BALTIMORE — When the Angels were scoring 72 runs in his first 10 starts this season, Bartolo Colon needed to bank some of them on a gift certificate like a "Wheel of Fortune" contestant who had already stripped the prize showcase clean.

He could have used them Saturday night. The Angels were held to five hits by left-hander Brian Burres and reborn reliever Paul Shuey as the Baltimore Orioles beat them, 6-3.

Though they reached the halfway point of their schedule with the most victories in baseball (50-31), the loss was the Angels' fourth in their past five games and the second time in the past four days they were stymied by a slender left-hander with more moxie than max velocity. Royals left-hander Jorge De La Rosa (with help from his bullpen) shut out the Angels in Anaheim on Wednesday.

"I think there are a lot of similarities with their game plan and what they did, the way they could change speeds," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "De La Rosa used his breaking ball a little more, I think. ... (Burres) changed speeds well and spotted his fastball. Later in the game, he used his breaking ball a little better. When he had to make a pitch he did. We didn't get too many good looks at him. He kept us off balance."

Chone Figgins led off the game with a single, but Burres didn't give up another hit until Figgins drove in the Angels' first run with a triple in the sixth inning.

"They have similar fastballs high 80s, maybe 90 (mph), not overpowering," Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick said of Burres and De La Rosa. "But they know how to pitch. They mix it up, change speeds, get you to chase some pitches. Sometimes as a hitter, we get ourselves out not to say they didn't pitch well. ... You have to tip your hat to a guy sometimes.

"Against those crafty left-handers, those are the guys you have to be on your game against. You have to work harder, stay more focused or those are the guys you're going to have a tough day against."

The Angels' five hits all came from the top of the order — two each by Figgins, who finished June with a club-record 53 hits, and Orlando Cabrera and an RBI double by Vladimir Guerrero. The rest of the Angels lineup went 0 for 20 against Burres and Shuey who earned his first save since Aug. 22, 2002, with the Dodgers. Shuey was out of baseball for most of three seasons (2004-2006) and did not pitch in the majors because of hip problems until resurfacing with the Orioles two weeks ago.

Colon has had his own problems more recently, but pitched well Saturday. He allowed three runs in six innings, but left the game trailing 3-2 and is now 1-4 in his past seven starts. After scoring seven runs or more in seven of his first 10 starts, the Angels have managed a total of 12 in his past three.

"I will never complain about my teammates whether they give me seven runs or three," Colon said through an interpreter. "They've given me enough runs to work with."

Scioscia needed more to work with when he pulled Colon after six innings. Trailing by one, he turned to a struggling Hector Carrasco. Chris Bootcheck had pitched multiple innings in two of the previous three games (including 2 1/3 shutout innings Friday). Dustin Moseley also pitched Friday and was not feeling well Saturday, according to Scioscia. Left-hander Darren Oliver was available and pitched a scoreless eighth.

But Carrasco couldn't keep the game close long enough to get it to Oliver. He gave up a three-run home run to Orioles catcher Ramon Hernandez in the seventh inning. It was Hernandez's first home run since June 2 when he also hit one off Carrasco.

Carrasco has allowed 17 runs, including six home runs, over his past 13 appearances totaling 16 2/3 innings.

"I think Hector and Darren are guys we count on and need to get going because we can't get down to a two- or three-man pen," Scioscia said. "(Carrasco) is always trying to get back into counts, it seems. If you look at his first-batter efficiency, it's good (first batters are 4 for 26 against him). If you go past that into what happens, he always seems to be trying to get back into counts.

You have to have good command to be able to do that and his command has been a little off so he's running into some problems."

Carrasco said inactivity has been his biggest problem.

"To me, I like to pitch more and more and more," he said. "What's most bothered me this year is I haven't pitched a lot.

"I don't blame him. I'm the one who's not pitching good."