ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Manny Ramirez, Johnny Damon and the Tampa Bay hitters are becoming extremely consistent this season — and not in a good way, either.
The winless Rays lost again Wednesday when Dan Haren and the Los Angeles Angels shut down the AL East champions 5-1.
The defeat dropped the Rays to 0-5. In four of those games, they finished with exactly one run and four hits.
"We're just not hitting right now and it's difficult to watch," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "When you see that, I think it's interpreted in the wrong way. We're just not hitting and it's frustrating.
"We have a bunch of guys that are pretty good hitters and they're going to start hitting at some point ... hopefully very soon and then all of a sudden we'll have this nice explosion," he said.
The poor start marked just the third winless homestand — with two or opponents — in Tampa Bay history and first since September 2000.
Rookie Jeremy Hellickson (0-1) lost despite striking out 10 in 5 2-3 innings.
Tampa Bay designated hitter Manny Ramirez, who has one hit in 17 at-bats this season, was out of the starting lineup. He flied out as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning.
"I'm just getting myself out," Ramirez said.
Ramirez will miss Thursday's game at the Chicago White Sox while tending to a personal matter.
"Even great hitters press, especially when there's a personal thing going on," Damon said. "Manny was great in spring training, he got his swing back, but somehow it's not there right now. He's not used to failing at this game, like average people. He'll find it."
Damon replaced Ramirez as the DH and went 0 for 4 with a strikeout. Damon is 1 for 15 this year.
"We understand why we're 0-5 right now," Damon said. "The pitching is great, but we're not hitting."
Haren (1-0) scattered four hits over 7 2-3 innings and struck out six. Relievers Kevin Jepsen and Jordan Walden completed the combined four-hitter.
"I know they're not swinging the bats well now, but I'm glad we got them at this time because we come back here in a couple weeks and they'll probably be a different team," Haren said.
Alberto Callaspo homered for Los Angeles. The third baseman had two RBIs in the Angels' 5-3 win over Tampa Bay on Tuesday night.
B.J. Upton homered for the second straight game, a solo shot during the fifth that pulled the Rays within 2-1.
"I don't know what it is. I feel like we're playing good baseball," Upton said. "I think I heard Matt Joyce say today, 'The baseball gods must not like us right now.'
"That's just the way we're feeling. We're doing everything we can. It's just not happening," Upton said.
Bobby Abreu put the Angels up 1-0 with an RBI double in the first. Callaspo hit a solo home run in the fourth.
Los Angeles took a 3-1 lead on Jeff Mathis' run-scoring double in the sixth. Mark Trumbo, who had his first career three-hit game, extended the Angels' advantage to 4-1 with an eighth-inning RBI single.
Torii Hunter singled home a run in the ninth.
NOTES: Upton is the only Tampa Bay player with a hit in all five games this season. ... Hellickson's previous strikeout high was seven, accomplished during a limited stint with Tampa Bay last year.
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