As draining and deflating as their first half was, the Orioles wished that they could have just kept playing after Sunday, rather than leaving Rangers Ballpark in Arlington and dispersing to different parts of the country for their All-Star break.
Sure, they had four days to revel in a four-game winning streak, but all the momentum they had built in a surprising sweep of the American League West Division-leading Texas Rangers was gone very early Friday night when starter Brad Bergesen put his teammates in a hole that they never dug out from.
Bergesen allowed runs in each of the first three innings and the Orioles got little going against Toronto Blue Jays starter Ricky Romero, who allowed two unearned runs over seven innings in a 4-2 victory in front of an announced 18,120 at Camden Yards. The Blue Jays improved to 7-0 against the Orioles this season.
The Orioles (29-60) had chances to extend their winning streak to a season-high five games, but they couldn't recapture the late-game heroics that they found in getting the best of the Rangers.
They had men on second and third with two outs in the seventh and Romero struck out Cesar Izturis. They then had the same situation in the eighth inning before Shawn Camp got Adam Jones to flail at an offspeed pitch way out of the strike zone for the final out of the frame. Jones went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Kevin Gregg then pitched the ninth for his 21st save, retiring the Orioles in order on just seven pitches, include a game-ending three-pitch strikeout of Julio Lugo.
Bergesen, who extended his career-long losing streak to five games, was hoping that he'd be able to get himself on track after a first half in which he went 3-6 with a 6.40 ERA and was twice sent to the minors to work on both his confidence and his command.
However, Friday night was a struggle from the outset. The first batter he faced, Fred Lewis, doubled to right field. The next batter, Yunel Escobar, the shortstop who the Blue Jays acquired in a trade with the Atlanta Braves earlier in the week, then dropped a bunt down that caught third baseman Miguel Tejada by surprise.
With runners on the corners and no outs, Bergesen struck out Jose Bautista, the Major League home run leader, but Vernon Wells followed with a sacrifice fly to put the Blue Jays on the board.
Aaron Hill then made it 2-0 by driving a Bergesen fastball into the Orioles bullpen to leadoff the second. It was Hill's 13th homer of the season and his third homer in four games against the Orioles this season. He hit three homers in 18 games against the Orioles last year.
Toronto then tacked on one more run in the third, taking advantage of Lewis' leadoff single and then a passed ball against Craig Tatum, who was elevated to the starting catcher job when Matt Wieters headed to the disabled list Thursday.
Bergesen came close to getting out of the jam by again striking out Bautista, this time looking, and retiring Vernon Wells for the second out. Adam Lind then hit a sharp single to right field. Nick Markakis had a chance to throw out Lewis but his throw was off line.
At that point, a 3-0 lead looked plenty comfortable for Romero, who retired the first 12 batters that he faced on a total of 41 pitches. During that span, only two Orioles -- Izturis in the third inning and Tejada in the fourth -- even hit the ball out of the infield.
Romero lost his perfect-game bid in the fifth when Ty Wigginton, who didn't get an at-bat as the Orioles' lone All-Star representative Tuesday, lined a single into left field. Lewis misplayed the ball, allowing Wigginton to slid in safely to second.
Felix Pie blooped a single into left field, putting runners on the corners with one out. Romero struck out Tatum before Julio Lugo ended his shutout with an infield single. Hill made a diving stop of the ball at second base, but he had no play at Lugo.
The Orioles then caught a break when Blue Jays third baseman Edwin Encarnacion allowed Izturis' routine grounder to go under his glove and trickle into left field. Pie scored to cut Toronto's lead to 3-2. Romero prevented them from getting any closer by striking out Corey Patterson with two men on.
Toronto then extended its lead to 4-2 in the sixth on back-to-back doubles by Hill and Lyle Overbay. Hill's double just got over the glove of a leaping Markakis in right field, while Overbay's shot eluded Pie in left field.
Bergesen succeeded in getting the final three outs of the sixth and then he was replaced for the seventh by Matt Albers. Bergesen allowed four earned runs on nine hits and two walks in the six innings in remaining winless since May 12, a span of eight starts.
In his past two outings, he's surrendered 20 hits and five walks in 12 innings while giving up eight runs.
jeff.zrebiec@baltsun.com