Rays enjoy ‘Tarps Off' fans; shortstop Taylor Walls wished to join them

Rays players enjoyed the high-energy "Tarps Off" display Monday by fans in the leftfield corner, most of whom took off and twirled their shirts, and chanted loudly for the home team.

"I loved it," said shortstop Taylor Walls. "I wish I could have joined them, to be honest. It looked sick. That looked fun. I know if I was a fan in the stands, I'd be right there in the middle of it.

"I had all my family, my brother and all them reaching out, like, man, that's exactly where I would have been. So, that's heat, man. That's awesome. Hopefully, they're they're back (Tuesday), or back sometime soon."

Second baseman Richie Palacios also encouraged a return visit, posting a video of the scene on X Tuesday and writing, "Yall better pull up today," with several laughing emojis.

That worked, as there was another group on Tuesday.

"Winning is fun, and when you have crazy fans like that it is also fun as well," Palacios said. "So, we had a good time."

Having grown up in New York, Palacios especially enjoyed the Yankee Stadium-type roll call, when fans yelled out different Rays names and waited for them to respond in acknowledgement.

"I was dying laughing on the field," Palacios said, especially when hitting coach Chad Mottola tipped manager Kevin Cash's hat for him. "That was good comedy. Really good comedy."

When the fans chanted Walls' name, he waved his hand as if he had his shirt in it.

"When they did that, I'm like, ‘Well, that's only right to give them a little wave,'" he said. "I wanted to take my jersey off right there and just wave it at them, but I couldn't do that."

Walls and third baseman Junior Caminero had playful responses to the chants as well on Tuesday.

The late-inning gathering has become common around the majors and got lots of attention last weekend at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

Matz set to return

The Rays likely will wait until Wednesday morning to make it official, but left-hander Steven Matz is set to come off the injured list and start in the matinee finale vs. Baltimore.

In doing so, Matz missed just one more than the minimum 15 days required for pitchers on the IL and showed that the left elbow inflammation that had sidelined was minor, as he and the team had said.

"I'm feeling great," Matz said Tuesday. "It was a nice progression. We took a few days off, and we slowly built back up. Worked on the mound about five-six days ago, so we're lining up perfectly."

Matz had been pitching well, with a 4-1 record and 3.86 ERA through seven starts. He said "the goal is to just kind of pick up right where I left off."

Orioles' Albernaz appreciates Rays

The Rays and Orioles are seeing a lot of each other, with a three-game series at Tropicana Field wrapping up Wednesday and another starting Monday at Camden Yards.

That provides a lot of time for players and staff to revisit their ties to the other team.

Most notably, new Orioles manager Craig Albernaz, who spent seven years as a minor-league player and five as a coach/manager in the Rays organization.

"They gave me a chance to live out my dream as a professional baseball player, and also they gave me an opportunity to start my coaching journey," said Albernaz, a product of St. Petersburg's Eckerd College.

"I'm forever grateful for the people here. Up and down the organization, it's filled with a lot of great people that impacted my life, so every time I come back here it's always special."

Four Orioles' coaches also have Rays connections.

Assistant hitting coach Brady North had the same role in Tampa Bay the previous four seasons. Infield coach Miguel Cairo was an original Devil Ray and spent 1998-2000 as a mainstay in the lineup. Bullpen coach Hank Conger was with the Rays in 2016, first-base coach Jason Bourgeois briefly in 2013.

Several Orioles pitchers are also former Rays: Shane Baz (who starts Wednesday), Dietrich Enns, Andrew Kittredge and (minor-leaguer) Andrew Suarez, plus injured Zach Eflin.

Rays outfielder Cedric Mullins and reliever Bryan Baker are former Orioles. Rays senior adviser Brandon Hyde managed Baltimore from 2019 until being fired in May 2025.

Mullins, who didn't play Monday, said he expected to have mixed emotions.

"A lot of fond memories in Baltimore," he said. "It's going to feel weird being on the other side for the first time. But it's going to be a lot of fun."

Rays add an infielder

After Tuesday's game, the Rays acquired infielder Oliver Dunn from the White Sox for Triple-A reliever Joe Rock.

Dunn, 28, is a lefty-hitting corner infielder who played 55 games over 2024-25 with Milwaukee. He was playing most recently with the White Sox's Triple-A team, hitting .295 with nine homers, 34 RBIs and a .938 OPS.

Cash said before the game that infielder Ben Williamson, who is dealing with a tight back and has had one at-bat over the last five games, was still dealing with some soreness and was still considered day-to-day.

Rock, a 25-year-old lefty, was 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA over 15 relief appearances at Durham. He was on the Rays' 40-man roster, which now has two openings. Dunn was not on Chicago's 40-man roster.

Chase is on

Reliever Chase Solesky spent three days with the Rays earlier this month but didn't get in the game. That made Monday even more special for the 28-year-old, who spent seven years bouncing around pro ball - including an early 2024 stint in the independent Atlantic League - before making his major-league debut, working three innings of the 16-6 win over the Orioles.

"Just thankful, man," Solesky said. "The support from the guys in the clubhouse was, like really, really cool. Two years ago, I was playing indy ball. It's just hard for me - when (manager Kevin) Cash shook my hand (after the final out), I kind of got teary-eyed. It was just one of those moments - like, never giving up."

Solesky had about 25 relatives and friends in the stands, the balls from his first pitch and first strikeout, and a handful of others from the game as souvenirs. He also had close to 700 text and social media messages.

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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 8:57 PM.