Wrapping up a 3-1 loss

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Orioles lost for the 15th time in 20 games tonight, failing for the first time in 40 chances to hold a lead after the seventh inning.

The Orioles hadn't lost when leading after the seventh since July 23, 2014 in Anaheim.

Players have been insisting that they're not frustrated, but there's no doubt that they were dressing in a somber clubhouse following tonight's 3-1 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field.

Asked for the collective mood, reliever Darren O'Day replied, "Look around. Come on. Next."

O'Day was charged with the loss after letting an inherited runner score and two of his own in the eighth inning. He hadn't surrendered three hits in an inning until tonight.

John Jaso singled with two outs to score Kevin Kiermaier and tie the game. Evan Longoria singled, James Loney was walked intentionally after working a three-ball count and light-hitting Tim Beckham delivered a two-run single up the middle, the ball kicking off the front of the mound.

"I made some good pitches. Made a couple really bad pitches," O'Day said after the Orioles fell three games below .500 for the first time since June 9.

"The one to Jaso was pretty bad and the one to Beckham, 0-2, I have to be better than that. Can't leave anything close to the zone where he can win the game like that. Longoria didn't hit the ball hard, but he did his job. He got his bat on the ball with two strikes and extended the inning."

Chris Tillman was denied the win after taking a two-hit shutout into the eighth. He hadn't been charged with a run in 16 consecutive innings.

"He pitched great," O'Day said. "His past two starts have been awesome and that's what we need out of him. We know he's capable of it. He put us in a good spot to win. I didn't get my job done and get it to Zach (Britton). We needed a win, so that's a tough one."

The offense has produced nine runs during a four-game losing streak. Too much pressure is placed on the starters and bullpen.

Perhaps it just takes one win, one offensive uprising, to get the Orioles rolling again. But how long can they afford to wait?

"Yeah, you want to get some momentum going," O'Day said. "It would have been a nice win tonight against one of the best pitchers (Chris Archer) in the American League. It just wasn't meant to be."

The Orioles were 39-0 when leading after seven innings. O'Day had allowed only three earned runs in his last 33 appearances.

"Darren is one of the best relief pitchers in baseball," said manager Buck Showalter. "I'm not even going to attempt to critique. He's been solid, he was a pitch away from getting out of that. He got us back in the dugout. He's so much better than tonight. He gets many mulligans with us.

"The story is we just haven't scored any runs. I'm not going to sit here and critique pitching. Tilly was outstanding again and unfortunately their guy was, too. He's one of the best pitchers in baseball and (Jake) McGee is one of the best relievers in baseball and we've done a good job of competing with those guys over the years. We've just got to give our pitchers some margin for error."

Here's more from the clubhouse:

Showalter on Tillman:
"He's been good more than those two. Chris is a track record guy that has a lot of heart and guile and he'll go home tonight upset because he walked the leadoff hitter. He was getting a little off his game I thought the inning before, but we've got someone like Darren down there. He's as good as anybody. We liked the matchup. It just didn't work out tonight. Bottom line, we just have to score some more runs. We aren't giving our pitchers any margin or error. It's very easy to sit in an ivory tower and critique that, but those guys are very good pitchers. It's not easy."

Showalter on raising Archer's pitch count with good at-bats:
"There were some competitive at-bats. One of the reasons why we had a shot, we made Archer... There's two ways to look at that. He throws a lot of pitches because he's striking a lot of guys out. Let's not pat ourselves on the back too quick. But I thought our guys grinded it. Tilly was the reason we stayed in the ballgame. One run doesn't usually do it. Chris matched a very good pitcher by going deeper in the game than he did."

Tillman on why he's been so much better:
"I'm just executing better and when I do get in trouble I'm able to make a pitch to get out of it. It's been there for a while now. Just kind of carried over from the last couple starts from the first half and we're taking advantage of it."

Tillman on the mood of the club:
"Clubhouse is fine. I've never seen it change. Win or lose, rain or shine it's always the same. We've got a lot of veteran guys in there that do the job and that's what's going on now as well. We're not playing bad baseball, we just aren't getting the timely hits and timely pitches."

Tillman on O'Day:
"He's been good. It's tough. I didn't finish my job and I put him in a bad situation. That's on me."

Manny Machado, who had two hits and a walk, on batting third:
"Another place in the batting order. I've got to go up there and do the same job that I've been doing all year and help this team try and win whatever win."

Machado on his reaction to being hit on the left shoulder by Alex Colome:
"I just saw the ball up and in. Nobody likes to get thrown at at the head, but it wasn't intentional, like I said. It's just part of the game. I've got to go out there and take a hit by pitch, go to first base like I did and just move on. We came up with the loss today which just makes it sick back in the heart. We've got to come out tomorrow and play. We've got to keep playing baseball. We're just a couple of hits away. We're just a couple of innings away. We've just got to clean it up. It's just part of the game, it's part of the grind that we've got to get. This is where champions are made right here."

Machado on Archer:
"He had all his pitches working today. His slider was nasty. His fastball was getting up there the whole game. It was going to be tough. Whenever you can get a lead on a guy like that, you have to. We're just a couple hits away, a couple runs away, but it's just a part of the grind. We're going to be facing the best of the best from now on and we know this is where we're going to make it or break it here. We've just got to clean it up a little bit, go out there and do better with runners in scoring position and our part."

Machado on Tillman's roll:
"It's awesome. He's got to keep it up. It sucks that we couldn't get the W for him today, but it's all part of it. He's needs to keep throwing the ball well, keep doing what he's doing and don't change anything."