One bad inning for Miley leads to loss (with quotes)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Wade Miley retired the side in order in the first inning tonight on only nine pitches. He made two-out walks insignificant in the third and fourth, and did the same with a one-out walk and hit batter in the fifth. No one reached in the sixth. No hits were surrendered, and most important, no runs.

There are no do-overs or mulligans, however, and Miley is stuck with the second inning. It ruined his night and again slowed the Orioles' momentum.

Miley allowed five runs, the last three on Tim Beckham's homer, and the Orioles could only peck away at the deficit in a 5-4 loss to the Rays before an announced crowd of 12,471 at Tropicana Field.

The Orioles are four games below .500 again at 48-52 and are 18-31 on the road. The Rays ended a five-game losing streak and are 3 1/2 ahead of the Orioles for third place.

A Red Sox win later tonight in Seattle will drop the Orioles seven games out of first place. Whatever steps they take forward keep getting erased.

Former Oriole Tommy Hunter loaded the bases in the eighth and Welington Castillo grounded a two-out two-run single into left field to reduce the lead to 5-4. Pinch-hitter Hyun Soo Kim struck out.

Adam Jones grounded into a double play against Alex Colomé in the ninth after Joey Rickard singled, but Manny Machado and Jonathan Schoop singled to put runners on the corners. Mark Trumbo grounded into a force.

Miley completed the sixth for the first time since lasting seven innings on June 1 against the Red Sox, a span of 10 starts. He allowed five runs - all of them in the second - walked three batters and struck out four. Miguel Castro replaced him after 97 pitches, 53 for strikes.

Singles by Castillo, Rickard and Jones allowed the Orioles to load the bases with one out in the fifth, but they settled for one run on Machado's sacrifice fly. Trey Mancini's 16th home run, a solo shot with one out in the sixth, reduced the lead to 5-2.

Rays rookie Jacob Faria disposed of the Orioles in the seventh on only seven pitches.

The Orioles had early chances to hurt him. Machado doubled with one out in the first, but Faria struck out the next two batters. Mancini led off the second with a single and Seth Smith walked, but Castillo grounded into a 5-4-3 double play with the count full. Jones singled with one out in the third and was stranded.

Faria was done after walking Schoop with one out in the eighth. Hunter retired Trumbo on a ground ball, walked Mancini, threw a wild pitch, walked Smith and gave up Castillo's two-run single.

Schoop's streak of consecutive games with an RBI ended at eight, tied for fourth-longest in team history.

Faria has faced the Orioles three times this season and allowed eight earned runs (nine total) in 20 innings.

Machado couldn't pass up another chance to put his defensive excellence on display. He charged Beckham's bouncer in the seventh, barehanded the ball and made the throw - the degree of difficulty raised by the bat shattering and Castro's failed attempt to get a glove on the ball.

Castro was making his 20th appearance of the season to eclipse his previous high last season with the Rockies. He walked Peter Bourjos with two outs in the seventh, but Castillo threw out the Rays center fielder attempting to steal with a perfect throw to second base.

Miley on second inning: "Left balls up. Changeups up, sliders up. Left out over and they made me pay. As simple as that."

Miley on whether he takes it as positive to get through sixth: "Yeah, just the one inning. I was almost - I don't want to use the word babying things - but I was kind of feeling it out instead of just letting it rip. Feeling out the slider, feeling out the changeup. After that, I got pissed off and just crowded them. I told Weli, 'We're going to crowd them in until we can't crowd them in no more.' That's kind of what we did."

Miley on difference between April and May and rest of months: "Like I said a couple starts ago, April and May really weren't that good. It was more of a luck-based kind of deal. I was walking five, six, seven guys a game, and I was just kind of able to make a pitch here and there to get out of those jams. Deep down, I knew that luck was going to run out eventually and it did and I haven't been able to put a stop to it."

Manager Buck Showalter on Miley's effort besides the second inning: "It was good after that. One inning, sometimes at this level ... Kind of snowballed on him. I know that the balls-to-strikes may not show it, but his command I thought was better and he really gave us a chance there. A lot of guys, the negative thought is, 'I'm not going to have a good outing,' but he figured out a way to keep us in that ballgame and kept us from using up a lot of the bullpen. We got back in it because Wade didn't give in."

Showalter on what hurt Miley in the second: "He had a changeup that ran back over the plate that really hurt him, but after that he got after it and kept us in the ballgame. But obviously there were some mistakes made in that inning."

Showalter on whether trade deadline brings greater urgency: "I don't think so. If that makes you play differently or have a different feeling about it in Game 100, I'd find that hard to believe. I certainly hope not."

Showalter on Faria: "He's got a winning pedigree. He's got command. This guy was, what, 17-4 a couple of years ago? A high school pick in the 10th round, they did a great job developing him. Strong kid that repeats his delivery and not a one-pitch guy.

"Everything works off command of the fastball and, in fact, I thought of the times we've seen him, was one time you might have had a shot at him. That's a real testament to him. They've done a nice job of developing him, especially as a starting pitcher. Not many guys walk around 17-4 in the minor leagues, right? Not that many people stay down there that long anymore at 17-4."

Castillo on what was different about Miley other than the second: "The cutter he was throwing, the change, everything. He was pounding the righties in making good pitches. The four-seam was getting way better after he started throwing the cutter in off the plate to the righties."

Castillo on whether Miley's outing was encouraging: "Yeah, I think everything is going to change for him. That pitch is a good weapon for him in this league and that's how he used to be. He used to pound righties in. We see what the difference is when he's pitching inside."

Castillo on whether players believed they could rally: "Always, always we think we have a chance. We never give in. We never give up. We have a really good offense in here. We just have to put good at bats together like we did today. We didn't get them today, but always we go out there and compete."