ANAHEIM, Calif. — Orioles right-hander Jeremy Hellickson held the Los Angeles Angels to a pair of singles over his first six innings Tuesday night, but his night unraveled quickly as the clock struck midnight on the East Coast.

Hellickson allowed four straight hits to open the seventh inning without getting an out -- the Orioles bullpen quiet for most of that time - as a tie game turned into a two-run deficit that ultimately led to a 3-2 loss at Angel Stadium.

“It happened really fast,” Hellickson said. “Probably in the span of six, seven, maybe eight pitches, they got four hits. So it happened really quick. [I’ve] got to make a pitch there and make an out.”

The Orioles (56-57) had the opportunity to move above .500 for the first time since June 11 and could have come within a half-game of the second American League wild-card spot with a win, but instead were left to ponder missed opportunities.

Hellickson still recorded his second quality start in two outings since coming to the Orioles in a July 28 trade with the Philadelphia Phillies. He has a 2.08 ERA in his two games with his new team.

“Pitching on the road, tough lineup, team that’s playing real well,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “I can’t find anything to fault him with. Even that last inning, some well-placed hits.”

The Angels opened the seventh with three singles and a double off Hellickson, but only one ball – Andrelton Simmon’s RBI single -- was barreled up. The run-scoring his before it, Luis Valbeuna’s double down the left-field line, had a hit probability of just 19 percent.

“I thought he was really good,” catcher Caleb Joseph said. “Thought he deserved a better fate. He was really cruising there. He gave up one barreled baseball today. It’s unfortunate for him. He was doing well and they just grinded out some at-bats there in the [seventh actually] and made him pay for a couple mistakes.”

The Orioles managed just one run over seven innings against former Orioles farmhand Parker Bridwell, and despite starting to barrel him up later in the game couldn’t take advantage.

“When you minimize damage it always feels good,” Bridwell said. “They ran into a little trouble base running and it worked in our favor. I’ll take every break I can catch.”

They opened the sixth inning with three straight hits off Bridwell, including Caleb Joseph’s RBI single that tied the game at 1 and put runners at the corners.

But Smith — the lead runner at third in the sixth — was erased when he was tagged out at home on Joey Rickard’s grounder to third baseman Luis Valbuena.

The Orioles were held to one run that inning after Cameron Maybin made a diving catch on Manny Machado’s line drive to left field, even though four of the five balls hit off Bridwell that inning were at an exit velocity of above 100 mph, three of them above 106 mph.

“It was just the execution of pitches,” Bridwell said. “The location was a little up and they got some good wood. I came in after the inning, and thought I had to be a little better with my execution.”

Smith landed on second base with one out in the seventh after singling and moving to second on a wild pitch by Bridwell, but he was cut down trying to go to third on a grounder to shortstop Andrelton Simmons.

Even after falling behind, the Orioles also had a ripe scoring opportunity in the eighth against reliever Cam Bedrosian, putting runners at first and third with no outs after Adam Jones reached on a two-base throwing error by Valbuena and Machado singled.

But Jonathan Schoop and Chris Davis struck out swinging, flailing at pitches outside the strike zone, and Trey Mancini flied out to left on the first pitch he saw to end the threat.

Joseph drove in both Orioles runs, hitting a towering solo homer to left field with two outs in the ninth.

The Orioles were just 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Hellickson recorded nine strikeouts on the night, all of them swinging against an aggressive Angels lineup. Hellickson’s changeup was particularly effective, especially down in the zone, as he recorded seven strikeouts on the pitch.

“The changeup was down and I think I was getting ahead,” Hellickson said. “For the most part, they were in swing mode.”

Bridwell goes seven strong innings: Less than four months after the Orioles sold Bridwell’s contract to the Los Angeles Angels, he shut down his former team, recording his seventh quality start in 11 big league starts.

Bridwell, who was converted to a reliever by the Orioles last year and designated for assignment in April just two outings into this season, retired 12 of the first 14 batters he faced while holding the Orioles scoreless for his first four innings.

He stranded two on in the fifth and then left another baserunner on in the seventh.

“He was solid,” Showalter said of Bridwell. “We had the right people up a couple times, just couldn’t get it done. … Just couldn't get it done in the situation we wanted to do it. They did too, they left a guy on third nobody out and so did we.”

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