What a difference a day makes.

Less than 24 hours after jumping all over Tampa Bay for 22 runs Friday in an uplifting comeback win to open their weekend series, the Orioles fell silent at the plate Saturday afternoon. The Rays dismantled them, 11-3, to halt any momentum and flip the seesaw that has been the Orioles’ past six weeks back in the wrong direction.

Baltimore (35-47) has gone 3-5 over its past eight games, averaging two runs in losses and scoring at least five in each of their wins over that span.

Starter Zach Eflin left the game after surrendering four runs in the first inning. He secured the final out of the frame on his 28th pitch and didn’t come back out for the second as reliever Scott Blewett took over. The Orioles quickly announced that Eflin exited with lower back tightness, a new injury concern for the right-hander who already missed a month with a lat strain earlier this year.

The home team’s lone run of the first eight innings came courtesy of catcher Chadwick Tromp, who hit the first home run of his Orioles career with a solo shot in the fifth.

It was the journeyman backstop’s first homer at the MLB level since 2021 and the sixth of his career.

“It always feels good,” Tromp said of the homer. “When you lose, it don’t matter. I don’t care. I just want to win. So, let’s go get them tomorrow.”

Rays starter Zack Littell allowed the one run on three hits and two walks with five strikeouts over seven strong innings.

“Littell was really good. When he’s throwing the ball front door into the lefties with the sinker at 94 (mph) and he’s got the backdoor slider going, he’s tough,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said.

“When you’re hitting in these (blowout) games, it’s difficult. What we did yesterday down six is abnormal. What they did last week to us down eight is abnormal. The pressure comes off the pitcher when they’ve got a lead like that, and they’re able to execute a little easier. Just tough. To me, I just toss this one aside and wouldn’t evaluate our offense on today.”

Eflin struggled right out of the gate, allowing a double and RBI single to open the game before first baseman Jonathan Aranda demolished a two-run, 467-foot homer to Eutaw Street. The blast was the third-longest hit at Camden Yards in the Statcast era (since 2015).A fourth run crossed on a fielder’s choice before Eflin finally managed to get out of the inning with his season ERA sitting at 5.95. He now holds the highest ERA by any Orioles pitcher with at least five starts this season after a disastrous June in which he allowed 21 earned runs, seven home runs and 40 hits in 21 2/3 innings.

Mansolino said that Eflin first felt his back flare up in the bullpen warming up and tried to stay in the game after the first inning. The coaching staff made the call to pull him, and Eflin will undergo further testing to determine the severity of the injury.

The Orioles declined to make Eflin available for comment after the game.

Baltimore then embarked on an unplanned bullpen game. Blewett lasted 2 2/3 innings but gave up another four-spot in the fourth with the major blow a three-run homer by designated hitter Yandy Díaz.

“It’s my role,” Blewett said. “I’ve got to go out and eat innings when they ask me to. I thought I did a good job out of the gate doing that, trying to keep the time in it. By the time I came in, it was 4-0 and of course this offense has a chance to come back in a game like that. As it went on, they battled me, they battled me in that last inning I was out there. … It kind of all comes down to one pitch.”

Kade Strowd finished off the inning and allowed one run in the fifth before Gregory Soto pitched a clean sixth. But Andrew Kittredge couldn’t follow suit, allowing two runs on a triple by catcher Matt Thaiss in the seventh to put Tampa Bay’s run total into double digits. The Orioles have allowed 10-plus runs eight times this season, tied for the second-most in the American League behind only the Athletics (19).

The Orioles then turned to a position player to finish out the game. Luis Vázquez made his second pitching appearance of the season and delivered a scoreless eighth and ninth, getting three double plays to keep his career ERA at a remarkable 0.00.

It’s the just second time in team history that the Orioles have faced a position player pitcher and then used their own in back-to-back games. It first happened in August 2020 with Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Neil Walker and Orioles catcher Bryan Holaday.

Baltimore then tacked on a couple of late runs in the ninth on a two-run homer by Ramón Laureano, his 10th of the season.

Postgame analysis: Eflin’s struggles in June have become a major problem for the Orioles as they try to figure out how to handle the trade deadline. His lack of competitive starts have consistently put the Orioles in early holes, leading to losses they can’t afford when they’re already so far behind in the wild-card race. On the other hand, Eflin also would’ve been one of the Orioles’ most prized trade assets had he continued his hot start to the campaign. If the Orioles do decide to trade some of their pending free agents such as Eflin, Charlie Morton might have more trade value at this point given the latter’s resurgence over the past two months. An injury now would be a massive blow to both Eflin’s trade value and the Orioles’ chances of making a dramatic rise up the standings. Because as much as Eflin has struggled of late, the Orioles desperately need him on the mound and pitching up to his potential.

What they’re saying: Mansolino on why he used a position player to cover two innings on the mound:

“By throwing Vázquez for the last two innings it gave us a chance for tomorrow. So, right now you have Seranthony (Domínguez) got the day. (Bryan) Baker, (Félix) Bautista, Keegan (Akin), they got the day, so you feel pretty good about the bullpen going into tomorrow despite what we just went through. I think we saw the Dodgers do it maybe a few weeks ago earlier than that, if I remember correctly. When you put him in it gives you a chance for tomorrow.”

By the numbers: Vázquez has pitched three innings at the MLB level and still carries a 0.00 ERA despite throwing with an average velocity of 36.6 mph. His slowest pitch of the day, clocked at 34.6 mph, is just over 1 mph faster than the slowest recorded pitch of the season — a 33.1 mph pitch by Twins utility man Willi Castro — according to Statcast.

On deck: The Orioles have split the first two games in six of their past seven series, and they’ll once again be thrust into a rubber match for the finale. Baltimore will be looking for some length from starter Dean Kremer after needing eight innings out of its bullpen Saturday. Right-hander Taj Bradley is scheduled to take the ball for the Rays.

Have a news tip? Contact Matt Weyrich at mweyrich @baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/ByMattWeyrich and instagram.com/bymattweyrich.