ST. PETERSBURG -- How would you describe Tyler Wells’ 2023 season?

Steady. Stingy. Consistent. Those are proper terms to use for the Orioles pitcher who entered Wednesday ranked 10th among American League pitchers with a 2.0 bWAR and has presented a case to be an All-Star.

Wild is not a word that has been attached to the right-hander. But Wells was wild in more ways than one during a messy second inning that sent the Orioles to a 7-2 defeat to the Rays on Wednesday afternoon at Tropicana Field.

After the game, the starting pitcher who has done more than any other to help the Orioles win in 2023 took responsibility for the loss.

“It's incredibly frustrating. I think that you could probably put that entire loss on my back,” he said.

The second inning began with Wells allowing his 17th and 18th homers of the season in consecutive at-bats against Randy Arozarena and Isaac Paredes. Wells said he would “absolutely” love to change his homer-prone ways. But he added that he “can live with the solo homers” because that’s going to happen to pitchers who like to challenge the opposition and don’t allow many walks.

What Wells can’t live with is what happened next.

Outfielder Manuel Margot hit an easy chopper right back to Wells, but he couldn’t scoop the ball with his glove, allowing Margot to reach on an error. Wells, who came into the game with an MLB-best 0.86 WHIP, then issued a walk to Taylor Walls. One batter later, Jose Siri tapped a pitch between home plate and the mound. Wells took off in pursuit of the dribbler, hoping to end the inning.

“The way that it played out in my head was I was running to the ball, and I told myself not to throw it, not to throw it, not to throw it,” Wells recalled. “I see [Siri] halfway down the line and I'm like, ‘Oh, I got him.'”

Wells should have trusted his initial instinct. While falling toward the third-base line, he uncorked a throw that sailed far over the head of first baseman Ramón Urías and down the right-field line, giving the Rays two more runs.

Said Rays manager Kevin Cash: “I know [Siri] didn't square it up, but it's a lot of speed. There's a lot of chaos and panic that goes on when he puts the ball in play.”

Wells, reacting to that chaos, became the first Orioles starting pitcher since 2018 to get tagged for multiple errors in a game.

“It's the physical and mental errors that really kind of haunt me on that,” Wells said. “Those two things are just completely unacceptable, and I think that it set a really bad example and pace of play for the other guys. This one is on me.”

The righty handed out his season-high-tying third walk in the third inning and admitted that he was fighting his control during the early innings. But after making a mechanical adjustment with the help of assistant pitching coach Darren Holmes, Wells settled down and looked like the pitcher the Orioles have seen throughout the year. He tallied six strikeouts and retired 10 of the final 12 batters he faced following the pivotal Siri play.

“I thought his stuff looked good after that inning,” manager Brandon Hyde said.

Rays starter Taj Bradley had walked 10 batters in his previous 13 innings heading into Wednesday's start, but he was the one who looked to be in full control in this matchup. The rookie held the Orioles to just three hits, no walks and one run -- a Urías solo shot in the third. Armed with a power fastball plus a cutter and a changeup that can each touch 90 mph, Bradley struck out eight over a career-best six innings.

"He's got a really good fastball, but he threw a ton of offspeed against us,” Hyde said. “Really good changeup, good cutter. He's got a good arm, and we had a tough time scoring runs off of him."

Added outfielder Austin Hays: “We're going to see him again in the future. Now we’ve got a little bit of background against him. We just have to adjust moving forward.”

The two-game split left the Orioles back where they started this series: five games behind the team they are looking up at in AL East. Maybe they will see Bradley again when these clubs next meet from July 20-23 in Baltimore.