This, that and the other

Pat Valaika sailed his second throw last night, again pulling first baseman Renato Núñez off the bag, and tried hard to exhibit better control of his emotions than he did of the baseball.

Valaika removed his cap, exposing the thick blonde hair, and held it in his teeth while staring across the infield. He didn't bite through it, but only because of his restraint.

Maybe it kept him from screaming. The frustration was evident.

Two throwing errors that impacted Tommy Milone's start and led to a pair of unearned runs in a 4-2 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field.

"Errors happen," manager Brandon Hyde said during his Zoom conference call. "We've been playing fairly solid defensively and Pat's done a nice job at shortstop. I feel bad for him tonight. It wasn't his best night defensively, but he's done such a good job filling in wherever I've asked him to play."

The Orioles have used Valaika at all four infield positions and he's also made three starts in left field. Last night brought his first errors of the season.

"He's gotten big hits for us," Hyde said. "He's been a real nice contributor for us this year and so I don't fault Pat for the errors. Those things happen. And he's one of the hardest workers on the team. Does everything from a preparation standpoint like a true pro. Just unfortunate that he made a couple mistakes."

Milone didn't toss Valaika under the team bus, saying afterward that errors are part of the game and he needed to make better pitches, which he failed to do on Hunter Renfroe's home run that followed the first miscue.

"We have to deal with that sometimes and make good pitches to back up our teammates," Milone said.

* The Orioles made it to Florida yesterday and stayed there. They were allowed to leave their hotel, go to the ballpark and play a game.

Nothing like their trip to Miami earlier in the summer.

"We were in and out of Florida the last time," Hyde said, laughing at the memory of a series against the Marlins that eventually was moved to Baltimore.

Hyde reviews the safety protocols with his players, though they should be saved to memory by now.

"We make sure everybody is following," Hyde said. "That was a reminder in the last couple days to our players and coaches about what we've done so far this year, we're going to continue."

* The original list of Orioles in the 60-man pool announced back on June 28 included only 44 players, and outfielder Mason Williams wasn't among them.

Williams and Ryan Mountcastle completed their intake testing on July 8 in Baltimore and joined the workouts at Camden Yards. Mountcastle naturally drew the bulk of the attention, based on his prospect status.

Once a highly touted prospect in the Yankees organization, Williams was content to fly under the radar and wait for his chance. He handled the shutdown, the initial snub and the weeks of intrasquad games at the alternate camp site without losing faith.

His reward came Saturday when the Orioles designated Dwight Smith Jr. for assignment and selected Williams' contract.

Smith's status remains in the air. Williams is back in the majors, making his first start last night as the left fielder at Tropicana Field and robbing Willy Adames with a sliding catch to end the first inning.

"It's just the process," he said yesterday afternoon in his Zoom conference call. "It's a never-ending process that you've just got to go through and be able to develop and adapt and still be able to have a competitive mindset. I'm just happy to be back."

Williams remained in the outfield picture as the Orioles left Sarasota in March and he stayed active during the shutdown, though he was omitted from the opening day roster.

"I just kind of treated it like another offseason. I tried to get my at-bats and get my workouts consistently and, obviously, be ready for an opportunity like this," he said.

"It's going back to believing in the process and trusting that things will work out. I'm just continuing my faith. And I feel like I put in the work throughout the time that we were at home to have an opportunity like this."

* Mountcastle drew two walks in his major league debut, a noteworthy achievement beyond his low minor league totals, including 24 last summer with Triple-A Norfolk.

He became only the second Orioles player to walk multiple times in his first game, joining infielder Glenn Gulliver in 1982.

The similarities end there, of course.

Gulliver appeared in 23 games the following year and never made it back to the majors. The Orioles brought him back to the organization in 1986 and he played in 11 games with Triple-A Rochester and three with Single-A Hagerstown.

His only major league home run in 242 plate appearances came in the final game of the 1982 season against the Brewers. The timing makes Gulliver a memorable figure in team history.

Mountcastle walked again last night to raise his total to four in four games. He also registered his first RBI with a double in the fourth inning that scored Hanser Alberto.