The bats were quiet: Hot-hitting O's get blanked 2-0 by Rays

Well, the last time we saw them, the Orioles were a hot-hitting team.

But tonight, in their home game away from home, they were shut out 2-0 by the Tampa Bay Rays, who took the series opener at Tropicana Field. The Orioles have been shut out twice this year and each time it was by a 2-0 score at The Trop. It happened April 8 and again tonight. Those are their last two games at that ballpark.

The attendance, which will count toward the Orioles' season home total, was 9,945 in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Rays pitching shut down an O's team that compiled 52 hits the past four games and had scored 59 runs in the last nine games. The O's began tonight averaging 5.6 runs per game to lead the majors.

Tampa Bay starter Alex Colome came off the disabled list and pitched five scoreless innings with six strikeouts on just 60 pitches. He got the win and is now 4-1 with a 1.13 ERA in seven career starts. Four different pitchers followed on the mound to complete the four-hitter. The Orioles struck out 13 times, seven times over the last three innings.

The Orioles, who went 16-for-30 with runners in scoring position over the last two games, did not get a single runner to second base tonight.

Through the first seven innings, O's right-hander Chris Tillman allowed just five of 25 batters he faced to reach - but three came consecutively and cost him two runs in the top of the fourth.

With two outs and none on in a scoreless game, Asdrubal Cabrera walked. Then Evan Longoria, a .389 career hitter off Tillman, doubled to left for a 1-0 lead. The next batter was James Loney and his single scored Longoria as the Rays went ahead 2-0.

Tillman took the tough-luck loss to fall to 2-3 with an ERA of 6.23. Over seven innings, he gave up just three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts, throwing 99 pitches. This was the fourth straight quality start for the O's rotation and fifth straight start of six innings or more. In that five-game run, the starters have pitched to an ERA of 2.86.

The Orioles fall to 10-11 and their three-game win streak ends. They had scored 31 runs in those three wins. They are 2-2 against Tampa Bay. The Rays improved to 13-10 with their seventh win in nine games.

In the second game of the series on Saturday night, Miguel Gonzalez (2-1, 3.42 ERA) faces Chris Archer (3-2, 0.84 ERA).