, but he knows me and everything was kind of fun. Just part of the game and we have a really good relationship."

Wynns took a few steps beside Phillips, who waved him off and, still laughing, pointed to López. Wynns didn't appear to be amused until rounding the bases in the fifth.

"I first thought when he took that step, 'Oh man,' but it was all fun and games after that," Wynns said.

"He was cool. It didn't faze him."

Hill was struck behind the right leg by Austin Hays' comebacker in the second but stayed in the game and needed only seven pitches to get through the third and nine in the fourth. The Orioles didn't have a hit until Cedric Mullins' leadoff single in the fourth, and he was erased on a double play.

The same thing happened in the first after Trey Mancini's one-out walk in the first.

Mullins singled off reliever Ryan Thompson after Wynns' slam and stole second base. Mancini flied out.

López allowed five runs and eight hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Tanner Scott stranded runners on the corners by striking out Kiermaier with a 99 mph fastball.

Scott struck out three of four batters. Phillips walked in the sixth and Wynns threw him out attempting to steal.

Hunter Harvey walked Díaz leading off the seventh and Galvis dropped a popup with one out. Hays raced into right-center field to catch Wendle's liner, stumbling and appearing to tweak his leg, and Margot bounced into a force.

Dillon Tate inherited two runners from Travis Lakins Sr. in the eighth and stranded them with one pitch.

Galvis singled with two outs in the ninth and Franco bounced out on the eighth pitch from Diego Castillo.

"It's not fun to lose and we came up a run short today, we came up two runs short yesterday," Hyde said. "Hopefully we can turn it around tomorrow."