The game was dreary, the heat was brutal and the Rays’ good vibes ended

TAMPA — So, this is what it looks like when the bases are empty.

This is what happens when the ball doesn’t leave the yard on offense, and when diving catches come up a few inches short on defense.

This, apparently, is how the other half lives.

The Rays fell 5-1 to the Orioles on Tuesday night, ending a four-game winning streak and — at least temporarily — stalling a lineup that had been scoring runs in bunches and sending starting pitchers to the showers early.

“A lot of things have been going our way lately,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Tonight, probably, did not go our way as much. I mean, you’ve got to create and make your own opportunities.”

On a night with few reasons to cheer, the Rays at least got a break when the Yankees lost their fifth consecutive game, including three shutouts in a row, in the Bronx. Tampa Bay remains 2 ½ games behind New York in the American League East.

If you’re into omens, there were plenty in the first two innings. The Rays had leadoff hitters erased in both innings (on a double play in the first and when Jonathan Aranda tried to stretch a single into a double in the second) and the Orioles scored when Brandon Lowe had a ball go off his glove while trying to make a diving stop with the infield drawn in.

Junior Caminero hits a single against Orioles pitcher Dean Kremer during the fourth inning, allowing Brandon Lowe to score. [ JEFFEREE WOO | Times ]

The entirety of the Rays offense came in the fourth when Brandon Lowe led off with a double and Junior Caminero drove him in with an opposite-field single. Those good vibes were short-lived when Colton Cowser homered in the top of the fifth.

Just to complete the nothing-went-right vibe, the Orioles scored again in the sixth on three consecutive singles that included another ball going off Aranda’s glove at first base.

“To have gone this long without a night like this is a testament of its own,” said Rays starting pitcher Zack Littell. “The guys have gone out there and grinded away every single night. They did it again tonight when we were down 1-0 and put up a run and I gave it right back. I kind of view the starter’s job to go out there and set the tempo and I just didn’t do a great job of that tonight.”

Littell has not been dominant this season, but he has been wickedly efficient.

Including Tuesday, he’s had nine quality starts in 12 appearances since April 16. Not coincidentally, the Rays had won eight of his last nine starts before the Orioles put an end to the good times.

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“I thought (Littell) threw the ball well. I know he wants the 0-2 pitch back to Cowser — middle-in — or the home run,” Cash said. “But really threw well, gave us every opportunity, was super efficient, three runs over six innings.

“Just kind of a quiet night offensively.”

Rays starter Zack Littell reacts, after Baltimore’s Colton Cowser hits a home run during the fifth inning. [ JEFFEREE WOO | Times ]

Maybe that seemed out of character, but it was almost inevitable after all the run-scoring the Rays have done lately. Tampa Bay had scored seven runs or more in four consecutive games and had been averaging 5.7 runs per night for more than a month.

They put the leadoff hitter on base in five of the first seven innings Tuesday, but went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. After so many nights with balls dropping in and hits coming at critical moments, it was almost as if the Rays had used their allotment of good karma.

“Yeah, that’s kind of the way the game goes sometimes,” said rightfielder Josh Lowe. “That’s the best way to describe that one. Sometimes, it just happens that way.”

Even the bullpen, which came into the game on a streak of 17 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings and had the lowest ERA of any group of AL relievers at 3.04, could not keep the good vibes going. The Rays were trailing 3-1 when Littell left after six, but Mason Montgomery and Cole Sulser each gave up a run in the next two innings to put the game to rest.

“We knew coming in this Oriole offense is very talented and balanced,” Cash said. “They’ve got a heavy lefty presence with some really good switch-hitters mixed in there.”

Remarkably, this was Tampa Bay’s most lopsided loss in nearly a month. The Rays had outscored opponents 76-50 since the start of June, going 4-2 in one-run games.

And it didn’t help matters that it was a muggy night with a feels-like temperature of 99 degrees and this dreary game was approaching three hours before it mercifully ended.

The good news?

They can start all over on Wednesday.

John Romano can be reached at jromano@tampabay.com. Follow @romano_tbtimes.

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