Bryan Baker has a habit of finishing things for the Tampa Bay Rays. On Monday night, he finished the American League pennant.
The former Orioles reliever worked a perfect ninth inning at Tropicana Field to close out a 7-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 6 of the ALCS, sending the Rays to the third World Series in franchise history. Tampa Bay won the series 4-2 after trailing 1-0 and 2-1, and it clinched on the 18th anniversary of its first pennant in 2008.
When the last out landed, Baker let loose — and appeared to aim his glove at the Trop's roof.
Bryan Baker sends the Rays to the World Series.
And he clearly was trying to throw his glove to the Tropicana Field roof after finishing off ALCS Game 6. https://t.co/THjQwXmceR
— Jake Rill (@JakeDRill) October 20, 2026
For Orioles fans, the celebration came with a familiar cast. Baker, center fielder Cedric Mullins, right-hander Tyler Wells and infielder Jorge Mateo were all part of the 2023 Orioles club that won 101 games and the AL East. Right-hander Cole Sulser was Baltimore's saves leader in 2020 and 2021. And former Orioles manager Brandon Hyde now works in Tampa Bay's front office. All of them are headed to the World Series with a division rival — the same week Baltimore's own season is a month in the rearview mirror.
Game 1 against the Milwaukee Brewers is Friday night at American Family Field.
A Pennant Clinched by the Rays' 'Orioles 2.0' Wing
Game 6 belonged to ALCS MVP Freddy Peralta, who held Cleveland to one run over 5 1/3 innings, and to the bats of Junior Caminero and Yandy Díaz, who each hit two-run homers. Richie Palacios opened the scoring with a two-run hit in the second inning. But the final three outs went to the pitcher who has owned the ninth inning in St. Petersburg all season.
"Tonight was a perfect example of how we win games right there," Baker told reporters afterward.
The night before, in Cleveland, it was a two-man Orioles reunion that slammed the door. With the Rays protecting a 3-1 lead in Game 5, Wells was summoned with two outs in the eighth to face José Ramírez with a runner aboard and struck him out on a high cutter, then came off the mound roaring. Baker followed with a scoreless ninth for his fifth save of the postseason and his 35th consecutive converted save chance. That win sent the Rays home with a 3-2 series lead.
"That was Rays baseball at its finest," Wells said after Game 5.
The Former Orioles on the Rays' World Series Roster
Bryan Baker, RHP — The All-Star Closer Baltimore Couldn't Unlock
No former Oriole has done more with a change of scenery. Baltimore claimed Baker off waivers before the 2022 season, and he made 173 appearances for the Orioles as a useful but inconsistent middle reliever before Baltimore traded him to Tampa Bay for a draft pick on July 10, 2025.
The Rays turned him into one of the best closers in the sport almost immediately. Baker made the All-Star team in 2026 and led the majors with 41 saves, posting a 1.44 ERA across 65 regular-season appearances. He hasn't allowed a run this postseason, and he's been on the mound for the final out of every Rays playoff win — a three-game ALDS sweep of the Yankees and four ALCS victories over Cleveland.
It's the storyline Orioles fans will find hardest to watch. The arm was always there. Tampa Bay found the closer.
Cedric Mullins, OF — A Fan Favorite Gets His October
Mullins played his first 784 major league games in an Orioles uniform. His 2021 season remains one of the best individual years of the franchise's rebuild era: he became the first Oriole to join the 30-homer, 30-steal club, made the All-Star team and won a Silver Slugger. Baltimore traded him to the Mets at the 2025 deadline, and he signed a one-year deal with the Rays last December — less than a week after Tampa Bay hired Hyde.
Mullins made 122 starts in center field during the regular season and was named the Rays' nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award. In October, Kevin Cash has leaned on a platoon with right-handed-hitting Jonny DeLuca, who started all three ALDS games. Mullins still made his mark: his solo home run in Game 1 of the ALCS was one of only two homers the Rays hit through the first five games of the series. Both he and DeLuca rank among the game's best defensive outfielders, which matters against a Brewers lineup that thrives on putting the ball in play.
Tyler Wells, RHP — From the Rule 5 Draft to the Fall Classic
Baltimore plucked Wells from Minnesota in the 2020 Rule 5 draft and watched the 6-foot-8 right-hander develop into a starter and swingman before elbow surgery cost him most of 2024 and 2025. The Orioles traded him to the Rays on Aug. 3, a deal that caught Wells off guard — he wasn't expecting to be moved, let alone within the division.
He has since become a key piece of a deep Tampa Bay bullpen. After a rough postseason debut, Wells settled in, and his strikeout of Ramírez in Game 5 was one of the biggest outs of the Rays' run.
