Gameday Preview (Saturday): Rays Look for Consecutive Wins vs. Orioles
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The Tampa Bay Rays clearly seemed refreshed from the All-Star Break after lighting up the Baltimore Orioles in an 11-1 victory at home to open the second half of the season on Friday night.
Now at 51-47, the Rays look ahead to Saturday’s Game 2 against Baltimore (43-53) to capitalize on their momentum.
Rays right-hander Zack Littell will toe the rubber against fellow righty Dean Kremer. Through 19 starts, Littell is 8-7 with a 3.56 ERA, 80 strikeouts, 17 walks and 46 earned runs.
In nine career appearances against the Orioles, Littell has a 2-3 record with a 2.74 ERA. Littell’s most recent win against Baltimore came on June 28 in an 11-3 victory where he fanned five batters while allowing just three hits and one earned run in seven innings of work.
In 18 starts, Kremer has an identical 8-7 record with a 4.24 ERA, 88 strikeouts, 27 walks and 51 earned runs. His most recent win against the Rays came the day after Littell’s, when he struck out six batters while not allowing any runs and three hits in seven innings. In his career against Tampa Bay, Kremer is 4-1 with a 1.91 ERA in nine appearances.
Here's how to watch Saturday's game:
Who: Tampa Bay Rays (51-47) at Baltimore Orioles (43-53)
When: Saturday, July 19, at 7:05 p.m. ET.
Where: George M. Steinbrenner Field, Tampa
TV: FanDuel Sports Sun
Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM/620 AM, WQBN 106.7/1300 AM (Spanish)
Betting information: The Rays are the money-line favorite on HardRockBet.com at minus-130, and the Orioles' money line odds are plus-110. On the run line, you can bet the Rays minus-1.5 at plus-140 odds, and the Orioles plus-1.5 at minus-185. The over/under is 8.5 runs.
Here are the starting lineups for both teams:
Rays Batting Order
- Chandler Simpson CF
- Brandon Lowe 2B
- Yandy Diaz DH
- Jonathan Aranda 1B
- Junior Caminero 3B
- Josh Lowe RF
- Jake Mangum LF
- Ha-Seong Kim SS
- Matt Thaiss C
Orioles Batting Order
- Jackson Holliday 2B
- Jordan Westburg DH
- Gunnar Henderson SS
- Ryan O’Hearn 1B
- Ramon Laureano LF
- Colton Cowser CF
- Tyler O’Neill RF
- Ramon Urias 3B
- Jacob Stallings C
Rays Newsy Nuggets
- RAYS GET BACK IN WIN COLUMN: With an 11-1 win over the Orioles, the Rays snapped a four-game losing streak and earned their first win in a series opener since June 24 against the Kansas City Royals, which ended a five-game skid. They also improved to 18-7 in their last 25 home games dating back to May 20.
- BRADLEY DEALS: Rays righty Taj Bradley earned his sixth win of the season on Friday. It also doubled as his 11th quality start and second scoreless outing this season. His 11 quality starts are a single-season career high. It was also the 11th quality start by a Ray this season and the first since Shane Baz against Kansas City on June 26.
- BIG TIME OFFENSE: The Rays have scored double-digit runs 12 times, the fourth-most in the majors behind the Cubs (16 games), the Red Sox (16 games) and the Yankees (14 games). It's also their second-most in their first 100 games of a season in team history, trailing only 2009 (14 games).
Related Rays stories
- RAYS CRUSH ORIOLES (Friday): The Tampa Bay Rays put the past behind them in a big way Friday night, starting off the second half with an 11-1 thumping of Baltimore. Taj Bradley, who's struggled vs. the Orioles, pitched six scoreless innings and the power display was in full force. CLICK HERE
- McCLANAHAN STRUGGLES: Tampa Bay pitcher Shane McClanahan, who's missed nearly two years with arm injuries, didn't make it out of the first inning of his rehab start in Durham. Here's what went wrong. CLICK HERE
- ON BOARD: Tampa Bay's top draft pick Daniel Pierce, a high school shortstop from Georgia, signs first pro contract with the Rays. Here are the numbers. CLICK HERE
- ARE RAYS BUYERS OR SELLERS? A 4-12 swoon has the Tampa Bay Rays on the outside looking in for a playoff spot. And with the trade deadline two weeks away, Rays baseball operations president Erik Neander isn't sure if they're buyers or sellers. "We need to win some games.'' CLICK HERE
Don Strouble is a sports journalist who covers Tampa Bay Rays baseball and other sports for the ‘’On SI’’ network. He is a Northeast Ohio native and currently lives in Orlando, Fla.
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