masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Orioles got the final at-bats tonight in the bottom of the ninth inning, a reminder that they were the home team at Tropicana Field. They just couldn’t give their cluster of fans a walk-off win.
The Orioles struck out 13 times and lost to the Rays 2-0 before 9,945, an attendance figure they will carry back to Baltimore. Caleb Joseph was the only Orioles who didn’t strike out.
Both teams had four hits in a game that lasted only 2 hours, 19 minutes. The no-fan game at…

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Orioles got the final at-bats tonight in the bottom of the ninth inning, a reminder that they were the home team at Tropicana Field. They just couldn’t give their cluster of fans a walk-off win.

The Orioles struck out 13 times and lost to the Rays 2-0 before 9,945, an attendance figure they will carry back to Baltimore. Caleb Joseph was the only Orioles who didn’t strike out.

Both teams had four hits in a game that lasted only 2 hours, 19 minutes. The no-fan game at Camden Yards was played in 2 hours, 3 minutes.

How odd was it to be the home team in St. Petersburg?

“I know it seems strange to everybody, but once the game starts they’re doing something they’ve been doing their whole lives – playing baseball,” said manager Buck Showalter. “It’s still a place where good pitching plays and that was the case tonight.”

tillman-pitching-black-alcs.jpgThe Orioles also received good pitching, with Chris Tillman holding the Rays to two runs and three over seven innings. He came out after 99 pitches.

Tillman hadn’t pitched since April 23 in Toronto, but he didn’t look rusty. Ubaldo Jimenez also was working on extended rest Wednesday against the White Sox in an 8-2 victory at Camden Yards.

“I think it’s a tribute to the things they do between with Wally (Dave Wallace). It’s so hard to do,” Showalter said.

“Normally, I’d have Tilly pitch another inning, but wanted to get Darren (O’Day) and Tommy (Hunter) … because of the situation we’re in, they haven’t pitched in six days. Really three other guys I need to get out there. Always something. But I’m proud of the way our guys have handled the adversity from a pitching standpoint. As sharp as we looked the day before yesterday, that’s something that’s more of a tribute to them, I think.”

Has the past week taken a toll on his club?

“No, I think what took a toll is they pitched real well and it’s something they’ve been doing real well here,” Showalter said. “This, probably as much as any club I’ve had, excuses aren’t in their repertoire. They’ll tip their hat, but they’ll be frustrated by it. They’re going to see a really good pitcher (Chris Archer) tomorrow. That’s why they call it the big leagues.”

The game was unusual, but also more normal than playing in an empty ballpark.

“We’re getting there,” Showalter said. “I think it will be more so … you know, what’s normal? What’s normal in a baseball season? We’ve played games at 11:15 at night at Yankee Stadium. If you’re constantly looking for normal, you’re in the wrong profession. So many convenient excuses and the world we live in, you can’t go there.”

Orioles fans came to The Trop, chanting “Let’s Go O’s” and trying to drown out the Rays contingent.

“Regardless of what they were charging for a ticket, it was very impressive the crowd that turned out,” Showalter said. “Whether it was Tampa fans or ours, there was a feel of … it was kind of nice not having certain elements you normally have. Like it was a baseball game played for no other reason than the competition of the season. There was no real edge to anybody, it was just baseball and glad it was being played. Obviously by Tampa here, but also by the Orioles. At some point it’ll be back in Baltimore.”

pearce-intense-black-sidebar.jpgSteve Pearce had one ball hit to him tonight at second base, which he fielded cleanly. He also turned a double play with Brandon Guyer coming at him, and he took catcher Caleb Joseph’s throw at second and tagged Guyer on an attempted steal.

“Doesn’t surprise anybody,” Showalter said. “You had Guyer bearing down on him. He runs as well as anybody. Stevie is not going to use that as an exscuse. He made a tag, covered the bag properly.

“He was late on covering a bag, was late backing up first on Manny (Machado’s) throw. That will be the biggest challenge for him, knowing where to be on the plays. It’s obviously a crash course, but necessity is the mother of invention and we have some needs there.”

Pearce knows that he eventually must learn where to be on relays and to back up first.

“That’s going to come,” he said. “Right now, we’re just going over the straight basics. Cutoffs, relays, priorities, that’s just going to have to come later. Me and Everth (Cabrera) are communicating and he’s doing a good job of telling me what to do.

“Just trying to get comfortable every day, still taking all my reps. As the game went on I got a little bit more comfortable.”

The Orioles found more of a comfort zone at The Trop than other ballparks because they’ve played so many games here.

“As the game went on, I was like, ‘Yeah, we’re the home team,’ but just a typical baseball game. We don’t look at it as where we’re at. Just go out there and play,” Pearce said.

“I think we just have a lot of familiarity with this park. We play here all the time. It’s a typical game that we always play. We always play these guys tough. Just go out there and beat them tomorrow.”

Pearce appreciated the Orioles fans who showed up.

“Yeah, it was a little bit louder for us tonight,” he said, “but it still didn’t have the Camden feel.”

Rays starter Alex Colome, making his first appearance this season, shut out the Orioles on three hits over five innings, with no walks and six strikeouts.

“He pounds the strike zone,” Pearce said. “He was getting ahead of everybody. He threw a hard slider. It explodes out of his hand. The ball was jumping out of his hand. He was throwing mid-90s. He was throwing strikes, mixing everything up, keeping all the hitters off balance. He did a great job tonight.”

Tillman was lamenting the two-out walk to Asdrubal Cabrera in the fourth inning that led to the only runs of the game.

“Two-out walks will always kill you, especially in that situation,” Tillman said. “You’ve got a better hitter on deck in (Evan) Longoria. I’ve got to make my pitches there.”

Tillman lowered his ERA from 7.58 to 6.23.

“It was better,” he said. “Still got work to do. I’d like to have command of the off-speed pitches earlier in the game. I was able to get by with my fastball, but I feel like I’d be a little bit better off with my off-speed command.”

Tillman said he prepared as thought he were pitching in “another road game.”

“It’s weird taking the field first on the road,” he said, “but other than that I didn’t feel anything different.”

He heard the Orioles fans in attendance.

“Absolutely I did,” Tillman said. “Warming up, I saw them out there. It was all orange on our side. Our fans are good, they travel well. I think it’s special for this city. They show up.”

“You could hear them,” Joseph said. “They were doing the chants. They travel well, especially here. It’s always fun coming to The Trop. They travel so well. We could hear them and we were trying our best to get the W for them, so hopefully we can show up tomorrow and do that for them.”

Joseph thought it was more unsettling to play in an empty ballpark than move a home series to St. Petersburg.

“This one, the only difference was the uniforms and hitting second,” he said. “I don’t think it affected us as much as the one a couple days ago. That one was really weird with nobody being in the stands. But with people in the stands and being here, we come here quite a bit, so it was just batting second was really the only difference.”