Yefry Ramirez provides strong outing, but O's lose (quotes added)

PHILADELPHIA - By now the Orioles and their fanbase are getting used to seeing good starting pitching not rewarded with wins. It happened again today. Most days it is because of a lack of offense. That was true today but a misplay on defense also proved critical as well.

Two runs scored on an error by first baseman Chris Davis in the last of the fifth as Philadelphia beat the Orioles 4-1 in front of 30,943 at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies sweep this quick two-game series.

The Orioles (24-61) have lost for the ninth time in the last 10 games. They've lost 20 of 25 and 29 of 38 and are 7-46 when they score three runs or fewer. The Phillies (47-37) have won six of seven and 13 of 19 and are 29-16 in home games.

Down 1-0, Philadelphia used the Davis error to take a 2-1 lead in the fifth. Orioles right-hander Yefry Ramirez had a no-hitter through four but walked Nick Williams with one out in the fifth. Scott Kingery followed with a double to left for the Phillies first hit which put runners on second and third. Then catcher Jorge Alfaro hit a slow roller toward first base. Davis saw the ball go under his glove for a two-run error. Alfardo got credit for one RBI but the Phillies moved ahead. The ball had a hit probability of seven percent according to Statcast.

Right-hander David Hess came in to pitch in the sixth as the Orioles made a double switch with Joey Rickard going into left fied.

The final line on Ramirez was real solid. He gave up one hit and two runs (one earned) over five innings with two walks and four strikeouts. Ramirez threw 65 pitches, 42 for strikes. Ramirez is 0-2 with an ERA of 2.51 through three big league appearances.

He came up one inning short of providing the Orioles their 41st quality start. They are fifth in the AL in that stat, but they are also just 17-23 in those games.

The Orioles had taken a 1-0 lead on Adam Jones' RBI double in the top of the third. It scored Tim Beckham who walked against right-hander Aaron Nola. Jones drilled an 0-1 changeup to the gap in left-center. He had just one RBI his previous 13 games.

The Phillies got two big insurance runs when Williams hit a 409-foot blast to center off Hess in the seventh. It was No. 10 for Williams on a 1-2 changeup and the lead grew to 4-1.

Nola was pretty strong again for the Phillies. He did not have a 1-2-3 inning on the day but was in control throughout. Over seven innings he allowed seven hits and one run with two walks and nine strikeouts on 103 pitches. He improved to 11-2 with an ERA of 2.41. He's allowed one run or less in eight of his past 12 starts and is 8-0 in nine home starts.

The Orioles were held to two runs or less for the 37th time and one or less for the 23rd time. Now this road trip heads to Minnesota where they start a four-game series on Thursday night.

Postgame quotes

Ramirez on his third solid big league outing: "I feel awesome that I can help my team. I'm just trying to go out there and attack the hitters and with the mindset that it's the same baseball. I think getting big league hitters out, it's really helpful to me in gaining more confidence. Feeling more confident every time I go out there. So just getting those players out just helps with experience and with my confidence."

Adam Jones on the loss: "The name of the game is not how many hits you can get, but how many runs you can score. They were able to get a couple big hits. Obviously, it was ruled an error at first base. It was a tough play. I looked at the replay. It was a tough play. But that's two runs right there on one hit. Two more runs with a home run."

Jones on another series loss and a tough year getting tougher: "This might be a movie one day. This season might be a movie one day - starring me. I'm going to star as myself. But it's a lot of emotions, you know? It's been an up-and-down year. More down, obviously, in the win-loss column. Up, because I come to work every day with great guys. Obviously, the results not there, but I come to work with great guys every day. It's just part of it. There's some things that I'm seeing for the first time. There's some things that I'm seeing repeated. The old saying, you stay in this game long enough, you'll see a lot of different things. I'm just taking it all in stride and am happy for the opportunity."

Manager Buck Showalter said Ramirez was strong without his top secondary: "It's one of Yefry's bread and butter things that separate him up here to defend himself against left-handers. He didn't really have a feel for his changeup today. The slider, some tweaks Roger (McDowell) made to it. I know Yefry's really excited about his slider. It showed again today. That was fun to watch. He's good a nice demeanor, too. You can tell he's played the game at a position."

Showalter on the Davis error: "It was a ball off the end of the bat. It had a funny spin to it. Last second, I had a good look, it dipped down. Tribute to Chris, he came back and made a real nice play on another tough ball. Balls up here, when you're looking at defenders, Manny and Jon talked about it when they first came up, about balls having more topspin, there's a lot more. That's a play that Chris normally makes, but you can see how it would happen. What really cost us was not scoring any runs."

Showalter on taking Ramirez out at 65 pitches: "He's fine. You're talking about the third time in the order stuff? Could be the case. I consider all that stuff...pitching real well. I wanted him to come out like he deserved to, and David (Hess) needed to pitch. That was the whole idea going in. That's why we doubled up. We could have pitched anybody. If we don't score but one run, it doesn't really matter."