ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ So much for any carryover from Monday's dramatics and the push for the playoffs.
The Rays came out flat and finished that way in the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader, losing 4-2 to the woeful Orioles.
The loss ended the Rays' five-game win streak, dropped them to 81-59 and endangered their hold on the top AL wild-card spot.
They went into the day with a half-game lead over the Indians, who they swept last weekend at the Trop, and 1 { games ahead of the A's. Both Cleveland and Oakland play Tuesday night.
With what was a originally planned as a 7:10 start for a single game was rescheduled as a doubleheader with a 3:10 start and even though area schools were out there wasn't much energy or many people, maybe 5,000, on hand at Tropicana Field.
The Rays seemed to get off to a good start and took a 2-0 lead in the fourth.
Tommy Pham, who had the winning hit Monday and some fiery comments afterward, got them started with a leadoff single that was their first hit off Orioles lefty starter Ty Blach.
Two pitches later, Travis d'Arnaud homered to center, his 16th since joining the Rays in May.
Trevor Richards looked to be giving the Rays the kind of start they needed given the workload the staff faced for the day, holding the O's to three singles through the first four innings.
But things changed quickly, and the lead disappeared, in the fifth.
Richards allowed a leadoff single to Hanser Alberto, then a one-out homer to Rio Ruiz to make it 2-2.
Oliver Drake took over the next inning and made it worse, allowing a one-out homer to Anthony Santander.
And the Rays offense was pretty much blah after that.
Pham singled in the sixth and swiped second for his 19th steal. Having already hit his 20th homer, he is one steal from becoming the second player in Rays franchise history to have a 20-20 season. B.J. Upton did it three times.
Both teams were going to decide their pitching plans for the second game based on who they used, and how much they used them, in the opening game.
The Rays and Orioles were set for plenty of baseball in what was only the third doubleheader at the Trop for the Rays in their 22-season history.
The decision to schedule the doubleheader was made Saturday to avoid potential impact from Hurricane Dorian, and in concert with MLB and the Orioles.
The teams originally planned for single games Monday afternoon, Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon.
By doubling up, they essentially created a bigger window to get the games in (since had the weather been severe Tuesday they could have been moved to Wednesday, which is now an off day), plus a better opportunity for the Orioles to get home.
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