The outs were coming more easily to Corbin Burnes. Early traffic on the bases had thinned. He was back on his familiar roll.
And then it stopped.
Burnes hung a slider to Jonny DeLuca in the sixth inning, and the resulting two-run homer broke a scoreless tie. One pitch would decide the outcome because another day passed with the Orioles left searching for their offense and in recovery mode following a 2-0 loss to the Rays before an announced crowd of 29,519 at Camden Yards.
The Orioles are 82-62 overall, 24-24 since the break and 4-3 this month. They went 3-3 on a homestand that began with three games against the Rockies, owners of the second-worst record in the majors.
Today marked the sixth time they’ve been shut out. Gunnar Henderson had three of their five hits.
Burnes registered his 20th quality start and first since Aug. 10 at Tropicana Field by allowing two runs with seven hits in six innings. He threw 24 pitches in the troublesome sixth to reach 93 and bring a change.
Jonathan Aranda drew a leadoff walk and DeLuca cleared the left field wall, going 412 feet. Two singles extended the inning but Burnes struck out Ben Rortvedt with a curveball and slapped his glove as he walked off the mound.
Matt Bowman retired all five batters he faced and has allowed only one run in 10 innings with the Orioles. Keegan Akin struck out three in 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Burnes avoided trouble in the first after leadoff hitter Christopher Morel’s infield single. Morel appeared to steal second base but his foot came off the bag and the call was overturned.
The Rays swiped three bases with two outs in the second, including a double steal by José Caballero and Taylor Walls, but Rortvedt struck out. Aranda and DeLuca singled with two outs in the third and were stranded.
Burnes threw eight pitches in the first but his count grew to 52 after the third. He followed with a seven-pitch fourth and 10-pitch fifth. That was the roll.
The Orioles can’t sustain one at the plate.
Henderson supplied most of the offense. He led off the first with a single and singled again with one out in the third, stole second base and raced to third on Rortvedt’s throwing error.
The Orioles stranded nine runners yesterday and left four on base today through the fourth inning after Cedric Mullins singled with two outs. Adley Rutschman drew a leadoff walk in the sixth against reliever Richard Lovelady, but a force play, strikeout and weak grounder followed.
Pinch-hitter Coby Mayo drew a leadoff walk against left-hander Garrett Cleavinger in the eighth and Henderson reached on an infield hit with the count full. Rutschman struck out and right-hander Edwin Uceta entered to face pinch-hitter Eloy Jiménez, who struck out.
Anthony Santander also struck out to make the Orioles 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and seven left on base.
There was one last tease, with Mullins dropping a single into right field at 72.1 mph and Jackson Holliday drawing a two-out walk. Mayo struck out after getting ahead 2-0.
* Mayo played first base in the top of the ninth for the first time in his major league career.
* Triple-A Norfolk shortstop Niko Goodrum homered twice today and drove in five runs by the third inning. Hudson Haskin also homered.
Dylan Beavers hit his 15th home run for Double-A Bowie.
Former Oriole Connor Norby, now playing for the Marlins, homered off former Orioles minor league Seth Johnson, who made his major league debut today for the Phillies. Norby hit another home run later in the game.
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