Officially, the Orioles played nine innings against the Tampa Bay Rays and their rookie right-hander Wade Davis in a 3-0 defeat Thursday night.
The first inning, though, was the only one that mattered.
Davis, a heralded prospect making just the third start of his major league career, loaded the bases with no outs in the first, but the Orioles couldn't get the ball out of the infield and failed to score.
They never had much of a chance after that as Davis retired 25 of the final 28 batters he faced on his way to a shutout that doubled as his first big league win. He allowed three base runners to start the night and three more for the rest of the game.
"You've got to congratulate Davis on a great game," said Orioles manager Dave Trembley, who was ejected in the seventh - his fourth ejection of the season and 10th in his career - for arguing balls and strikes. "Complete games are a rarity these days, and to do it this late in the season and to do it in the big leagues is a tremendous accomplishment."
Davis, 24, became the first starter to earn his initial major league win in a shutout since the Toronto Blue Jays' Scott Richmond did it last September with six scoreless innings against the Orioles in his fifth big league start.
Counting the Boston Red Sox's Clay Buchholz's no-hitter on Sept. 1, 2007, in his second major league start, the Orioles have now allowed a fledgling pitcher to shut them out in three consecutive Septembers.
"He threw a great game, he used all his pitches and he got outs in big situations," said Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis, who struck out on Davis' 124th pitch to secure the shutout. "We let him off the hook easy in the first inning. That's the way it goes."
Before an announced crowd of 12,426, Davis allowed four hits and struck out 10 - tying the Philadelphia Phillies' Cole Hamels for the most against the Orioles this season. In his previous start, Davis gave up eight runs in 2 2/3 innings against Boston.
Instead of winning the four-game series, the Orioles (60-86) split with the Rays (74-73), who had lost 11 straight before coming to Baltimore.
It was the 10th shutout pitched against the Orioles this season and the 16th time in their 38 second-half losses that they have scored two runs or fewer.
"Our best chance was in the first, and we needed to either make a productive out or get a hit," Trembley said. "And we didn't do it."
