The Tampa Bay Rays lose their second game in a row as they fall to the Baltimore Orioles in the series opener, 5-3. 

With the loss, Baltimore clinches the series victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. However, Tampa Bay stays at the top of the American League with a 76-52 record. They now hold only a three-game lead over the New York Yankees in the American League East division standings. 

Here's what you need to know from Friday's contest. 

After the last few starts of showing progress since being traded to the Rays from the New York Mets, starting pitcher Freddy Peralta didn't have the best outing on Friday night against the Orioles. 

Peralta provided length, going 7 innings for the Rays and striking out 4, but he did give up 5 runs across 7 hits. The final runs came from Pete Alonso in the fifth inning, who picked up his 30th home run of the season, making him just the eighth Oriole player since 1954 to hit 30 home runs in his first season with the organization. 

It wasn't the best outing for Tampa Bay at the plate on Friday night, as the team could only find a way to pick up seven hits, most of them coming from the same players. The team struck out ten times against Baltimore Orioles pitching and was only 2 for 3 with runners in scoring position. 

On a bright note, Kenneth Piper, the catcher for the Rays, who was playing in the second game of his major league career, hit his first home run in the second inning off Orioles pitcher Trevor Rogers. 

Other than that inning, the Rays were silent, with all three runs coming in the top of the second inning, giving them plenty of time to regroup and hopefully come back stronger on Saturday. 

The lead is getting slim in the AL East, as the Yankees only trail by 3 games and are currently on a 5-game winning streak. The lead could completely diminish by the beginning of next week if they don't figure things out quickly. 

Tampa Bay will look to even the series on Saturday, as left-hander Shane McClanahan will look for his 10th win of the season. He'll go against Orioles right-hander Brandon Young. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm Eastern Time.