One that got away: O's lose five-run lead and game to Rays

Trey Mancini was driving in runs and John Means needed just 13 pitches to get the first six outs tonight. The Orioles led Tampa Bay 5-0 after two innings and had their ace on the mound.

What could go wrong?

The Rays could outscore the Orioles 9-2 from the fifth inning on to come from five runs down and beat the Orioles. And that happened tonight at Camden Yards. Tampa Bay beat the Orioles 9-7 to run their win streak to six games.

O's fans had been waiting for their offense to get it going. They've scored six runs twice in this series. And lost both games. They've scored 22 runs the last three games, going 1-2.

In the loss, Mancini had a huge night.

He hit two homers, a double, had four hits and drove in five runs.

Mancini helped the Orioles quickly get going when he blasted a 413-foot homer in the last of the first for the 1-0 lead. That was No. 8 on a first-pitch cutter from lefty Ryan Yarbrough.

After Freddy Galvis led of the O's second with his fifth homer and the 100th of his career, Mancini came up big again. With the bases loaded, he ripped a three-run double to left on a 2-1 changeup to provide a 5-0 lead. Mancini had four RBIs before the second inning was over.

After the Rays got homers off Means in the fifth from Mike Brosseau and Randy Arozarena, Mancini got Means another run. He blasted a solo homer to dead center for a 6-3 lead. That was No. 9 on a 2-2 cutter that soared 431 feet into the night.

That was Mancini's eighth career multi-homer game and first since July 21, 2019. The five RBIs tied his career high, first set on Aug. 27, 2018 against Toronto.

Mancini began the night just one RBI off the major league lead. He now has 38 for the year and 21 in 16 games this month. In May, he has driven in at least one run in 12 of the 16 games, including his last five in a row.

But despite his big night, the Rays had another big night of their own at the expense of O's pitching. The Rays scored nine runs from the fifth though eighth innings tonight. They beat the Orioles on a night they staked Means to a five-run lead.

O's pitchers have allowed 48 runs over the last six games. They've allowed double-digit hits in six of the last seven.

Means was charged with four runs over 6 1/3 as his ERA grew to 1.70. Adam Plutko gave up two runs in 1/3 of an inning and Paul Fry was charged with three runs over 2/3 of an inning.

The Rays have hit eight homers in this series and the O's have allowed 11 in the last three games and 15 in the past five.

The Orioles fall to 17-25 and have lost six of seven and nine of 11 games. They fall to 6-17 at home. Tampa Bay is now 25-19. Since starting the year 5-8, the Rays are 20-11.