ben zobrist

Once again, the Orioles pitching prospect showed flashes of his immense promise, but Gausman's night ended prematurely on Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Rays

If they are going to continue to be successful, if they are going to hang around toward the top of the American League East standings all year, the Orioles have to buck this recent trend of short, uneven starts from their rotation.

Before Tuesday's 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays at Camden Yards, Orioles manager Buck Showalter talked about the night¿s starter, Jake Arrieta, and how all he wants is for the enigmatic right-hander to keep his team in games.

But when Matt Joyce¿s solo homer off reliever Tommy Hunter sailed into the right field seats ¿ giving the Rays an 8-7 walk-off win over the Orioles ¿ it ended a bullpen outing very uncharacteristic of the 2012 Orioles.

The Orioles chased David Price from the game in the seventh inning, then orchestrated a two-out, five-run rally against reliever Jake McGee for a 7-4 Opening Day win against the Rays, a team they outlasted to earn an American League wild-card berth last season.

Orioles' Jason Hammel allows three runs in six innings in his first Opening Day start.

Orioles and Rays lineups for Tuesday's Opening Day at Tropicana Field.

One of the teams the Orioles had to outlast to make the playoffs last season was the Tampa Bay Rays, and on Sunday night, the Rays made one of the biggest trades of the offseason.

At the end of a regular season in which they overcame obstacles and resuscitated baseball in Baltimore, the Orioles finished with a whisper.

The Orioles¿ hopes of winning a division title took a hit Monday night with a 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in front of an announced 13,666 at Tropicana Field, snapping the Orioles¿ four-game winning streak.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi had to be talking to himself on Friday night after an apparent double down the left field line by Eduardo Nunez in the fifth inning caromed off the knee of third base umpire Jerry Meals and bounded right to shortstop Ben Zobrist, limiting Nunez to one base.

The Orioles' 3-2 extra-inning win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday afternoon was a long time coming -- in more ways than one.

Manny Machado's key defensive play and Nate McLouth's walk-off single gave the Orioles a thrilling victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night.

This weekend's series is important for both teams. The Orioles and Rays share identical 55-50 records and are both 1 1/2 games out of the AL Wild Card.

Brian Matusz provided his finest performance of the season, giving the Orioles his fourth consecutive quality start and more importantly, creating a two-way tie between the teams atop the American League East standings heading into Sunday¿s afternoon series finale.

Despite having not won a game in nearly a week, the Orioles woke up Friday morning somehow still in first place in the American League East. By the end of the night, their struggles would finally catch up with them.

The Baltimore Orioles' 9-8 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays -- which ended with the game-winning run on second base -- ended this series in bittersweet fashion.

Brad Bergesen finds his form in Orioles' 6-0 win over Tampa Bay Rays. Starter pitches complete-game shutout against Rays for first win of season

Notebook: Orioles' Kevin Gregg hangs on to closer's role. Buck Showalter says RHP has 'pitched pretty well' so far, but Koji Uehara will factor in once he gets back to full strength