ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ The Orioles were six outs away from opening their three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays with a hard-earned victory Tuesday night, but their night ended walking slowly off the field as the Rays celebrated a 4-3 walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth.
With two outs in the ninth, manager Buck Showalter brought in right-hander Miguel Castro to face No. 9 hitter Willy Adames, and Castro hung a 3-1 sinker that Adames hit into the left-field seats for the game-winning homer.
Castro entered the game after left-hander Paul Fry retired all four batters he faced, striking out three and inducing a double-play ball to end some eighth-inning chaos.
The Orioles blew a two-run lead in the eighth inning with right-hander Evan Phillips allowing both runs during his second appearance since joining the club from the Atlanta Braves as part of the Kevin Gausman/Darren O'Day trade.
Phillips walked three of the four batters he faced and threw a wild pitch that allowed a run to score, but could have been helped out of the inning by an errant throw by first baseman Chris Davis on a likely double-play ball.
The eighth-inning implosion took a win away from Alex Cobb, who held his former team to one run on five hits through seven innings.
Cobb has allowed just one run in each of his past two starts. He held the Yankees to one run over six innings in a 7-5 win at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, a victory that ended Cobb's personal nine-start winless streak.
He fell behind 1-0 after allowing three straight singles to open the bottom of the first inning, but didn't allow a run after that. Cobb didn't allow a hit over his final four innings and retired the last 10 batters he faced and 14 of his final 16.
Phillips entered the game in the eighth and walked Mallex Smith. Matt Duffy hit a grounder to Davis, whose throw to second tailed wide of shortstop Tim Beckham and into left field. Phillips walked Jake Bauers on five pitches to load the bases and Smith scored on a wild pitch. C.J. Cron drew a walk, chasing Phillips from the game.
Fry entered and induced a 4-6-3 double-play ball from pinch hitter Carlos Gomez, but it allowed Duffy to score the tying run. Fry struck out Kevin Kiermaier to strand the go-ahead run at third.
Beckham and Trey Mancini each hit solo homers for the Orioles. Beckham's fifth homer of the year came off right-hander Tyler Glasnow, and Mancini went the opposite way with a homer to right field off right-hander Jamie Schultz.
The Orioles scored another run in the sixth, but could have potentially done more damage in the inning. After Beckham drew a leadoff walk, Adam Jones doubled down the left-field line and Mark Trumbo hit an RBI single past Adames in a drawn-in infield.
But the Orioles couldn't produce any more, as Davis struck out and Mancini hit into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
