It wasn't enough.

Tampa Bay bashed four home runs and collected a 7-4 victory at Camden Yards.

Greg Myers and Jerry Hairston and homered for the Orioles in the fourth inning. Myers delivered three run-scoring hits and is tied for the club lead with five RBI. The catcher will likely be the DH when the O's and Devil Rays conclude the four-game series on Monday. Baltimore dropped two of the first three games to the Rays, and another loss will leave the teams tied for last in the AL East.

As bad as Baltimore has been offensively, manager Mike Hargrove wasn't displeased by their 5-7 record.

"I'm very encouraged that the ballclub has been able to do what it has done to this point without our swinging the bat the way we can," Hargrove told the Baltimroe Sun after recording a come-from-behind 5-4 win on Saturday. "I've been frustrated just like everybody else, but we're nearly .500 and we've played nine games against two teams (the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians) that are supposed to contend for the American League championship."

Baltimore, averaging just over two runs per game, entertains Cleveland for three games, starting Tuesday, before opening a three-game series at Tampa Bay on Friday.

Monday night's game features Tampa RH Bryan Rekar (0-1, 2.77) vs. Baltimore RH Jason Johnson (0-0, 2.92).

STUGGLING PONSON: Baltimore's 12 games into the season and a starting pitcher still had not won a game. Sidney Ponson, who moved to the top of the rotation after the Orioles lost Mike Mussina to the Yankees, lost his third straight on Sunday.

Ponson (0-3, 6.62) allowed nine hits and five earned runs in the loss to Tampa Bay. He gave up three of the four home runs and has now been taken deep six times in his first three starts (17 2/3 innings).

Ponson's struggled mostly with his location. He battled back to through five shutout innings after giving up back-to-back homers in the first inning.

FIVE TIMES THE FUN: Forgive Melvin Mora if his mind seems to wander from the game at all this season. For the 29-year-old center fielder, there are more important matters to worry about than baseball.

Mora's wife Gisel is pregnant, and for several weeks, the couple was told they were going to have twins. Then one day during spring training, Gisel started bleeding. She was rushed to the hospital, where Melvin began thinking something was terribly wrong.

"I prayed, prayed, prayed, prayed, prayed, prayed, prayed, prayed, prayed for the babies," Mora told The Washington Post. "I didn't get tired of praying. And I think God listened to me too much."

When here turned to his wife's hospital room, everyone was smiling and laughing.

"You know the doctor who told us we were having twins?" Gisel finally said to him. "He was lying."

"Congratulations," added one of the nurses, "five times."

Yes, Gisel Mora is pregnant with quintuplets. She is due to deliver in October, but doctors have warned she may not be able to carry the babies beyond September. Suddenly, Melvin Mora has a new outlook on life.

"What God gives to me, I will take. He gives it for a reason," he said. "Five kids? Well, I think I'm the happiest man alive."

Between the Lines

RICHARD BACK: Outfielder Chris Richard, who was out of the starting lineup four straight days with an injured shoulder, returned on Tuesday to take his position in right field.

The left-handed hitting Richard, 26, bruised his right rotator cuff diving for a ball down the line in a game against the Red Sox (Nomo's no-hitter). He had a magnetic resonance imaging test taken the following day, which came back negative, and stayed out of action for a few days.

He served as a pinch-runner twice against Cleveland, though he said he felt ready to play during the series.

"It's no big deal," Richard told The Washington Times on Sunday. "Structurally I'm fine, it's just a little bruise. I'm ready to go today, but with the lefty (C.C. Sabathia) going against us, I can understand why I'm not in the lineup."

PITCHING COLLAPSES: It seemed unlikely Baltimore's pitching staff would maintain its stellar 2.25 team ERA for long, and that was the case Tuesday night in Boston, when the Red Sox jumped all over right-hander Sidney Ponson in a 10-1 pounding.

Ponson, who was the hardluck loser in the Nomo no-hitter by giving up two earned runs and four hits in 7 1/3 innings, was tagged for eight runs (six earned) and six hits in only 3 1/3 innings the second time around. He became the first Oriole starter to fail to pitch more than five innings this season, and watched his ERA skyrocket to 6.75.

"From the start, I tried to be perfect," Ponson said. "I mean, the guy threw a no-hitter against me. I don't know if that played a role, but I wanted to give us a chance to win and I didn't do it."

GREAT START FOR GIBBONS: Jay Gibbons knows he likely won't get many at-bats for the Orioles this year, so the 24-year-old first baseman/DH figures he might as well make the most of every chance he gets.

So far, so good for the Rule 5 pickup. The compact left-hander got his first start last Saturday at Cleveland and wound up singling in his first two at-bats. He later walked to lead off the 11th inning and ultimately scored the winning run in Baltimore's 4-2 victory.

"It was almost a little relief to get it out of the way," Gibbons said of his first major league hit. "It really still hasn't sunk in yet. I still feel like I just started playing in the minor leagues yesterday."

STAT CORNER: In his first two starts as the ace of the Orioles rotation, Pat Hentgen had a 1.62 ERA, having given up three runs and 10 hits in 16 2/3 innings. The veteran has 10 strikeouts and just one walk (an intentional one), yet has no record because Baltimore failed to provide enough offense for him.

FAST FACT: Maybe Nomo's no-hitter shouldn't have come as a surprise. Of the seven Orioles who have at least six career at-bats against Nomo, only David Segui (6-for-19) had a batting average higher than .125. Brady Anderson, Mike Bordick, Jeff Conine, Delino DeShields, Brook Fordyce, Jerry Hairston, Melvin Mora and Cal Ripken are a combined 9-for-100 against the Japanese right-hander.

QUOTEWORTHY: "Just everybody relax a little bit." -- Jeff Conine's advice to both his teammates and media members who have been harping on the Orioles' inability to produce any offense this season.