Orioles playing catch-up in race for win (O's lose 4-2)

The Orioles won for only the second time in 14 games last night after their opponent scored first.

They need to do it again tonight after doubles by Justin Ruggiano and Mike Zunino in the second inning gave the Mariners a 1-0 lead at Camden Yards.

Wei-Yin Chen threw 21 pitches in a scoreless first inning, striking out former Oriole Nelson Cruz after Robinson Cano's two-out single. Chen's count included 15 strikes. He's up to 32 pitches, 25 strikes, in two innings.

The strikeout was the first by Cruz in 23 at-bats and 29 plate appearances against a left-hander.

Chen is trying to notch his fifth consecutive quality start. As I wrote this morning, he's allowed two earned runs or fewer in his last six outings.

Chen's lines in his last two starts are almost identical. On May 9 in New York: seven innings, five hits, one run, one walk, seven strikeouts. On May 15 vs. the Angels: seven innings, five hits, two runs, two walks, seven strikeouts.

Cano raised his career average at Camden Yards to .365 in 81 games.

Tyler Wilson could become the fourth Oriole to make his major league debut this season if he's used out of the bullpen. He also would become the 994th player to appear in a game with them since the franchise moved to Baltimore in 1954.

Quick, name the others.

Wilson is soaking up the atmosphere and seems perfectly content to wait his turn.

"Yesterday was great," he said. "Obviously, my first day here I got a chance to see Mike (Wright) throw and that was a lot of fun, having come up through the system together, playing together every year. And getting to see him throw as well as he did was really exciting. Obviously, it was a great game, and to see one of your good buddies you've come up with do as well as he did in his debut is real exciting. And we played a great game last night, too, so it was fun to be a part of."

Wilson was on the taxi squad Sunday, unsure whether he was going to be recalled or sent back to Triple-A Norfolk.

"I was just trying to enjoy it," he said. "I was trying to enjoy the experience, and whether you're waiting or here officially, it's still a chance to be around all the guys again and be involved in the clubhouse and kind of learn the little ins and outs that are different here."

Wilson finally received a call telling him that the Orioles were adding him to the 25-man roster.

"It's exhilarating," he said. "That's something everybody waits so long to hear, to actually get that legit phone call, and I was very excited and very grateful for the opportunity to be here. And I'm just looking forward to doing whatever I can to help the team."

Warming up last night was as close as Wilson got to contributing.

"It was great," he said. "When the phone rang, they said to get me going. I was just going through my routine just like it was any other game and do whatever I had to to be ready to go into the game if they decided to call me in."

Wright and Wilson already have made it to the majors for the first time, and another Tides pitcher, Zach Davies, could earn a promotion if he continues on his current path. The key is to not let a promotion distract from the job at hand.

"It's more important to really stay focused on what you're doing, because a lot of those things are out of your control," Wilson said. "It's great to see guys move up and do well like Mike did, but being down there, it's important to stay focused on the things that you can control and take it a start at a time or a game at a time, whatever the situation may be."

A native of Lynchburg, Va., Wilson has lots of friends and family filing into Camden Yards.

"That was great," he said. "I was really fortunate my family could just drive up instead of having to fly across the country. My wife is here and some of my best friends are here and it was a really great moment to share with them. They've been kind of on this journey with me for however many years and were equally excited if not more than me to be able to be here and be a part of it."

Since Wilson isn't starting, his support group keeps coming back for every game. No telling when a reliever will do more than just warm up.

"Yeah, they've been here the last couple of nights, so they'll be here again tonight and they say they'll be here until they get to see me," Wilson said. "It's really humbling to have that amount of support and people willing to make sacrifices, miss work just to be here and see me throw a ball.

"I had 10 or 14 people here last night, I guess, and it will be the same amount here tonight."

Wilson took early batting practice with the other pitchers in preparation for this weekend's interleague series in Miami.

"That's the first time I've touched a bat in a long time, since high school," he said. "They had an emergency situation in A ball and I went up and stood in the back corner of the box like 'Rookie of the Year,' but that was the first time I've actually had a little bit of practice with the bat."

Update: Ruggiano hit a long two-run homer to left-center field in the fourth inning, and the Orioles trail 3-0.

Ruggiano has two homers and three RBIs this season.

The three earned runs matches Chen's season high. He also allowed three in his first start on April 7 at Tropicana Field.

Chen has thrown 63 pitches, 44 strikes, in four innings.

Update II: Logan Morrison reached on an infield hit in the seventh and scored on Chris Taylor's first career triple to increase Seattle's lead to 4-0.

The Orioles have two hits off Roenis Elias, who's retired 10 in a row.

Update III: Jimmy Paredes delivered a two-out RBI single off reliever Carson Smith in the eighth, but Cruz threw him out at second base after overrunning the ball. Showalter challenged the call and lost.

Bad decision by Paredes in a 4-1 game.

Rey Navarro and Manny Machado singled off Elias with two outs to bring Paredes to the plate.

Wilson is making his major league debut in the ninth.

Update IV: Wilson tossed a scoreless inning in the Orioles' 4-2 loss to the Mariners, allowing two singles and inducing a double play grounder from Cano.

Adam Jones and Delmon Young singled off Fernando Rodney to open the ninth. Chris Davis and Steve Pearce struck out looking, but J.J. Hardy singled into center field to reduce the lead to 4-2. He was 1-for-10 vs. Rodney.

Travis Snider, pinch-hitting for Caleb Joseph, grounded out, and Rodney had his 10th save.

The Orioles are held to one run after scoring nine last night. They fall to 17-20 overall and 2-13 when their opponent scores first.