The Tampa Bay Rays delivered one of the most improbable wins in recent memory Wednesday night, stunning the Baltimore Orioles with a comeback that immediately cemented itself into franchise history. In a wild Rays vs. Orioles clash, Tampa Bay erased an early 8-0 deficit to win 12-8 — scoring 12 unanswered runs in what OptaSTATS described on X, formerly Twitter, as one of the rarest MLB comeback wins of the modern era.

“There have been over 450 instances in the modern era of an MLB team allowing 8+ runs in an inning to open the game's scoring.

Only one of those teams allowed no runs or hits the rest of the way and came back to win.

That one team was @RaysBaseball tonight.”

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What began as a disaster quickly turned into a miracle. Starter Taj Bradley was shelled, giving up seven runs in just over an inning. Ramón Laureano’s three-run homer capped off a brutal second inning, putting the Orioles up 8-0 and threatening to end the night early for Tampa Bay. But from that point forward, the Tampa Bay bullpen delivered one of its best efforts of the year, throwing 7.2 innings of one-hit baseball to completely shut down Baltimore.

While the bullpen kept the Orioles silent, the Rays offense began chipping away. Christopher Morel, Jake Mangum, and Junior Caminero sparked early runs to make it 8-4. Then came the fifth inning fireworks. Jose Caballero walked and scored on a triple by Taylor Walls. After an RBI single from Yandy Díaz, Brandon Lowe’s home run on a full count tied the game at 8-8 and flipped the momentum for good.

In the seventh inning, the Rays vs. Orioles contest turned into a rout. Caminero, Josh Lowe, and Jonathan Aranda drove in four more runs to give Tampa Bay a commanding 12-8 lead. The offense’s depth was on full display, but it was the bullpen — led by Mason Montgomery, Garrett Cleavinger, and Pete Fairbanks — that sealed the game with absolute dominance.

The comeback tied the largest in franchise history and couldn’t have come at a better time. Now 41-33, Tampa Bay trails the New York Yankees by just one game in the AL East after New York was swept by the Los Angeles Angels. With a 20-7 stretch since May 20th, the Rays are heating up at the right moment, and this incredible night may be the springboard to an even greater second half.