Tampa Bay @ Baltimore preview
Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Last Meeting ( Jul 20, 2010 ) Tampa Bay 10, Baltimore 11
After giving one away to the worst team in baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays get a chance to redeem themselves when their three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles concludes on Wednesday at Camden Yards.
Tampa Bay rolled to an 8-1 victory in the series opener on Monday and dug out of an early hole to take a two-run lead into the ninth on Tuesday.
But closer Rafael Soriano was tagged for his second blown save of the season and Baltimore pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the 13th inning to stun Tampa Bay 11-10.
Luke Scott, Ty Wigginton and Adam Jones hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the second inning off Tampa Bay starter Matt Garza, and Scott hit his second of the game off Garza in the following frame to put the Orioles on top 4-1.
Tampa Bay scored the next seven runs but could not hold the lead. Luckily for the Rays, they did not lose any ground to the New York Yankees, who were pounded in the Bronx by the Los Angeles Angels 10-2.
The Rays hit three homers themselves but just did not pitch and could never seem to hold the Orioles down when they did get a lead. Despite the loss, Tampa Bay is 12-5 in its last 17 games.
James Shields (7-9, 4.86) ERA gets the start today for Tampa Bay and will be called upon to eat up some innings. The Rays went into their bullpen and called on five relievers on Tuesday.
Shields is 2-7 in his last 10 starts and his ERA has gone up over a run in that span. The few things going for Shields include the fact that he has been good against Baltimore historically and he has been a better pitcher on the road this season.
In 16 career starts against the Orioles, Shields is 6-2 with an ERA of 3.01. Also, six of his seven wins this season have come away from home.
Brad Bergesen gets the start for Baltimore and will try to help the Orioles begin a rare win streak. Bergesen will also need to stay out there as long as he can after six relievers were called on to wrap up Tuesday's victory.
Bergesen (3-7, 6.37 ERA) has lost three straight starts and is 0-5 with five no-decisions in his last 10 starts. In two starts against the Rays, Bergesen is 0-2 with an ERA that is a mind-boggling 9.35.