Eflin grinds through five innings as O's open road trip with loss amid tough stretch

TAMPA -- Monday night was the 184th starting assignment of Zach Eflin’s Major League pitching career. It did not go well. For the first time, he allowed 12 hits. Five of them went for extra bases, including two homers. Following the fifth inning, Eflin was replaced by Gregory Soto.

After the Orioles were pounded by the red-hot Rays, 7-1, at steamy Steinbrenner Field, Eflin said he already was moving on after struggling with his location throughout the outing.

“Honestly, that’s really the only mentality you have to have [to forget the game],” said Eflin (6-3), who had won his last three decisions with a 1.83 ERA. “The quicker you can let it go, the quicker you can rebound and focus on the next outing.’’

“Zach was grinding out there,’’ catcher Adley Rutschman said. “They have got some good hitters and Zach gave us five [innings], five good ones. Our bullpen came in and cleaned it up. Now we’ve got to show up tomorrow.’’

And the day after that.

And the day after that.

The Orioles, beginning a seven-game road trip amid a stretch of 16 straight days without a break, had won 11 of their last 15 games since May 30. But they managed just a fourth-inning solo homer by Rutschman off Rays right-hander Ryan Pepiot (4-6), who struck out 11 batters in eight dominant innings.

“Our team is always going to be together, no matter what,’’ said Rutschman, whose homer had a 49-degree launch angle, the highest of any Orioles homer in the Statcast era (2015-present). “We’ve got 16 games straight, but our guys are ready to go every single day. We’ll flush this one and move on to the next one.’’

The trouble began early for Eflin, who surrendered a homer to Josh Lowe on his fourth pitch, a 78 mph curveball that traveled 334 feet and dropped over Steinbrenner Field’s short right-field porch. The Orioles are now 7-28 when the opponent scores first.

In the second, with runners on the corners, No. 9 hitter Christopher Morel dropped down an RBI bunt single, which trickled past Eflin’s diving attempt.

And in the fourth, with two outs, Eflin lost control with two wild offerings to Josh Lowe, the last of which missed Rutschman entirely and bounced off the backstop. Eflin’s errant pickup attempt put the runner at second, then Brandon Lowe followed with a two-run blast that put the Rays up 5-1.

On an impossibly humid evening, Eflin said his sweat glands got their money’s worth. Perspiration on his hands led to some of the errant pitches.

“I had some sweaty hands,’’ Eflin said. “I just had to grab some rosin and I ended up bringing a little pocket towel out there. I threw one to the backstop and it slipped right out of my hand.

“They [Rays] were doing some different stuff today, so it was hard to locate. When [pitches] were in the zone, they were hit. It’s kind of hard to locate when I expect them to do something and they weren’t doing it. They had a lot of first-pitch hits, playing small ball with a couple of bunts and stuff. So hats off to those guys.’’

Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino said it was Pepiot’s night.

“He was really good,’’ Mansolino said. “He made it really hard on our hitters. He has been tough on lefties all year and we’re a very left-handed team. It kind of lined up good for him tonight. He threw the ball great. I thought we battled, but he was just better.’’