How could so many things go wrong for the Rays in one night? Well ...

BALTIMORE The Rays have had so many good days where they did so many great things and won so many games.Then, they had Friday.And a 22-8 loss to the Orioles.By the end of the long night, the Rays had matched the most runs theyd ever given up in a game.

Theyd blown their biggest lead of this season.

Ryan Pepiot had the shortest start of his career.

Every reliever they used gave up runs.

Jose Caballero made his pro pitching debut.According to MLB.com, the Orioles 14-run win is the largest by a team in a game it trailed by at least six runs in at least the last 125 seasons.What happened?Just baseball, to be honest with you, Rays veteran Brandon Lowe said.Over the course of 162 games, there are going to be nights somewhat like this.

Just not now, not with how well things had been going for the Rays.It almost doesnt seem right, said reliever Eric Orze.

Weve thrown the ball so well for so long.

With the law of averages in baseball, at some point this is bound to happen.

So, hopefully we got it all out in one game and we just leave it at that.But were going to keep rolling forward.

Weve got a really good group, really good team, and (Saturdays) a new day.There really is no other way for the Rays to take it.As bad as they looked Friday, as much as they did wrong, as frustrated as they were, this is still the same team that came in as the majors best over the last seven weeks 30-14 since May 9 and via a series of other checkpoints that fueled their remarkable run.Theyre going to happen youre going to have games where we stink and I stink, Pepiot said.

Thats the beauty of our game.

You play almost every single day, and you see a different thing that happens every single game, and you just flush it.You win, you celebrate, you flush it, because its a new day; a new game starts all over again.

And then (Friday) sucks, flush it, come back (Saturday).

(Zack) Littell will pick us up and throw really well like hes been throwing really well all season, and well get after it (Saturday) and leave this one behind.The really crazy part about Friday was that the Rays led 6-0 in the second inning after hitting three home runs by Jonathan Aranda, Josh Lowe and Brandon Lowe.Yeah, you feel good, manager Kevin Cash said.

But a lot of respect for that lineup over there and what theyre capable of doing.

They showed why we have so much respect for them.

They were pretty relentless.

I mean, every guy we brought in, it felt like they kind of had an answer for.That the Orioles pretty much did.It started with coming right back in the home half of the second to score four runs and end Pepiots night, as he was approaching 40 pitches for the inning.I feel like a terrible teammate for letting the bullpen have to wear all of that the rest of the game," Pepiot said.

I put us in a hole.

The offense did an unbelievable job hitting three home runs in the second inning.Im just going out there trying to get a quick shutdown inning.

Honestly, just trying to throw the ball down the middle and make them hit the ball.

When you get a six spot, youre not trying to go out there and nibble.

Youre trying to get the guys back in and do exactly what they just did.

And I didnt do that.Pepiot said there was no good reason for his bad night.He felt fine physically.

Liked the game plan for facing the Orioles twice in 12 days.

Thought his mechanics were good.

Wasnt letting innings speed up on him as has happened before.Just didnt execute pitches and couldnt get those final outs, Pepiot said.

And put the team in a really tough situation.When he saw Cash coming out of the dugout, Pepiot tried to wave him back in an effort to at least save the bullpen some innings.I was like, let me figure this stuff out, because I dont want to put the bullpen in that kind of a situation, Pepiot said.

I already felt terrible enough that the offense had just gone out there and put up six, and Id just given four of them back already.

Let me wear it, let me go out there and get this guy out, flush it, leave it at four and just go as long as I could.Cash wasnt having it, and Pepiots day ended after 1 23 innings and 48 pitches.

That started a bullpen brigade that included Mason Montgomery, Orze, Edwin Uceta, Forrest Whitley and Caballero, the versatile infielder/outfielder who Cash spoke with last week about potential pitching duty.Rather than go up to the clubhouse and start his post-start arm care, Pepiot stayed and stewed.Ill think about this one for a while, he said.

I sat in the dugout until about the fifth inning before I came up (to the clubhouse) to do some stuff.

You do that to the team, you dont just sit come in here and sit down.

You watch that, and you can pick up the guys that picked you up and you cheer on the offense for giving you a lead that you swindled.

Ill forget about it (Saturday).Maybe there was some cosmic payback to the game.

It was just nine days ago when the Orioles took an 8-0 lead at Steinbrenner Field, and the Rays came back to win 12-8.They owed us the comeback, Brandon Lowe said.

Sign up for our Sports Today newsletter to get daily updates on the Bucs, Rays, Lightning and college football across Florida.Every weekday, tune into our Sports Day Tampa Bay podcast to hear reporter Rick Stroud break down the biggest stories in Tampa Bay sports.Never miss out on the latest with your favorite Tampa Bay sports teams.

Follow our coverage on X and Facebook..

This article has been shared from the original article on yahoo, here is the link to the original article.