There were several things that happened in the Orioles' 5-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday that were indisputable.
It would have been beneficial for a taxed bullpen had starter Brad Bergesen been able to go deeper in the game or had Jason Berken forced Evan Longoria to beat the Orioles by swinging his bat. An 0-for-9 performance with runners in scoring position is probably going to result in a loss, and a runner trying to go from second to third on a ball hit in front of him is ill-advised and will likely result in an out.
But there was one key decision that preceded the Rays' scoring the go-ahead run in the sixth inning on which not everyone in the Orioles' clubhouse agreed. With the bases loaded and one out and the score tied at 4 in the sixth, Jason Bartlett hit a hard one-hopper right at slightly pulled-in third baseman Miguel Tejada.
Tejada chose to throw home for the first out, and then catcher Jake Fox fired to first, but it was too late to get the speedy Bartlett. Berken then walked the next batter, Longoria, on five pitches to force in the eventual game-winning run before an announced 19,286 at Camden Yards. The Orioles (30-64) lost for the fifth time in six tries after the All-Star break and are just 2-7 this season against the Rays.
"I think probably Tejada should have gone to second base there, so it was unfortunate. Jason came in and gave us a ground ball, so that's what we were asking for," Orioles interim manager Juan Samuel said. "He said he was set up mentally to go home with it, and we'll always let those guys know, if the ball's hit hard, you go to second base, and if you don't think you have a chance to turn the double play, we need to come home with it. He knows he should have gone to second base."
Tejada, however, defended his decision after the game and acknowledged that he was surprised Samuel said what he said.
"It was a great decision," Tejada said. "You know why it's a great decision? They've been killing us because we haven't been turning double plays from second. They've been killing everybody because we haven't been turning the double play. Now, they said we lose the game because I didn't throw to second? Who said it was going to be a double play? It doesn't really matter. I'm the one that made the decision. I'm the one out there. I have to have confidence in my pitchers.
"In this game, you don't guess. Whatever you decide, you have to go. You have to believe in the pitcher out there. I think when you play against Tampa Bay, they are a great hitting team, and the less runs we can let them score, that would be great. And that wasn't a slow runner going to first."
Along with throwing to second for a potential 5-4-3 double play, Tejada could have also chosen to try to step on third and then throw across the diamond. However, several Orioles said they felt he made the right play by making sure he prevented the run from scoring.
"You either got to go home or go to second base, and either way is the right way," Fox said. "You just have to make the decision. I think it was a little bit of indecision that made us a hair slow in getting it to first base, but either way, he made a good play."
The play would have been a moot point had Berken been able to retire Longoria, who put the Rays on the board with a first-inning solo homer off Bergesen. Instead, Berken threw a 3-1 fastball that never even flirted with the strike zone to force in a run.
"In that situation, I was just trying to make a quality pitch down in the zone, and I wasn't able to do that," Berken said. "He's obviously a very good hitter, so by no means do you want to give too much credit."
Bergesen (3-8) also struggled at times with his command, leaving far too many pitches up in the zone early and far too many pitches out of the zone later. Overall, he allowed five earned runs on nine hits and three walks while striking out seven over 5 1/3 innings. He remains winless in his past nine starts dating to May 12, and in his past three outings, he's 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA and has surrendered 29 hits and eight walks over 17 1/3 innings.
"It was a tough outing," Bergesen said. "Again, it was one of those outings where I just battled and I tried to do my best job to keep the team in it. Didn't make good execution pitches when I needed to with two strikes. That's what really hurt me today."
Bergesen put the Orioles into a 4-0 hole in the third inning, but as they did Tuesday night in erasing a four-run deficit and then eventually winning in the 13th inning, the Orioles worked their way back into the game. They scored three times in the fourth with Ty Wigginton connecting for a two-run shot, his 16th homer of the season, off Rays starter James Shields (8-9) and Fox hitting an RBI double.
They then tied the score in the fifth on Luke Scott's RBI groundout. They had runners on in each following inning except the ninth but couldn't get the big hit, and a base-running gaffe by Scott Moore in the eighth cost them another potential opportunity.
Pinch running for Wigginton after his one-out double, Moore tried to advance to third on Adam Jones' ground ball to Bartlett at shortstop. Bartlett threw to Longoria to get the easy out at third.
"That's not what you want there," Samuel said. "He's in scoring position at second base. That's not a good decision."
That much, everybody on the Orioles could agree on.