Archer scuffles vs. O's in last pre-Deadline start

BALTIMORE -- Chris Archer may or may not have pitched his final game for the Rays on Friday night.
Tampa Bay's right-hander has been the subject of many trade rumors, and he won't have any more starts before Tuesday's non-waiver Trade Deadline. Nobody knows if Friday night's start will indeed become Archer's Rays finale, but if it does, he'll leave with a unexceptional goodbye in a 15-5 loss to the Orioles at Camden Yards.
"I haven't really had a chance to think about it a whole lot," Archer said. "The next four days [are] going to be -- I don't know the right word. There's a lot of curiosity. This is a great clubhouse, and everybody in here has expressed the concern.
"I'm just like you guys. I'm going to find out 30 minutes before you guys find out, if anything happens. And if nothing happens, at 4:01, we're all going to know at the same time. Like I said yesterday, it's hard to put energy into something that I literally have no control over."

Archer allowed three earned runs on seven hits and two walks, while striking out three in six innings to move to 3-5 on the season. Ironically, Archer came away with a quality start at a ballpark where he hasn't had a lot of success. He owns a career record of 2-6 with a 6.59 ERA in nine appearances (eight starts) at Camden Yards.
After a one-hour, 19-minute rain delay, the Rays took a 1-0 lead in the first, when Ji-Man Choi grounded out to score Kevin Kiermaier. But the Orioles answered with one in the first and two in the fourth to take a two-run lead. Jonathan Schoop then homered off Archer in the sixth, giving Schoop home runs in five consecutive games while putting the Orioles up 4-1.

Archer maintained he's not disturbed by his situation and that he was not affected Friday night by the rain delay, nor the trade rumors.
"We're professionals," Archer said. "We pitch, we throw, we hit, we catch. Doing the GM stuff isn't our job."
The game got out of hand in the seventh, when the Orioles scored eight times. Adam Jones hit a three-run homer, and Joey Rickard added a bases-clearing double. Only six of the eight runs were earned, and the runs were charged to Austin Pruitt.
SOUND SMART
Catcher Michael Perez, making his second start since arriving to the Rays on Thursday, had his first career multi-hit game, finishing the day 3-for-4.
HE SAID IT
"Not ideal. It's pretty stressful, too, because you don't want anybody getting hurt. I know they're having fun with it. That's fine. It's part of the game, but you don't want to see anybody get an injury." -- Rays manager Kevin Cash, on having to use outfielder Carlos Gómez and catcher Jesús Sucre as pitchers in the eighth

MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY
The Rays challenged in the fourth regarding the placement of runners, which allowed the Orioles' third run to score after Gomez's throwing error. After a two-minute, two-second review, the call on the field was confirmed.

UP NEXT
Ryne Stanek (1-2, 1.86 ERA) will get the nod Saturday night, when the Rays play the Orioles in a 7:05 p.m. ET contest at Camden Yards. Stanek, who boasts an average fastball velocity of 98 mph, is 0-1 with a 1.31 ERA in 14 starts this season. Right-hander Kevin Gausman (4-8, 4.54) will start for the Orioles.