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Chris Archer struggles, bats snooze in Rays' loss to Orioles (w/video)

 
Chris Archer waits as the Orioles’ Caleb Joseph rounds the bases after homering in the sixth inning off the Rays starter, who entered the game having not allowed an earned run in four starts.
Chris Archer waits as the Orioles’ Caleb Joseph rounds the bases after homering in the sixth inning off the Rays starter, who entered the game having not allowed an earned run in four starts.
Published May 3, 2015

ST. PETERSBURG — As much as Rays starter Chris Archer is into positive thinking and putting process ahead of performance, he knew deep down he couldn't maintain the run he had been on, rolling into Saturday's start having not allowed an earned run over his four previous outings.

What stung was how it came to an end in the hosting-but-visiting Rays' 4-0 loss to the Orioles at Tropicana Field.

"It was just one of those nights where I didn't have my best stuff, and even when I don't have my best stuff, I want to do a little bit better than I did tonight," Archer said.

He wasn't that bad, allowing three runs on two key hits in the third and a solo homer to Caleb Joseph in the sixth, though that was as far as he got as he ran his pitch count to 110.

And, if anything, he did a good job keeping the game close, though his mates — minus Desmond Jennings, whose return from a sore knee was aborted at the last minute — didn't offer much support, logging only four hits against Miguel Gonzalez and Brad Brach, none in the six situations with a runner in scoring position.

But Archer wasn't as good as he had been during April, when his streak of four earned run-less starts, covering 262/3 innings, was the longest in an American League season since Zack Greinke in 2009. He was the first modern-era pitcher to post three scoreless starts of seven-plus innings while allowing two or fewer hits in his first five outings of the season.

"Well, Arch looked human tonight, from what he's done the last month," manager Kevin Cash said. "I still thought he threw the ball well. You could tell he was kind of battling his command a little bit. … Didn't quite have the miss on the slider that we had seen. … It just seemed there were a lot of pitches with the fastball up in the zone. I know there's intent to go up in the zone to get swing and miss; some I thought tonight were just kind of wasted."

Archer's lack of sharpness was evident early, as the Orioles ripped some balls right at defenders and he gave up back-to-back walks in the second.

Their third-inning rally started with a one-out walk by Manny Machado, a single by Jimmy Paredes and a flyout that moved Machado to third. Chris Davis rolled a single through the shortstop hole vacated by the shift to make it 1-0, then Steve Pearce, the Lakeland lasher, doubled in two more with a blast to right-center on the one pitch Archer clearly regretted.

"If I had executed a better pitch to Steve Pearce … the whole complexion of the game would have been different," Archer said. "Outside of that, I threw too many pitches. … I didn't execute some pitches."

The Rays offense didn't click, either.

They had one shot when Kevin Kiermaier hustled another routine single into a double and got to third with two outs in the third, but rookie Steven Souza Jr. tried to beat slick-fielding third baseman Machado with a bunt, and that didn't work at all. "He was way back," Souza said. "Just trying to lay it down and get a knock. He made a great play."

They had another shot when Logan Forsythe singled to lead off the eighth. He got only to second as Kiermaier popped out, Bobby Wilson lined out and after David DeJesus walked, Souza, facing Brach, popped out foul to the catcher.

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With a spirited crowd of 12,789 taking advantage of $18 general admission lower-level seating ($15 today), the Rays again wore road gray uniforms and batted first, as the three-game series was relocated from Baltimore due to the violence and civil unrest.

Archer just wished it had turned out better.

Contact Marc Topkin at mtopkin@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Rays.