O’s fall to Rays, drop three back in East

BALTIMORE — Evan Longoria continued to torment the Orioles, launching his third homer in as many nights and scoring three times to lead the Rays to a 5-2 win Saturday night at Camden Yards.

The O’s second loss in three nights to Tampa Bay drops them three games back of Boston in the American League East. Baltimore remains tied with Toronto for the top AL Wild Card spot.

Orioles starter Chris Tillman held the Rays hitless until Longoria sliced a triple down the right-field line with one out in the fourth. After beating a throw home on Brad Miller’s grounder to first, Longoria led off the sixth with his eighth career blast off Tillman. Longoria finished 2-for-4, giving him eight RBIs and five runs in the series.

“I feel like we did a pretty good job throughout, making pitches when we needed to,” Tillman said. “Just a couple swings beat us. They threw the ball better.”

The Rays added the go-ahead run on Richie Shaffer’s two-out double in the sixth to chase Tillman, who was making his second start since returning from the disabled list. Mikie Mahtook contributed a two-out, two-run bloop single in the eighth to pad the lead.

In 5 1/3 innings, Matt Andriese limited the Orioles to sacrifice flies in the first and third innings to pick up his second straight victory after seven consecutive defeats. Alex Colome picked up his 34th save with a scoreless ninth.

“Good win, a Rays win,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We pitched well. Everybody came in and did their part. Andriese started it. He had some nasty stuff going, you could tell from the side.”

After the Orioles went 6-3 on a key September road trip, they’ve dropped two of the first three games in their final homestand.

“Right now they are throwing a little curveball into the standings with us and how they did with Toronto,” Adam Jones said. “You tip your cap to them for not quitting and not giving up. I know once the [regular] season’s over, their season is done, but you’ve got to respect what they’re doing and grinding until the last out of the last game.”

MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDShaffer …

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