Rays take on the Orioles in first of 4-game series

Baltimore Orioles (58-63, fifth in the AL East) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (74-46, first in the AL East)

St. Petersburg, Florida; Friday, 7:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Orioles: Kyle Bradish (7-11, 3.69 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 121 strikeouts); Rays: Steven Matz (5-4, 5.46 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 48 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Rays host the Baltimore Orioles on Friday to start a four-game series.

Tampa Bay has a 74-46 record overall and a 41-18 record in home games. The Rays are 10th in the AL with 128 total home runs, averaging 1.1 per game.

Baltimore has a 26-33 record in road games and a 58-63 record overall. Orioles hitters have a collective .320 on-base percentage, the third-ranked percentage in the AL.

The matchup Friday is the seventh meeting between these teams this season. The season series is tied 3-3.

TOP PERFORMERS: Junior Caminero leads the Rays with 35 home runs while slugging .553. Yandy Diaz is 14 for 46 with two home runs and six RBIs over the last 10 games.

Pete Alonso has 22 doubles and 26 home runs while hitting .259 for the Orioles. Tyler O'Neill is 8 for 29 with three home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 9-1, .294 batting average, 3.91 ERA, outscored opponents by 23 runs

Orioles: 4-6, .231 batting average, 4.55 ERA, outscored by nine runs

INJURIES: Rays: Gavin Lux: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jon Heasley: 60-Day IL (elbow), Cole Sulser: 15-Day IL (back), Griffin Jax: 15-Day IL (elbow), Ben Williamson: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Jake Fraley: 60-Day IL (groin), Edwin Uceta: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Shane McClanahan: 15-Day IL (back), Manuel Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ryan Pepiot: 60-Day IL (hip)

Orioles: Ryan Mountcastle: 60-Day IL (foot), Samuel Basallo: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Chris Bassitt: 60-Day IL (back), Colin Selby: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Zach Eflin: 60-Day IL (elbow), Keegan Akin: 60-Day IL (elbow), Blaze Alexander: 10-Day IL (hand), Ryan Helsley: 60-Day IL (elbow), Felix Bautista: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jordan Westburg: 60-Day IL (ucl)

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.