Adam Jones and Chris Tillman on falling three back in AL East

The Orioles won two of three at Boston, six of nine of their road trip and pulled within a game of first place coming home for an 11-game homestand. But now they have lost two of three to last-place Tampa Bay to fall three games out in the American League East.

Tonight, the Orioles had just four hits after the third inning in a 5-2 loss to the Rays to fall to 81-67.

"Man, it is not like we are going out there playing against ourselves; we are playing against other major leaguers," Orioles center fielder Adam Jones said. "You can say what you want about the Rays and their standings, but they have a formidable major league team over there. They are not just laying down, dying and quitting, and letting us win. Tip your caps to them for continuing their effort and their grind.

"They have nothing to lose at this point. I know that most of their players have been on winning teams and they're not a spoiler. If you tell them that, they'd probably get mad. Right now, they are throwing a little curveball into the standings with us and what they did with Toronto. Tip your cap to them for not quitting. You have to respect that they are grinding to the last out of the last game."

The Orioles will need to win on Sunday to split this four-game series and be, at best, two games out when Boston comes to Baltimore on Monday for a four-game series.

"I think at this time it's not necessarily a must-win, but at this point in time of the year, you need every W you can get," Jones said. "We've got 15 or 14 left. We can't give games away. We're not giving games away, but just have to go out there tomorrow, handle (Jake) Odorizzi, get some runs early, let our starter settle in and bring in that bullpen."

Making his second start tonight since returning from the disabled list, Chris Tillman allowed four hits and three runs over 5 2/3 innings and is 16-6 with an ERA of 3.72. He is 3-1 with an ERA of 3.38 in five starts this year against Tampa Bay.

"OK," Tillman said of his outing. "Feel like we did a pretty good job making pitches when we needed to. A couple of swings beat us and they threw the ball better. Physically, I felt good. Mechanically, it was so-so. Could have been better. Made some good pitches and some not so good ones they squared up."

Tillman said he expects to be fine for his next start. He said he would take his side day and proceed as usual, just as he did after his last outing in Detroit. That was his first game since Aug. 20.

He gave up an RBI double to Richie Shaffer in the sixth when the Rays took a 3-2 lead. A reporter asked Tillman if he thought he had struck him out the pitch before but didn't get the call.

"That was exactly where I wanted it," he said of that pitch. "Thought it was a pretty good pitch. You know, when you are not hitting your spots - and I wasn't very sharp - when you are missing, missing, missing, and then you make a pitch, you can't expect that (to be called a strike)."

Evan Longoria hit the O's pitchers for the third straight game. He went 2-for-4 with a triple and solo homer. He is 7-for-13 with three homers and eight RBIs in this series. What was the approach against him tonight?

"Make good pitches, as it always is," Tillman said. "I don't think it ever changes. I missed with that last pitch and he made me pay."

Now the Orioles look to win Sunday to build some momentum moving forward. They have lost two games in the standings in recent days.

"It is what it is," Tillman said. "We go out to win every day and we're not trying any less. They are a good ballclub and are good at grinding out at-bats. They did a good job tonight of seeing a lot of pitches and spoiling pitches. Tip my hat to them."