Orioles lose to Rays 6-4 in 10 innings (with Showalter quotes)

The Orioles came within a strike tonight of moving above .500 again and passing the Rays for third place in their division. One measly strike. That's all they needed.

Brad Brach blew his fourth save and his first since May 16 in Detroit on a two-out walk, balk, wild pitch and single, and Steven Souza Jr. hit a three-run homer off Darren O'Day in the 10th to give the Rays a 6-4 victory over the Orioles before an announced crowd of 24,398 at Camden Yards.

Some losses leave a mark. This one feels more like a tattoo.

Mark Trumbo homered on Alex Colomé's first pitch in the bottom of the 10th to offer some hope, but it was fleeting.

The Orioles are 39-40 overall and 9-2 in extra innings. They were trying to climb above .500 for the first time since June 11, when they were 31-30.

Brach, seeking his 16th save, retired the first two Rays in the ninth inning before walking pinch-hitter Shane Peterson. A disputed balk and wild pitch moved Peterson to third base, and he scored on Adeiny Hechavarria's fourth hit of the night, a line-drive single into left field.

Hechavarria is known more for his glove than his bat, so of course, he had four hits and committed an error.

O'Day entered in the 10th and walked leadoff hitter Corey Dickerson. Logan Morrison was walked intentionally with one out and Souza cleared the center field fence for his 15th home run.

Souza raised his fist in the air and deflated the remaining crowd.

Joey Rickard accounted for both Orioles hits and drove in both of their runs through six innings. He also had two web gems in left field. Someone else needed to step up. A strong hair game was optional.

The moment came in the bottom of the seventh when Adam Jones led off with a double, took third base on Souza's error and scored the go-ahead run on Trumbo's single. The bullpen, already earning points for dazzling escape acts, was rock-solid until the blown save.

Chris Tillman loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth inning on a single and two walks, his team still trailing 2-1. Miguel Castro was dumped in the middle of another bases-loaded jam, and he escaped it by inducing a 5-2-3 double play from Wilson Ramos on a 3-1 count and striking out Tim Beckham.

Opponents are hitless in eight at-bats against Castro with the bases loaded.

Richard Bleier struck out both batters he faced in the seventh after Hechavarria's third hit to preserve a 2-2 tie made possible by Rickard's home run in the previous inning. Mychal Givens retired the side in order in the eighth - he's allowed one run in his last 13 appearances - and Brach recorded the first two outs in the ninth before losing the lead.

Tillman was charged with two runs and seven hits in five-plus innings, with two walks, five strikeouts and a home run. He threw 92 pitches, 57 for strikes, and lowered his ERA from 8.39 to 7.90 in 49 innings.

An Orioles starter failed to complete six innings for the 17th time in 20 games.

Ramos hit his first home run with the Rays, a two-run shot to center field in the second inning to give Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead. Ramos crushed a slider with the count 1-2.

Rickard collected the Orioles' first hit, and it also produced their first run, when he doubled to left-center field with one out in the third inning to score Welington Castillo, who reached on Hechavarria's error.

Beckham saved the tying run from scoring with a diving stop of Seth Smith's ground ball up the middle. Rickard held at third base and Manny Machado grounded to short.

Machado is in a 5-for-35 slump since going 4-for-4 with two home runs on June 20 against the Indians.

Rickard's double represented the Orioles' only hit through five innings. They had two baserunners. His leadoff home run in the sixth gave them two hits and three baserunners, as well as a tie.

Rays rookie Jacob Faria made his fourth major league start on Saturday and held the Orioles to three runs in six innings. Manager Buck Showalter has compared him to Jake Odorizzi. He was just fine tonight as Jacob Faria.

The first inning has been a monster for Tillman again this season, but he didn't allow a run tonight after Mallex Smith reached on an infield hit. Corey Dickerson grounded into a 5-6-3 double play and Evan Longoria flied out to left field.

Tillman had allowed 15 runs in the first inning for a 13.50 ERA, with 19 hits, 10 walks and five home runs. Inning highs across the board.

Souza singled with one out in the second and Ramos followed with his home run. Tillman stranded two in the third inning, striking out two batters, and offered up a clean fourth with two more strikeouts.

Tillman's fastball touched 93 mph on Beckham's strikeout.

Hechavarria singled with one out in the fifth, but Rickard made back-to-back outstanding catches to keep the deficit intact. He slammed into the fence in foul ground while making a running grab to rob Smith, his body spinning off the padding, and he made a sliding catch while sprinting toward the infield to deny Dickerson.

The Orioles were denied their fifth win in six games, a move above .500 and a climb into third place. Just one more strike.

Note: Closer Zach Britton retired all three batters he faced tonight at Single-A Frederick, getting a strikeout and two ground balls among his 11 pitches. He's headed to Triple-A Norfolk on Monday.

Showalter on tough loss: "Yeah, well, you felt like you have a shot at, I don't know, stealing one, but we only had four hits through nine innings, five through 10. I think that was more of the story than anything. We had a shot there at trying to get one, but they did a good job. They drew the base on balls and laid off a tough pitch and they got the big base hit. (Hechavarria) had a big night. Good acquisition, it looked like."

Showalter on balk: "It certainly doesn't help any. It's another one of those rules you've heard me talk about. It forces the umpires to call things that no one is gaining an advantage on, but it's been that way forever. I've been trying to get to ... I wish they'd change it. But we had a wild pitch/passed ball after that, and a base hit, so there were a lot of other things that could have happened to give yourself some breathing room there.

"Their pitcher pitched real well. Really commanded the inner half of the plate and made it tough on us. We just didn't score enough runs to give us a margin for error."

Showalter on Rickard: "Joey had a good all-around night as you want to see somebody have it. He was one of the few guys who had some good swings off their guy. He was solid.

"I look at Chris' outing favorably, but the job that Castro did tonight, we're not even in that game. That was the key to us being into it. What a great job he did."

Showalter on whether this was best he's seen Tillman this year: "I thought he's had a couple times. I like the command, the lack of base on balls. There weren't many base on balls tonight a good portion of the game on both teams. It was a good baseball game, except we lost. It looked we were going to be able to manage something out of not a whole lot of offense."

Showalter on O'Day: "He was trying to be careful with the first guy, you know? Kind of got forced into some matchups there. Darren's done a good job against left-handed hitters, really the last couple years. Just a walk there and then he got a breaking ball up that he doesn't normally throw up."