masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgThe Orioles had their chances tonight. Plenty of them. Chances to take the lead, a chance maybe to move into a first-place tie in the American League East.
If they selected Chance Sisco’s contract, it would have been a perfectly-themed night.
The Rays continue to revel in their role of spoiler, scoring in each of the first four innings and getting timely outs in a 7-6 victory over the Orioles before 19,233 at Camden Yards.
The Red Sox scored five runs in the ninth to beat the Yankees and now…

The Orioles had their chances tonight. Plenty of them. Chances to take the lead, a chance maybe to move into a first-place tie in the American League East.

If they selected Chance Sisco’s contract, it would have been a perfectly-themed night.

The Rays continue to revel in their role of spoiler, scoring in each of the first four innings and getting timely outs in a 7-6 victory over the Orioles before 19,233 at Camden Yards.

The Red Sox scored five runs in the ninth to beat the Yankees and now lead the Orioles by two games in the division.

The Orioles ended their game with Chris Davis striking out on three pitches to leave runners on the corners. They got there with one out against Alex Colome, but Mark Trumbo struck out looking and Davis struck out for the third time tonight.

Yovani Gallardo lasted only 3 1/3 innings and was charged with six runs, leaving his ERA at 5.77 in 106 innings. Oliver Drake retired all six batters he faced and had two strikeouts, Mychal Givens struck out two in a scoreless eighth and Donnie Hart and Brach Brach teamed for a scoreless ninth.

The deficit stayed at three runs until the Orioles finally scored twice in the bottom of the eighth on RBI ground outs by J.J. Hardy and Michael Bourn after Davis’ leadoff walk and Matt Wieters’ double. They didn’t put runners on second and third with no outs and leave them there again, but productive outs weren’t enough to take away Tampa Bay’s lead.

Nolan Reimold grounded into a double play to end the fourth after an error and Drew Stubbs single put runners on the corners with one out. Adam Jones walked to lead off the fifth and took third on Jonathan Schoop’s double, but Manny Machado struck out, Trumbo popped up and Davis bounced to the mound.

That one really stung.

Hardy walked with one out in the sixth, but pinch-hitter Bourn grounded into a force and pinch-hitter Pedro Alvarez popped up.

No sign of Hyun Soo Kim in that inning. Alvarez batted for Reimold and Ryan Flaherty took over in right field, with Bourn going to left.

Jones walked again to lead off the seventh, but the next three batters were retired.

Kim did make it to the on-deck circle in the eighth, but Flaherty stayed in the game after Bourn’s grounder. Kim would have hit if Bourn reached base.

Schoop and Machado singled with one out in the ninth. You know the rest. The Orioles left eight runners on base tonight. They had their chances.

The Orioles are 80-66 overall, 45-26 at home and 11-5 versus the Rays.

Evan Longoria hit a three-run homer off Gallardo in the first inning. Gallardo has surrendered 21 runs in the opening frame, including seven home runs. The Orioles countered with four runs in the bottom half against rookie left-hander Blake Snell, with Wieters delivering a two-run single and Hardy a two-run double, but the Orioles didn’t score again until the eighth.

The Rays got a two-out RBI single from Logan Forsythe in the second and a two-out RBI double from Steven Souza Jr. in the third. The Rays scored twice in the fourth, one run charged to Tommy Hunter, and the Orioles never reclaimed the lead.

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Here’s manager Buck Showalter:

On Gallardo:
“Pretty good stuff. We knew he’d be a little bit stronger with added rest. You see the strikeouts, but you also see him getting some balls where he didn’t want to get them. He didn’t have a real good feel for anything off-speed. I thought he was going to find his step a couple times, but he never really got into a rhythm, it seemed like.”

On Gallardo warming in bullpen and then walking first two batters:
“He’s not the only one who’s ever done it. It happens from time to time. I was talking to Wally (Dave Wallace). He had a good bullpen and seemed ready. It’s one of those things (where) you’d like to see him get the first couple hitters under his belt.

“We all know what Yovani’s capable of. It wasn’t there tonight. He’s been searching for that consistency that he’s capable of and it just hasn’t happened. As much as it may be frustrating for whoever, it’s double that for Yovani. Can you imagine having that ability to do so much better, with those first two hitters for instance, and not be able to get it done? Sometimes, you can want something too much.

“You know and I know how much he wants to contribute, how much he wanted to give us a little better chance to win tonight, but he wasn’t the only one. We had some opportunities we didn’t cash in on. We didn’t initially stem the tide when we went to the bullpen. All those things add up.”

On the difference between Orioles offense in first inning and later:
“Their guy pitched better. They could have gotten about anything they wanted for him. He’s one of the top prospects in baseball. I tell you what, Colome is probably one of the most underrated closers in the American League. He’s got really good stuff, so you know you’re going to have a tough time after the eighth inning. But I just think Snell threw a lot better. Actually broke out his changeup, which is a good pitch for him. He gave us a different look after that.”

On momentum not carrying over the next game:
“We’re not the only ones. It’s part of it. I’ve said it a lot. Just because someone pitches well doesn’t mean it’s going to always carry over. I’m really happy how much they want to do well, but it sometimes doesn’t translate out there. It hasn’t happened lately with Yovani, but it’s frustrating for him. It really is.

“This doesn’t mean that. It’s why we go play the games.”

On missed opportunities:
“There’s a lot of hindsight involved, but I try to dwell on the fact we were down three runs real quick and came right back. Jon had a big hit there against a tough closer. So did Manny. Jon going first to third, Adam made an unbelievable catch in center field again or there might have been some more damage. We don’t get a broken bat flying at Manny, it might have been a whole different game.

“We can go back and rehash every play and probably come up with a lot of things that could have tilted it one way or another. But it didn’t and we lost.”