Tampa Bay @ Baltimore preview
Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Last Meeting ( Sep 3, 2010 ) Tampa Bay 4, Baltimore 1
The Tampa Bay Rays will vie for a franchise record 41st road win at the expense of the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.
With Friday’s 4-1 victory, the Rays moved to 40-25 away from home on the year and inched to within 1 1/2 games of the AL East-leading New York Yankees.
Even if Tampa Bay doesn't catch the Yankees, it is still in good shape for the wild card. The Rays lead the Boston Red Sox by seven full games.
The Rays have taken six of their last seven games against the Orioles, piling on 49 runs against Baltimore’s pitching staff. Carl Crawford continues to stick it to the O’s, adding three more hits and an RBI on Friday to move to 10-for-21 at Camden Yards this year.
James Shields (13-11, 4.73 ERA) gets the call for the Rays.
Shields is coming off a big win over Boston last weekend, holding the Red Sox to three earned runs over 6 2/3 innings while striking out eight. He heads into Saturday’s start having won three straight, allowing six runs and striking out 24 batters in 19 2/3 innings of work.
Shields was smacked for four runs in five innings in a 5-0 loss the last time he faced the Orioles on Aug. 13, but is 7-3 lifetime against the O’s with a 3.32 ERA. He is 5-0 against Baltimore this season and is now Tampa Bay’s franchise leader in career wins with 56 after picking up the victory in his last outing.
Jeremy Guthrie (8-13, 3.94 ERA) was on the winning end of that Aug. 13 matchup against Shields and the Rays, allowing just two hits over six innings.
Since then, Guthrie had a pair of rough starts against the Seattle Mariners and Chicago White Sox (11 combined runs over 14 2/3 innings), before throwing a gem in downing the Los Angeles Angels in his last start. Guthrie went 8 1/3 innings in that one, giving up four hits while striking out five.
The 31-year-old has a 4-7 career record against the Rays with a 4.28 ERA and is 5-3 with a 2.51 ERA since the All-Star Break. Guthrie leads the Orioles in wins (eight), ERA (3.94) and WHIP (1.20).
The Orioles, who are now 17-13 under Buck Showalter, are scoring just 3.56 runs per game this year. They were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position on Friday and are hitting only .236 with somebody on second or third this year.
Luke Scott is a lone bright spot in Baltimore’s batting order. The designated hitter leads the team with a .288 batting average, 22 home runs, and a .921 OPS.