BALTIMORE – Dioner Navarro singled in the tiebreaking run in the 12th inning, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays took advantage of another meltdown by the Baltimore bullpen in handing the Orioles their eighth straight loss, 5-4 Wednesday night.

Baltimore led 4-1 in the eighth inning before Tampa Bay rallied a second straight night to win. On Tuesday, the Devil Rays scored 11 eighth-inning runs to rebound from a 6-3 deficit.

Joel Guzman opened the 12th by hitting a chopper to third off Rob Bell (3-3) that Melvin Mora hurriedly grabbed before throwing wildly to first. Guzman ended up on second, and Navarro followed with a liner off the right-field scoreboard, producing Tampa Bay’s third unearned run.

By winning the first two games of the three-game series, the Devil Rays are assured their first road series win in 12 tries since June 8-10 at Florida. Tampa Bay was 0-10-1 in that span.

It also marked the first time since July 2004 that the Devil Rays won two straight games in Baltimore. Tampa Bay had dropped its last six series against the Orioles.

Grant Balfour (1-0) pitched two innings and Al Reyes got three outs for his 21st save.

The game featured another poor performance by the Baltimore bullpen, which inherited a three-run lead from starter Steve Trachsel.

After Jamie Walker worked a perfect seventh, Chad Bradford started the eighth and got B.J. Upton to hit a grounder that shortstop Miguel Tejada misplayed for an error. An RBI double by Brendan Harris and a sacrifice fly by Navarro produced two unearned runs, getting the Devil Rays to 4-3.

Danys Baez, who retired the final two batters in the eighth, returned in the ninth. He got the first two outs and got two strikes on Upton before giving up a single. Delmon Young walked on a 3-2 pitch, and Harris tied it with a single to left.

It was the continuation of a trend that has haunted the Orioles throughout their eight-game losing streak. Baltimore has been outscored 90-32 during the skid, including 65-9 from the sixth through ninth innings.

Aubrey Huff hit a two-run homer in the sixth to put the Orioles up 4-1. He’s batting .373 against his former team this season, and six of his 14 home runs have come against the Devil Rays.

Trachsel allowed one run and five hits in six innings. Instead of earning his seventh win, he was betrayed by the bullpen and received his 11th no-decision in 25 starts.

Carl Crawford got two hits for Tampa Bay, giving him 46 in August – most in the majors and a new club record for hits in a month. The old mark was held by Huff, who had 44 hits in August 2002.

Tampa Bay starter James Shields gave up four runs and 10 hits in eight innings. The right-hander, who struck out six and walked two, is winless in seven career starts against Baltimore.

The Devil Rays got a first-inning run when Crawford doubled and scored on a single by Carlos Pena. Baltimore went up 2-1 in the third when Jay Payton singled, Brian Roberts tripled and Corey Patterson hit an RBI single.

Notes: Crawford has 14 multihit games, and 49 hits overall, in his last 29 starts. … Trachsel is 2-1 with a 2.37 ERA in six starts this month. … In addition to his fielding error, Tejada was thrown out at third on a single by Kevin Millar immediately before Huff’s homer.

AP-ES-08-29-07 2318EDT