Tampa Bay @ Baltimore preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 12, 2011 ) Tampa Bay 5, Baltimore 2

THE STORY: The Tampa Bay Rays continued their late-season push, moving a season-high 18 games over .500 and clinching a fourth straight winning season with Monday’s 5-2 win over the host Baltimore Orioles. Winners of five consecutive games and eight of nine, the Rays are three games behind AL wild-card leader Boston with 16 to play. They’ll have to catch them hard way, with the next 10 games on the road, including four against the Red Sox from Thursday to Sunday at Fenway Park. Tampa Bay sends ace lefty David Price to the mound in the second of a three-game series Tuesday night. He’ll be opposed by Orioles righthander Alfredo Simon.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, Sunshine, MASN2

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays LH David Price (12-12, 3.40 ERA) vs. Orioles RH Alfredo Simon (4-8, 4.83 ERA).

Price may be the only player on the Rays who is happy the game is being played in Baltimore. He's won only once at home since May 27 but is 8-4 in 14 starts on the road. Price lost to the Orioles 3-2 at home on Sept. 2 despite striking out 11 in seven innings. For his career, Price is 4-2 with a 3.10 ERA in eight starts vs. Baltimore. Matt Wieters is 6-for-16 and Nick Markakis 8-for-24 against him.

Simon is 0-2 in his last three starts, including a 6-3 loss at Tampa Bay on Sept. 3. The Rays knocked him around for six runs on seven hits, including five doubles. Simon lasted only four innings against the Yankees in his last outing. He has been plagued by control issues in his last two starts, allowing 10 walks in nine innings. Sean Rodriguez is 3-for-6 with two doubles against him.

ABOUT THE ORIOLES (58-88): Baltimore mustered just six hits against Jeff Niemann and went down meekly in absorbing its third consecutive loss. The Orioles play a killer schedule the rest of the way and could be heading for a third consecutive 100-loss season. Wieters, who was 0-for-15 in his previous four games, belted a solo homer – his 18th of the season and seventh in 18 games. Robert Andino had an RBI double to extend his hitting streak to nine games. He’s batting .361 (13-for-36) in that stretch. Adam Jones has sat out three straight games with ankle and thumb injuries.

ABOUT THE RAYS (82-64): Ben Zobrist has been a key run producer during Tampa Bay’s recent surge. He collected three hits and three RBIs in Monday’s win and has driven in eight runs during his six-game hitting streak. Zobrist smacked his 45th double of the season to tie Kansas City’s Alex Gordon for the major league lead. B.J. Upton has four multi-hit games during his five-game hitting streak. He set a team record by reaching base in nine consecutive at-bats before striking out in the eighth inning. With closer Kyle Farnsworth sidelined by an ailing elbow, Joel Peralta picked up the save by striking out the side in the ninth.

FINAL PITCH: Five runs is the magic number for the Rays. They have won 22 consecutive games when scoring that many runs or more.