Jorge Mateo, INF — The Late-Summer Addition
Mateo spent parts of five seasons in Baltimore after the Orioles claimed him off waivers in 2021, playing 150 games in 2022 and becoming one of the fastest players in the American League. He signed with Atlanta as a free agent last winter, was released in August and signed with the Rays on Aug. 13 — debuting, fittingly, against the Orioles at Tropicana Field and scoring a run as a pinch-runner in the ninth inning of his first game.
His speed and versatility — he has played every infield spot but first base plus all three outfield positions — make him a natural fit for a Rays team that runs aggressively and went a perfect 6-for-6 on stolen-base attempts through five ALCS games.
Cole Sulser, RHP — Baltimore's Former Saves Leader
Sulser's Baltimore stint came before the 2023 group, but he belongs on this list. The Orioles claimed him after Tampa Bay designated him for assignment in September 2019, and he led Baltimore in saves in both 2020 and 2021 under Hyde. After stops elsewhere, he returned to the Rays, signed a one-year deal for 2026 and handled middle-relief, opener and occasional closing duties — including a save against Toronto in May on a night Baker needed rest. A pair of back injuries sent him to the injured list twice this summer.
Brandon Hyde — The Former Skipper in the Front Office
Hyde managed the Orioles from 2019 until he was fired on May 17, 2025, after a 15-28 start. In between, he oversaw the climb from rebuild to contender, winning AL Manager of the Year in 2023 after Baltimore captured its first division title since 2014. The Rays hired him last December as a senior advisor in the baseball operations department.
Hyde isn't in the dugout, but he's very much part of the story: four of his 2023 Orioles are on Tampa Bay's roster. When Mateo arrived in August, Baker said some teammates joked, "Man, we just got Orioles 2.0 over here right now." Hyde, a coach on the 2016 Cubs, already owns a championship ring — this would be his second.
Former Orioles on the Brewers, Too
Baltimore is represented on both sides of this World Series. Milwaukee's roster includes two pieces of one of the most consequential trades of the Mike Elias era: left-hander DL Hall and infielder Joey Ortiz, who went to the Brewers on Feb. 1, 2024, in the deal that brought Corbin Burnes to Baltimore for one season.
Hall, the Orioles' first-round pick in 2017, has thrown 5 1/3 scoreless innings in relief this postseason. Ortiz, who debuted with Baltimore in 2023 and appeared in 15 games that year, has settled in as Milwaukee's everyday option between third base and shortstop, batting .270 with a .730 OPS in 134 games this season. Catcher Gary Sánchez, who spent part of 2025 with the Orioles, is also with Milwaukee.
Burnes, meanwhile, pitched one season in Baltimore and left in free agency — a trade that looks very different through October's lens.
What It Means for Baltimore
The contrast is hard to miss. The Orioles were formally eliminated from playoff contention on Sept. 25, finishing with their first losing record since 2021 despite adding Pete Alonso in free agency. A month later, a division rival is chasing its first championship with Baltimore's former closer finishing games, its former center fielder patrolling the outfield and its former manager helping run the operation.
That's not entirely an indictment. Mullins and Mateo left as free agents, and several of these moves made sense at the time. But Baker's transformation — and to a lesser extent Wells' — will invite questions about what the Rays saw, and developed, that Baltimore didn't.
The Rays went 98-64 and won the AL East before sweeping the Yankees in the Division Series. The Brewers, at 103-59, owned baseball's best record and swept the two-time defending champion Dodgers in the NLCS. Neither franchise has ever won a World Series, so a first-time champion is guaranteed — the first such Fall Classic since the Phillies and Royals met in 1980.
Whichever team lifts the trophy, a few former Orioles will be lifting it with them.
2026 World Series Schedule: Rays vs. Brewers
All games start at 8 p.m. ET. Milwaukee holds home-field advantage.
| Game | Date | Matchup | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Friday, Oct. 23 | Rays at Brewers | American Family Field |
| 2 | Saturday, Oct. 24 | Rays at Brewers | American Family Field |
| 3 | Monday, Oct. 26 | Brewers at Rays | Tropicana Field |
| 4 | Tuesday, Oct. 27 | Brewers at Rays | Tropicana Field |
| 5* | Wednesday, Oct. 28 | Brewers at Rays | Tropicana Field |
| 6* | Friday, Oct. 30 | Rays at Brewers | American Family Field |
| 7* | Saturday, Oct. 31 | Rays at Brewers | American Family Field |
* If necessary
Where to Watch/Listen
Game 1: Friday, Oct. 23, 8:00 PM ET at American Family Field, Milwaukee
TV: FOX (FOX Deportes in Spanish)
Streaming: FOX One