Orioles walk toward their 17th loss in 21 games (with quotes)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Through four innings of tonight's game against the Rays, Orioles left-hander Wade Miley had struck out six batters and also issued five walks. He kept missing bats and the strike zone. He kept playing good pitcher, bad pitcher, but in a solo act.

Miley was making his final start in 2017 and quite possibly his last with the Orioles, who hold a $12 million option for next season.

Are they ready to walk away from Miley?

Evan Longoria led off the fifth with a home run, Logan Morrison doubled and Miley was gone without retiring another batter. The Orioles also were done, losing for the 17th time in 21 games, 7-0, before an announced crowd of 21,142 at Tropicana Field.

The Orioles are 75-85 and can't finish higher than fourth place. They remain tied with the Blue Jays.

Miley was charged with four runs and five hits in four-plus innings. He allowed 16 runs in his last three starts over 8 2/3 innings to leave his ERA at 5.61 in 157 1/3.

Longoria's home run came on an 0-2 fastball after Miley got ahead with a curveball and changeup. Chris Tillman entered the game after Morrison's double on the 90th pitch of the night. Morrison homered off him in the seventh for a 5-0 lead.

Tillman, in perhaps his final game with the Orioles, was charged with two more runs in the seventh after Jimmy Yacabonis replaced him to raise his ERA to 7.84 in 93 innings. Tillman walked three batters and hit one in two innings.

Yacabonis walked two while loading the bases in the eighth, giving the Orioles 10 free passes on the night, one short of their season high.

Miley leads the majors with 93 walks, 15 more than the Cardinals' Lance Lynn. Tonight marked the ninth time in 32 starts that he failed to complete five innings.

Rays starter Jake Odorizzi left the game with right knee soreness before throwing a pitch in the top of the fifth inning. He blanked the Orioles on two hits and they wouldn't get another until Trey Mancini singled off Ryne Stanek with two outs in the seventh to extend his hitting streak to 17 games.

Mancini's 158 hits tie Cal Ripken Jr. for the second-most by an Orioles rookie behind Eddie Murray's 173 in 1977. Mancini owns the longest hitting streak by an Orioles rookie in club history and the longest by any rookie this season.

Former Rays infielder Tim Beckham didn't get much of a reception upon his return to The Trop, fans barely noticing him as he stepped to the plate in the top of the first inning and grounded out. No video tribute, either, as he went 0-for-4. If you wanted warm and fuzzy, you had to settle for the fake grass.

Beckham may have aggrevated his hamstring injury while grounding out to end the top of the eighth inning. Jonathan Schoop moved to shortstop in the bottom half.

The game offered walks and weirdness, the kind only found here.

It was delayed in the bottom of the fourth inning after Cesar Puello led off by reaching on a pop up that deflected off a staircase between two catwalks and eluded catcher Welington Castillo, who initially lost the ball in the roof. Puello was awarded an infield hit and manager Buck Showalter wanted an explanation, and engaged in a lengthy discussion with the umpires.

Curt Casali singled with one out, and Miley walked Brad Miller and Daniel Robertson to force in a run.

Miley also had loaded the bases in the third on a single and two walks, and Robertson scored on Longoria's fielder's choice grounder. Beckham ranged up the middle and flipped the ball to second, but Schoop bounced the relay and Chris Davis couldn't come up with it.

Longoria's home run snapped an 0-for-21 streak and gave Tampa Bay a 4-0 lead. More than it needed against a team that's scored only 80 runs this month, the fewest in the majors, and been shut out 11 times.

Miley struck out the side in the first on fastballs clocked at 90, 93 and 91 mph. His changeup set up the first two, and he used it to strike out Trevor Plouffe and Casali in the second.

The walks would haunt him. They're bound to define his season.

Showalter on Miley walks: "Hurt us all. What did we walk, eight, nine, 10? We walked the ballpark. Can't do that. And that's been a challenge for him and a lot of guys. Yacabonis, it's been a challenge for him. It's been a challenge for Chris. But it's been something they've struggled with all year."

Showalter on Puello pop up: "None of the four umpires could tell if it hit it. The problem is, our replay has no angle that goes up to correct them. That ring's in foul ground, which should have been a foul ball, but when they tell me that all four of them couldn't tell if it hit it or not and where we were, it was obvious that it hit it. So, we were trying to go to replay to correct it and help them out, and replay has no angle that shows that it hit it. It leaves me no course of action to go to replay to correct it, so another flaw in the ballpark.

"It's been that way for a long time. And a flaw in the replay angle. They just don't have a camera up there. There's a lot of places here you'd have to put a camera to correct it, with the many things that happen."

Showalter on Beckham: "I was going to get him out of the game, anyway. I'm not sure. I think he was trying to protect it. He felt great today warming up and had no problems. He was coming out of the game anyway there. It may have looked like I brought him out for that reason. He was pretty ginger going down there. Usually he has a chance to beat that ball out."

Showalter on offense: "I'm going to give them credit. They pitched well. We're not swinging the bats very well. That's been obvious for a while here."

Miley on walks: "I had a good rhythm early on. Kind of staying in my delivery and really staying behind the ball and locating it like I know I'm capable of. And then just got quick on me. But again, it's been par for the course all year long. Just struggling to stay in my delivery and stay in my mechanics and it puts you in the hole."

Miley on his season: "Not very positive. It's hopefully one to put behind me. Go to the offseason and work on some things to get back and figure out how to mechanically repeat my delivery and spend a lot of time working on that. I think that's the big issue. I just fall out in the middle of the game, lose it for 15 pitches and walk three guys and then you get back to throwing strikes and they're hunting heaters there. And that's when the damage comes."

Miley on what's ahead for him: "I have no idea. I'm just going to look forward to the offseason. It's been a long year, no doubt. I hated that I didn't perform here. And who knows what's going to happen?

"I competed. Looking back, I gave it everything I had. I just wasn't very good. It's one of those things where nobody wants to go through that. I did and hopefully I can move forward and learn from it."

Beckham on hamstring: "It's the same as it was before, man. Didn't want to end the season not playing and gave it a go. Actually, I felt the first one on the double play up the middle. I didn't want to come out of the game then, man. I wanted to stick it out and play through it. The last at bat, I hit one, I knew if I was able to run hard I probably would have gotten a single, so I took two pretty hard steps and grabbed me again.

"It ain't worth blowing it out right now, pulling it and going into the offseason having to rehab a torn, maybe a pulled hamstring. Just trying to play it smart and not doing anything that will hurt me in the long run, you know?"

Beckham on whether there was extra incentive to play well here: "I don't think so. Just the competitive nature in us. I'm sure everyone in here feels the same way. Everyone here is fierce competitors and we wouldn't be here if we weren't, so just a tough pill to swallow going into the end of the season, but got to play it smart."

Beckham on whether he can play in the next two games: "I don't know. I can't judge that. Come in tomorrow and see how it feels tomorrow, but I'm not really going to count myself out. I really want to play these next two games. We'll see how it goes."

Beckham on how tough it would be to end season this way: "You don't want to think about it too much. We didn't end the season where we wanted to be. We didn't make the playoffs. Got some work to do going into the offseason and we've got a lot to look forward to next year. So like I said, I don't want to pull my hamstring or blow it out trying to beat out a base hit when it's 7-0.

"The fact that I was going 60 percent and it was still grabbing me is a sign that I probably shouldn't be playing right now."