MLB-best Rays come out swinging, pound O's for season's biggest night

The bunts, infield hits and aggressive baserunning are cute, cool and fun to watch, but the major league-leading Rays have insisted during their remarkable start to the season that they aren't only a small-ball team.

They made that point clear Monday night in a 16-6 battering of the Orioles, posting season highs in runs, hits (18) and extra-base hits (eight) while improving to 31-15, surpassing the Braves for the top record in the majors.

"You're going to have to find ways to score runs," manager Kevin Cash said. "Sometimes it's going to come with contact and putting the ball in play, and then some days you need those big gap shots or home runs with guys on base. And (Monday) we definitely got those. (We're) totally equipped to do that."

They showed that Monday with a team-wide effort.

Yandy Diaz led the way with four hits (including two doubles) and four RBIs. Junior Caminero had an RBI single and a three-run homer, his 13th of the season. Taylor Walls had two doubles, extending his hitting steak to a career-high seven games. Ryan Vilade had three hits, including a run-scoring triple, and three RBIs. Jonny DeLuca had two hits and three RBIs.

"Statistically, I think this team is just scratching the surface of what they actually can do in terms of the long ball and the power," said starter Shane McClanahan. "I think we're just scratching the surface a little bit, and I think (Monday) was a good glimpse of, if we're firing, what we can do.

"So hopefully we keep this momentum rolling (Tuesday), the next day and hopefully the rest of the year. If we keep putting up 16 like that, I'm going to have a lot of fun on the mound."

Ultimately, if the Rays are going to continue their surprising run at the top of the standings, it's going to take a combination of everything they can do.

"Right now we're playing baseball," said Caminero via team interpreter Kevin Vera. "Depending on the situation, we will play small ball. But depending on the situation, we're going to hit the long ball.

"It just matters the situation that we're in, and that's what we're going to keep doing. Whatever we need to play is the type of baseball that we're going to play."

Diaz had a similar take.

"We're not necessarily a team, like you said, that we're going to score 16 runs a game or necessarily (be) the ‘power-hitting' team," he said, via Vera. "But we have the speed, we have the contact, so of course, we can just stack runs and put on a lot of good offensive games when we need to."

The Rays were excited to improve to 31-15 in moving to a season-high 16 games over .500. They have won six of their last eight games, 13 of 16, 19 of 23 and 26 of 34. They also have won eight straight series openers.

Among a small Tropicana Field crowd announced at 13,633, a group of fans in the leftfield corner were reciprocally excited with the action, most taking off and waving their shirts during the late innings, and doing assorted chants for the Rays.

It seemed a take on what the Stephen F. Austin baseball team did in the Busch Stadium stands for Cardinals games over the weekend, dubbed "tarps off." St. Louis manager Oli Marmol enjoyed it so much that he noted the energy in his postgame media session and bought out the section for the next two games, offering free tickets to fans who'd be as loud.

Rays players seemed to enjoy Monday's scene with Walls the most engaged by waving his hand as if he had a shirt.

"I was focused on the game, but obviously I peeked a little bit," Caminero said. "They put on a show, and we laughed with them."

There was a lot to cheer about, as the 16 runs were the most for the Rays in nearly a year (May 31 at Houston), and most in a home game since April 14, 2025.

They also batted around in two innings during a game for the first time since May 29 (at Houston).

McClanahan wasn't as sharp as previous outings in allowing four runs and throwing 90 pitches over five innings, but picked up his fifth win, having returned to action after missing the previous two-plus seasons with injuries.

The RBI single he allowed Adley Rutschman in the third inning ended his career-best scoreless streak at 23 2/3 innings, though he then recorded his 500th career strikeout by fanning Pete Alonso, the Tampa product.

McClanahan was obviously most appreciative of the overall offensive support.

"Can't say enough good things about the offense," he said. "I picked a pretty good night to give up runs for the first time in a while. These guys have my back, and I obviously, wish I selfishly did a little better.

"But my job is to help this team win games, keep us in the ballgame any way I can. It definitely wasn't sexy, definitely wasn't the easiest, I think, of any outing I've ever had. But we found a way, and huge shoutouts to these guys. Unbelievable to watch."

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This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 10:04 PM.