The Orioles have surrendered the most runs in 2-out situations. An answer why isn’t clear.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The five runs scored by the Tampa Bay Rays in Wednesday’s series finale had one common element with so many of the runs scored against the Orioles this year.

They each came with two outs.

Perhaps this is an anomaly, a quirk 50 games into the season. “I think it’s just a small sample,” manager Craig Albernaz said. But it’s a quite noticeable trend for Baltimore’s pitching, and there isn’t a clear answer as to why.

The Orioles have allowed 118 runs with two outs — the most of any major league team. The Los Angeles Angels are in second place at 117.

As one might suspect due to the high run totals (43% of the runs against the Orioles this year have come with two outs), Baltimore entered Wednesday with a .260 opponent average on 144 two-out hits, both second only to the Angels. And the Orioles entered their series finale with the highest percentage of two-out pitches thrown, per Statcast, which means when Baltimore gets to two outs, the third one doesn’t come quickly enough.

“It’s tough to put a finger on it,” Albernaz said. “I think you can get extremely granular and double-click everything and poke holes and ask questions, and I think with two outs, you just have to finish the inning. It’s nothing usage-wise, mentality-wise. It’s big league hitters.”

There have been plenty of head-scratching moments for the Orioles this year, and this is but another. The easiest answer, perhaps, is that across the board Baltimore’s pitching staff has performed poorly. Therefore, it stands to reason that two-out situations will be just as poor.

Entering Thursday, Baltimore’s 4.97 ERA was the fifth worst in the majors, and the Orioles’ 5.11 ERA from their starters was the worst in the American League.

When breaking down the Orioles’ success in no-out and one-out situations, the results aren’t pretty, either. The staff’s 5.78 ERA with one out was the third worst in baseball entering Wednesday. A 3.23 ERA with no outs was the ninth worst — a fairly respectable figure in comparison.

What makes the two-out issues stand out more, perhaps, is how the end of the inning is near. It was a continual issue against the Rays, who are one of the best-hitting teams in any situation. Their strikeout rate is the second lowest in baseball, and they don’t rely on home runs.

As right-hander Kyle Bradish said, they are a “complete team.” Another word for it could be irritating, if one is in the opposite dugout.

“They’re patient,” Bradish said. “They make you come in the zone. And, unlike a lot of teams, they’re fine taking a single the other way. They’re not all trying to do damage. But when you leave a pitch in the middle of the plate ... they’re on it.”

Albernaz said two-out success usually comes down to “the profile that’s in the box, and if it’s a guy that controls the strike zone and is pesky up there and can move the ball forward and work the at-bat, those are the ones that are always tough to navigate.”

In the series opener Monday, when left-hander Trevor Rogers allowed seven earned runs, five scored with two outs in the second inning.

After the game, Rogers was at a loss. He has especially struggled this year in two-out moments; batters are hitting .433 against him — the second-highest rate in baseball among pitchers who have thrown at least 250 pitches.

“I wish I had an answer for you,” he said. “I don’t know. I just try to keep making pitches, and it’s just not going my way. … The past four or five starts, it’s just been one inning where I’ve just gone off the rails with two outs, just nothing has gone my way. I feel like I’m really close. I still have the belief in myself. I know how good I can be. I’m just doing the complete opposite right now.”

One of the two runs against Bradish on Tuesday came with two outs. Later in the game, with right-hander Rico Garcia in, two more runs scored with two outs. And there were four two-out runs charged to right-hander Anthony Nunez on Wednesday. He didn’t have an answer for why this appears to be a trend for this club, either.

“We’re just going out there and trying to get outs,” Nunez said. “It’s not really thinking about how many outs there are or our stats with certain outs.”

The answer could have more to do with the overall issues with the pitching staff than it does with two outs specifically. But, when the end of an inning is near, the recent cavalcade of runs is even more noticeable.