Orioles fall behind early and more notes (O's lose 3-0)

Wei-Yin Chen needed only 10 pitches today to get through the top of the first inning, which is half the story.

The other half put the Orioles behind 1-0.

Brandon Guyer led off with a double, took third on Joey Butler's infield hit and scored on Evan Longoria's sacrifice fly. Logan Forsythe grounded into a 5-4-3 double play.

Steven Souza Jr. led off the second inning with his ninth home run of the season and his second in two games. Rays 2, Orioles 0.

Chen threw 12 pitches in the second, retiring the next three batters after the Souza home run.

The Orioles avoided making a roster move following Thursday's doubleheader, when manager Buck Showalter used all seven relievers, but a short outing by Chen could force them to call up a bullpen arm. Left-hander Cesar Cabral was on standby Thursday and right-hander Jorge Rondon would receive strong consideration if the Tides don't use him.

As Showalter wrote out today's lineup against the Rays, he considered the 2015 and career splits of Rays right-hander Erasmo Ramirez. He also checked the reports that included splits from consecutive seasons.

Small, medium and larger sample sizes.

Ramirez has reverse splits this season, as I wrote in my morning blog entry. Right-handers are batting .306 against him and left-handers are hitting .176. However, right-handers are batting .260 against him in parts of four major league seasons, and left-handers are batting .254.

Still a reverse, but not nearly as drastic.

Showalter is starting left-handed hitting outfielders Travis Snider and David Lough, and he's got Ryan Flaherty at second base and Steve Clevenger behind the plate. Steve Pearce and Caleb Joseph are on the bench.

Lough is starting for Adam Jones, who's nursing a sore left ankle.

"We do a sampling of career, we do a sampling of two or three, then we do this season, so you get a feel," Showalter said. "If it follows all three norms, then you've got a pretty good feel for it. Also, depending on who that guy is that you'd put in there. You just don't blanket and say these stats robotically mean this. You can't. It depends on who you're going to insert there. Same way with (Jake) Odorizzi, same way with (Jake) McGee. McGee's one of the biggest reverse splits for a left-hander that you're going to see. That's one of the reasons Ryan hit last night."

Right-handers are batting .200 against McGee this season, while left-handers are hitting .250. During his career, right-handers are batting .189 and left-handers are hitting .228.

J.J. Hardy delivered a walk-off single last night to give the Orioles a 2-1 victory over the Rays. Hardy is batting .380 (30-for-79) in Late-Inning Pressure Situations with runners in scoring position since coming to Baltimore in 2011.

Let me explain via the Orioles' press notes.

Late-Inning Pressure Situations are defined as seventh inning or later, with the score tied or the team at bat trailing by up to three runs, or by four runs if there are two or more baserunners.

According to the Elias, the only major leaguer since 2011 with at least 50 "LIPS with RISP" at-bats and a higher batting average in such situations is the Tigers' Miguel Cabrera at .397 (29-for-73).

On this date in 1982, Cal Ripken Jr. began his consecutive-games streak that reached 2,632.

Update: Chen served up another home run, with Butler taking him deep with two outs in the third. Rays 3, Orioles 0.

Chen matches his season high in home runs. He also gave up two on April 13 versus the Yankees.

Update II: Chen was removed after 88 pitches. He allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings, with one walk, four strikeouts and two home runs.

Ramirez has held the Orioles to three hits in seven scoreless innings. Clevenger has two of them, giving him four in two games. Ryan Lavarnway had three hits in 32 plate appearances.

Butler, the Rays' left fielder, threw out Clevenger trying to score on Flaherty's single to end the fifth.

Update III: The Orioles lost 3-0 before 38,177 at Camden Yards, the fourth time they've been shut out this season. The Rays have blanked them three times and the Marlins once.

Chaz Roe and Tommy Hunter each threw a scoreless inning. Roe escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the eighth.

The Orioles are 23-25 overall and 6-17 when their opponent scores first.