Gameday Preview (Saturday): For Rays' Zack Littell, Starters' Streak is Important

BALTIMORE, Md. — From Day 1, the Tampa Bay Rays starting rotation has been a level of consistency. All five guys made all 16 starts in the first half of the season, and it's more of the same this weekend in Baltimore, where the Rays open the second half with a series against the Orioles.

Zack Littell is making his 17th start on Saturday, and he knows it's important after the Rays got knocked around 22-8 on Friday night in the series opener, and starter Ryan Pepiot only lasted 1 2/3 innings. So, yes, the Rays are hoping for some length — and some success — from Littell in the 4:10 p.m. ET game.

Littell loves being a part of this rotation that's happy to take the ball every day. It's made like much easier for the Rays, who are 46-36 on the season and are 25-11 since May 20.

"It's impressive. We all have that mentality of wanting to go out and take the ball,'' Littell said. "I know every single guy knows there are going to be some of those nights where it's going to be a grind to get through five. Everyone has had a rough patch, but they're always ready for that next start.

"The guys on the (coaching) staff do a great job of getting us to talk about how we feel. Your best asset is availability, but we also play the game of wanting us to be good to go in September and October, too. When you've got five guys who do that, who work hard betweeen starts and will push through it, you've got to give guys credit for taking care of their bodies.''

There are the details on Saturday's game:

How to watch Rays-Orioles

Who: Tampa Bay Rays (46-36) at Baltimore Orioles (35-46)
When: Thursday, June 26 at 2:10 p.m. ET
Where: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.
TV: FanDuel Sports Sun
Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM/620 AM, WQBN 106.7/1300 AM (Spanish)
Betting information: The Orioles are favored on the money line at HardRockBet.com at minus-116, and the Rays' money line odds are plus-102. On the run line, you can bet the Rays minus-1.5 at plus-155 odds, and the Royals plus-1.5 runs at minus-188 odds. The over/under is 9.5 runs.

Here are the starting lineups for both teams:

Rays batting order

Josh Lowe RF
Brandon Lowe 2B
Yandy Diaz DH
Jonathan Aranda 1B
Junior Caminero 3B
Jake Mangum LF
Chandler Simpson CF
Taylor Walls SS
Matt Thaiss C

Orioles batting order

Jackson Holliday 2B
Ramon Urias 3B
Gunnar Henderson SS
Ryan O'Hearn 1B
Ramon Laureano RF
Colton Cowser LF
Gary Sanchez DH
Cedric Mullins CF
Chadwick Tromp C

Pitching matchup

ZACK LITTELL, Tampa Bay Rays: Zack ittell is 6-7 with a 3.78 earned run average. ... The 29-year-old right-hander from Burlington, N.C. is making his 17th start of the season and second against the Orioles, a 5-1 loss on June 17 where he gave up three earned runs in the loss, pitching six innings. .... Littell has the Rays' only complete game all year, pitching nine innings on May 31 against Houston. He threw 117 pitches that day. ... Littell leads the majors with 22 home runs allowed, but he went homer free in his last start against Detroit on June 22. He allowed just one run on four hits in five innings, but didn't get a decision. The Rays have lost each of Littell's last three starts.

ZACH EFLIN, Baltimore Orioles: Zach Eflin, a 31-year-old right-hander from Orlando, Fla., is making his 12th start of the season. He's 6-4 thus far, with a 5.46 ERA. ... Eflin pitched for the Rays in 2023 and part of 2024 before being traded to the Orioles. He faced his former teammates on June 16 in Tampa and got knocked around, giving up seven runs in five innings in a 7-1 loss. ... His next start wasn't very good either. He allowed six runs in just three innings in a 9-0 loss to the New York Yankees. ... Eflin is making his sixth career start vs. the Rays. He's 1-3 with a 5.04 ERA

Newsy Rays-Royals nuggets

DAILY FANTASY WINNERS: This is the Josh Lowe, Brandon Lowe, Yandy Diaz and Taylor Walls all have home runs off of Zach Eflin in their careers. They are a combined 10-for-29 — a .345 batting average against their former teammate and friend. ... Junior Caminero hasn't figured Eflin out yet. He's just 1-for-6 all time. ... For Baltimore, Gunnar Henderson loves hitting against Littell. He's 7-for-18 all time with two homers.

ONE LAST RECORD-BREAKER: Here's another crazy note from Friday night's 22-8 Orioles win. The Rays became just the second team EVER in the history of major-league baseball to allow 20 runs or more in a game after two consecutive shutouts. Only the 1967 Los Angeles Dodgers had ever done it before.

CLUTCH HITTERS: The Rays are batting .385 — 30-for-78 — with runners in scoring position over their last nine games, led by Taylor Walls (4-for-8), Brandon Lowe (3-for-5), Jonathan Aranda (3-for-7) and Jake Mangum (3-for-7). …Mangum's .468 batting average (22-for- 47) with runners in scoring position leads the majors with a minumum of 40 at-bats. On the season, the Rays' .288 RISP average leads the American League, and trails only the Los Angeles Dodgers (.296) in all of MLB. … It's nice to see the improvement, because clutch hitting was a real issue a year ago. This is a 76-point increase from their 2024 average (.212), the largest year-to-year increase in the majors, ahead of the Chicago Cubs (plus-62 pts. going from .219 to .281).