TAMPA, Fla. — Entering Sunday, the Baltimore Orioles’ last win was 10 days ago. A lengthy rain delay with the Orioles on the precipice of a victory was just a tiny speed bump in comparison.

The Orioles prevented getting swept by the Tampa Bay Rays this weekend with a 5-3 win Sunday afternoon, surviving a 2-hour, 36-minute rain delay in the seventh inning to end their four-game losing streak.

Trevor Rogers pitched like the new version of himself, while the Orioles’ offense and bullpen bounced back from squandering Saturday’s game. Rogers tossed a quality start with six innings of two-run ball, maintaining the lead his offense provided him after homers from Jackson Holliday, Alex Jackson and Ryan O’Hearn.

“We’re obviously up early this morning and then that awesome rain delay right there in the middle didn’t help,” said Gunnar Henderson, who passed the time during the delay by playing cards in the clubhouse with teammates. “But I was proud of the way we came back out … and came out with the win.”

Félix Bautista was shaky in the ninth inning during his first appearance since July 10. The 6-foot-8 closer gave up a run, walked three batters and loaded the bases with two outs, but he struck out Junior Caminero to shut the door for the Orioles’ first win since July 11.

Interim manager Tony Mansolino was ejected in the third inning after arguing with home plate umpire James Hoye after he threw out Orioles outfielder Ramón Laureano for slamming his bat and helmet after a strikeout. It was Mansolino’s first time being ejected as an MLB manager. Mansolino and Laureano watched the end of the game together in the clubhouse, with the veteran outfielder keeping the skipper loose.

“I had Ramón Laureano sitting with me, and he was breaking down the biomechanics of the pitching delivery and the baseball swing throughout the whole inning,” Mansolino said with a smile. “So as I was kind of stressing out watching it, I was trying to focus on Ramón’s explanation of the swing and the delivery … and also what was going on with Félix. It was actually the perfect distraction to have during the inning. Nonetheless, we got through it, we won, and that’s the important thing.”

Baltimore is 44-54 and 8 1/2 games back of the final American League wild-card spot with 11 games left until the trade deadline.

Holliday led off the game with a home run off Rays right-hander Ryan Pepiot that barely cleared the right-center field wall. It had the few extra feet that his game-ending, 401-foot flyout Saturday didn’t. Holliday is tied with Cedric Mullins for the team lead in home runs with 13.

Jackson, the Orioles’ backup catcher, then parked a solo shot in the third, and Gunnar Henderson smacked a two-run double to score Holliday and Jordan Westburg and put Baltimore up 4-0.

Rogers gave up one run in both the third and fourth innings, surrendering an RBI single to Caminero, who homered twice in the Rays’ win Friday, and a solo homer to Danny Jansen. But the left-hander buckled down to make it through six innings despite not having his best stuff or velocity in the muggy climate that felt like almost 100 degrees.

“Pitchability is really big for me, just being able to move the ball around, hit my locations, hit my spots. That’s huge,” Rogers said. “Velocity wasn’t quite where I want it to be, but first start after the break, I kind of expected that. Pitchability was really key for me today.”

O’Hearn’s solo homer — the All-Star’s 12th of the season — in the sixth before the rain delay provided what could’ve been critical insurance. Bautista walked Jansen, the leadoff hitter in the ninth, and then gave up an RBI single to Taylor Walls.

Bautista walked two more batters to load the bases, but he was fortunate to strike out Caminero to end the game. His 3-0 pitch appeared to be out of the zone, and his 3-1 offering that Caminero swung at was a ball. His 3-2 pitch was a fastball that Caminero was late on.

“What a crazy game, right?” Mansolino said.

Postgame analysis

Rogers pitched well, and it’s no longer a surprise. This is, at least for now, just who Rogers is.

Through seven starts this season, Rogers has a 1.74 ERA with a 0.87 WHIP and .163 batting average against. The way Rogers looks right now is radically different from how he pitched when the Orioles acquired him from the Miami Marlins at last year’s trade deadline.

Rogers pitched to a 7.11 ERA in four starts for the Orioles last season. Kyle Stowers was terrible for the Marlins, while Connor Norby played well. This year, Stowers is an All-Star, Rogers appears to be a key piece of Baltimore’s rotation for 2026, and Norby is underperforming and injured.

With the trade deadline looming, Rogers’ emergence this season should serve as a reminder to not judge trades too quickly.

What they’re saying

Rogers on pitching in three games in the past month with temperatures that feel like 100 degrees:

“I think I’ve gotten better at handling it; I don’t think I’ll ever get better at pitching in it. I don’t know who makes the schedule, but someone’s out to get me, it seems like. It’s kind of the way it’s been dealt. I think pitching in Miami all those years have prepared me for that. Me and Pepiot had to pitch in it, so everyone’s dealing with it, everyone was struggling. So you’ve just got to suck it up, toughen it out and just go out there and compete.”

It wasn’t pretty, but Bautista’s save was his 12th consecutive converted save, a streak that dates to May 26. It’s the longest active streak in the American League.

On deck

The last time the Orioles were in Cleveland, they were fresh off buying at the trade deadline. Back in Ohio for the first time since, Cleveland could be the destination from which Orioles general manager Mike Elias initiates a fire sale at the deadline. Elias indicated on Sunday on MLB Network Radio that he would be selling, focusing on trading players on expiring contracts. The deadline isn’t until July 31, but trades could happen any time.

Tomoyuki Sugano and Brandon Young will take the mound for the Orioles on Monday and Tuesday to kick off the four-game series against the Guardians (48-50). Zach Eflin will likely return from the injured list to start one of the series’ final two games. Eflin is one of the Orioles’ best trade chips, and he will have two opportunities to show other teams he’s healthy ahead of the deadline.

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