O's Lose to Rays, 4-2; Ball Park Ranking in SI

Well, the home stand for the Baltimore Orioles ended up being disappointing as the offense could not back a strong outing by Brian Burres and they lost a matinée to the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-2.

Buress left the game with a tie in 7th inning; however Carl Crawford broke open the tie in the seventh inning with a two-run hit that made all the difference off reliever Jamie Walker.

Adam Jones provided all the offense for the Orioles with a two-run homer off Tampa starter Matt Garza in the fourth inning.

Despite Jones' hit, the Orioles only mustered three hits on the afternoon and went quietly.

In light of the loss, the Orioles had a great April, going 15-12 and holding the top spot of the division.

Now what will May hold for us? We have a tough, tough road trip as we head out to Anaheim to face the California, I mean the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for 3, then onto Oakland and then Kansas City. It's needless to say the next two weeks will be tough, but if Baltimore can finish at .500 or above during this trip, they'll be in good shape.

No matter what happens, my long-term outlook is not based on how many wins the Orioles garner, but if the team improves. Already, I see marked improvement as they are holding things tight in all the games (with the exception of few so far) and Adam Jones is developing into a strong every day player.

It's too bad the attendance sucks as this is a team worth watching, but we need to give things time to develop.

Ballpark Rankings In SI: If you get a chance, take a look at the ballpark rankings online at CNNsi.com.

The magazine polled fans about the experience of each ballpark of all 30 franchises, and each respective team's commitment to winning.

The Orioles ranked 14th overall, and they did better in some categories than others.

Here's how Baltimore ranked:

Affordability: 17th
Food: 11th
Team Quality: 29th
Tradition: 8th
Atmosphere: 17th
Fan IQ: 11th
Hospitality: 12th
Promotions: 24th
Traffic: 8th
Neighborhood: 5th

I don't disagree with the rankings, but considering this was done in March, a few things might have changed; however, overall, it's fairly accurate. I think Oriole tickets are fairly affordable, at least in comparison on the East Coast, and I think the team overall have a fair amount of promotions including a quite a few discounted nights, but the concern is and should with the product on the field.

This is what has hurt has the Baltimore franchise.

Although this survey was done in March, the bottom line is despite the record, the Orioles do not have any marquee names besides perhaps Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis to bring people out to the park.

The bottom line is that fan interest and confidence will build up once the team starts winning. Despite everything on the field, Camden Yards has nothing but a stellar reputation amongst those is baseball and is a great place to watch a game.