Baltimore tried to rally to overcome an early deficit but fell short in a frustrating 7-6 loss to Tampa Bay Thursday night in Camden Yards.
The O’s ultimately could not overcome an awful outing from Yovani Gallardo (5-8, 5.77 ERA, 1.63 WHIP), who gave up six runs on seven hits in three and a third innings.
Baltimore scored two in the eighth on RBI groundouts by J.J. Hardy and Michael Bourn, but left runners stranded on first and third in the ninth, with Mark Trumbo and Chris Davis striking out to end that final threat.
The Orioles (80-66) lost a game to the first-place Boston Red Sox (82-64), who rallied with five runs in the ninth to defeat the New York Yankees, 7-5.
Baltimore is still currently in the driver’s seat for one of the two AL wild-card spots, two games up on Detroit and Seattle, and three games up on New York.