BALTIMORE (Interstat) — For six innings Wednesday night, the Tampa Bay Rays flirted with history at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Brandon Lowe and Jake Mangum provided the power with solo home runs, but the story was a dominant pitching performance that held the Baltimore Orioles without a hit into the late innings, leading the Rays to a 6-2 victory.

The Rays, methodical and efficient, scored single runs in six different innings to secure the win in front of an announced crowd of 18,367. The game took 2 hours, 30 minutes.

Any drama surrounding the final outcome dissipated early as Tampa Bay built a steady lead. The only remaining question became whether the Rays’ staff could complete the first no-hitter of the 2025 season. That bid, however, was broken up in the seventh inning.

Starter Shane Baz set the tone with four no-hit innings, though he battled control issues, walking three Orioles batters. He was followed by relievers Edwin Uceta and Garrett Cleavinger, who each contributed a perfect inning to extend the hitless streak through six.

The pursuit of the second no-hitter in franchise history ended abruptly in the bottom of the seventh. Facing Rays reliever Griffin Jax, Baltimore’s Tyler O’Neill led off the inning by lining a single into center field, ensuring the Orioles would not be added to the record books in a negative way.

Tampa Bay’s offense was consistent from the start. They took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Chandler Simpson led off with a single and scored on a line-drive double by Brandon Lowe. They doubled their advantage in the second as Richie Palacios doubled and came home on another double, this one from Hunter Feduccia.

Lowe extended the lead to 3-0 in the third, launching a solo home run, his 31st of the season, deep to right field. The Rays added a run in the sixth on an RBI double by Tristan Gray that scored Palacios, who had singled. A fielding error by Baltimore right fielder Tyler O’Neill allowed the run to score.

The Rays made it 5-0 in the seventh. Simpson reached on a single and advanced to third on an error by left fielder Dylan Beavers before scoring on a groundout by Junior Caminero. Mangum capped the Tampa Bay scoring with his third homer of the year, a solo shot to center field in the eighth inning.

Baltimore avoided the shutout by pushing two runs across in the bottom of the eighth against the Rays’ bullpen. After a walk to Colton Cowser and a single by Dylan Beavers, Jordan Westburg grounded a single through the left side of the infield, scoring both runners.

The Orioles threatened no further, as Pete Fairbanks closed out the game for Tampa Bay in the ninth inning, inducing a double play to erase a baserunner.

The win went to Uceta (10-3), who was credited with the victory after his perfect inning of relief. Baltimore starter Tyler Wells (2-1) was tagged with the loss, surrendering three runs on seven hits over four innings of work.

Beyond the home run hitters, Richie Palacios had a strong night for the Rays, going 3 for 4 with three runs scored. The Rays tallied 11 hits as a team, while the Orioles were limited to just three.

With the victory, Tampa Bay improved its record to 77-81 on the season, while Baltimore fell to 74-84. The result split the brief two-game series after the Orioles won 6-0 on Tuesday. The outcome defied pregame projections from Interstat, which had given Baltimore a 52.3% probability to win and projected a narrow 5-4 Rays victory. The combined eight total runs went over the sportsbook over/under line of 8.5.

The two teams conclude their series and their respective 2025 seasons with a final game on Thursday afternoon in Baltimore.