Showalter on a 5-3 loss and a sweep

The Orioles are seven games out of first place with nine to play. They're in danger of losing hold of the second wild card, with the Tigers moving into a tie earlier today and leading in the nightcap of a doubleheader in Minnesota.

The stretch run has thinned out their chances of making the postseason.

Chris Tillman retired only five batters in his shortest start of the season and the Red Sox completed their sweep with a 5-3 victory over the Orioles before 26,788 at Camden Yards.

The Red Sox swept the Orioles in a four-game series in Baltimore for the first time since September 2002.

The Orioles are 82-71 overall and 47-31 at home. They're 10-10 this month after going 12-14 in July and 13-16 in August.

Tillman's outing marked the seventh time this season that an Orioles starter failed to complete two innings, the most in the majors. He was charged with three runs and five hits in 1 2/3 innings, with three walks and two strikeouts.

Manager Buck Showalter didn't wait long, pulling Tillman after 63 pitches.

Showalter believed that Tillman was fine physically in his third start since coming off the disabled list. Tillman told reporters that health wasn't an issue.

"Yeah, as far as I know," Showalter said. "The timing's not good to go up and talk to him. I talked to a couple people who talked to him afterward when some of the emotion might kind of wear down. He said he felt good. Just was a little out of whack mechanically. He said he couldn't command the ball, which obviously was the opposite of what (David) Price was able to do."

Orioles starters posted a 6.38 ERA in the series. At least the offense managed more than two runs for the first time in six games. Then again, they all came on one swing from Trey Mancini.

Mancini's three-run homer in the third inning removed Tillman from a losing decision. Mancini is the first Oriole to homer for his first two major league hits. He's also the first player in franchise history to homer in each of his first two major league starts.

Mancini also doubled in the sixth and was nailed on the left wrist by a Koji Uehara pitch in the eighth. He had the last two Orioles hits.

Vance Worley was tagged with the loss after he walked leadoff hitter Travis Shaw in the fifth, struck out the next two batters, threw a wild pitch and allowed Andrew Benintendi's RBI single on a ground ball into right field.

Worley posted a most unusual line: 3 1/3 innings, one hit, one run, four walks, four strikeouts, two wild pitches.

Hanley Ramirez hit a solo home run off rookie Donnie Hart in the seventh to increase the lead to 5-3. Hart hadn't surrendered a run in his first 18 major league appearances. His scoreless streak reached 15/13 innings.

Left-handed batters are 5-for-36 versus Hart.

The Orioles are 2-6 on the homestand. They went 2-8 against the Red Sox this season at Camden Yards. What they're doing now isn't good enough and the repercussions are evidence of it.

"I think you've got be realistic about where we are at this point after losing four," said closer Zach Britton. "It's kind of time to light a fire under our butt because those other teams playing for the wild card are right there."

Here's more from Showalter:

On whether Tillman's outing was frustrating: "It's just frustrating because we know that there are times you go through periods when you can offset some challenges in the pitching department. It kind of goes both ways during the course of the season during different times. But you never know when our guys might score a bunch of runs one night. It's no given depending on who's pitching.

"I don't know if 'frustrating's' the word. We just know that Chris is capable of a lot better. It was as much that I think we walked, what, seven or eight guys? That probably was one of the keys to the game for me."

On whether he would have let Tillman go longer if earlier in season: "Probably not because he had 60-something pitches in 1 2/3 innings. That's not good business. That's just not a good risk reward for someone. I didn't like it. I didn't like that type of challenge on an arm. Regardless of what time of year it is, I don't like doing that."

On who gets credit for Red Sox pitchers getting deep in starts: "I think it's a combination, but it's more them. The more I'm around the game, the more I'm reminded that it's about command of the fastball. When you can get the baseball where guys guide it, it's a challenge. That's one of the things Gaus (Kevin Gausman) and Dylan (Bundy) have a future because they can command the fastball most times. They're only going to get better at it.

"You watch a guy like Price and (Rick) Porcello, what do they have in common? They command the fastball. He's a four-pitch mix. Both of those guys. So when you command the fastball, you're never able to box one out. That makes it tough on major league hitters. And we're not on top of our game offensively right now, but it could change in one day."

On whether he's surprised by the sweep: "I'm not surprised by anything done by human beings in our world and sports. Kind of gotten past that. But when you consider the competition, we knew from spring training Boston was capable of this type of baseball. Unfortunately, the timing has been tough. There's not a huge margin, but at this level of play things can snowball one way or the other. And people look at the big picture of it, and rightfully so, and it looks tough. But I don't get surprised by anything. I don't live in that world. Try not to anyway."

On whether he's concerned about it snowballing: "Not with this group. It is what it is as far as the competition. It's like how did they rebound when we went into their park and beat them a couple times this year? Or beat them here? How did the Yankees rebound when we swept them? That's just something that people that haven't been in that arena can't get a feel for. And you want it to stop. Or do what it takes to make it stop. That's the level you are dealing with here.

"When you're down, they're going to step on you, and when you're up, you're going to ride the flow as much as you can. It's all about riding the good times and shortening up the bad times as much as you can and we're going to try to shorten this one up starting tomorrow."

On Mancini: "He's hit a few home runs. He's presented himself well. We like him, that's why we think he has a chance to be a contributor down the road. He's done well in a few at-bats. We'll see how things go down the road. So far, so good. We will see how it goes down the road. He's been a contributor in a time of need."