Rays waste a fast start against Orioles (w/video)

ST. PETERSBURG — The aftermath of the Rays' 7-3 Monday defeat to the Orioles yielded the question of which was the worst part — starter Matt Andriese giving up five runs with two outs in the fifth, or the offense being no-hit over the final 81/3 innings by Ubaldo Jimenez.

"A frustrating, disappointing loss," manager Kevin Cash said.

Staked to a lead with Logan Morrison's three-run homer in the first, Andriese seemed on his way to a solid outing more like his early season form.

He got in some trouble in the fourth, allowing runs on a Chris Davis homer and a Mark Trumbo double followed later by a wild pitch. Then he made a total mess out of what turned out to be a 31-pitch fifth.

Andriese had two on, two outs and two strikes on Davis. He didn't get a check-swing call then allowed a single to center that scored two and set up a third when Davis took second on CF Kevin Kiermaier's off-target throw home. Three more hits made it 7-3, and pretty much over.

Cash said he was fine with how Andriese was throwing, and he seemed to be giving him the opportunity to show he could get out of it, but that didn't happen.

"It just seemed after that hit from Davis he couldn't quite regroup," Cash said. "Unsettled — that's a good word. That's kind of the perspective we had from the dugout a little bit — just not totally committed to his approach, his attack, what he was trying to do."

Andriese, now 0-5, 8.47 in seven starts since moving from the bullpen to the rotation, said he was maybe "a little too fine" and needed to find a way to limit the damage after Davis knocked in two.

"I think it's just baseball," he said. "I've got to keep on battling. It's September. I'm going to learn from it and move on. And it's going to make me a better pitcher."

Jimenez came in winless in five starts and sporting a 6.46 ERA. He left with his first complete game in five-plus years and his best outing since his 2010 no-hitter.

After a soft single and Morrison's homer in the first, the Rays got only one more baserunner, as Morrison walked in the fourth.

"There's no reason that he should've thrown a complete game against us," Morrison said. "I didn't think he was that good. He was good, but he wasn't that good. I think we got ourselves out a lot."

The Rays dropped to 58-78 in having a complete game thrown against them for the MLB-most seventh time.

REINFORCEMENTS: There was one big surprise among the five players the Rays called up from the minors: LHP Justin Marks, a 28-year-old who in eight pro seasons had pitched only one game in the majors, for the Royals on April 20, 2014. Marks was 7-11, 3.86 for Triple-A Durham, including a July 16 no-hitter.

Also coming up are RHP Steve Geltz, OF Mikie Mahtook, INF/OF Richie Shaffer and RHP Chase Whitley, the former Yankee who had been pitching at Double-A Montgomery after last month completing his rehab from Tommy John surgery. C Hank Conger, who was on the opening day roster, is being designated for assignment to make room.

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LONGO OKAY: 3B Evan Longoria was in pain when he got hit by a pitch in the first; frustrated as it got tighter, forcing him to leave the game after five innings, concerned he was a defensive liability since he couldn't grip the ball; nervous as he put his right hand in the X-ray machine; then, ultimately, relieved to get the results that nothing was broken.

"We got lucky — 'X-rays negative' is always a great thing," he said. "I wouldn't say it's 100 percent I expect to play (tonight). I think it's one of those things where you use your hand quite a bit, and I don't know how it's going to feel."

MISCELLANY: Knuckleballer Eddie Gamboa had a much-improved second big-league outing, working three hitless innings against his ex-mates. … Kiermaier stole second and, without even a glance, third in the first inning, giving him 13 straight. … Longoria was replaced by Matt Duffy, who was supposed to be off due to left foot soreness. … The fifth inning was the fifth time the Rays yielded five or more runs in a frame. … Morrison homered for the third time in his past five games. … Rays wives/girlfriends raised more than $16,000 for the Pet Pal Animal Shelter with a weekend auction/drive.