Tampa Bay Rays

Tampa Bay aims for series sweep against Orioles

Published Apr. 18, 2019 3:22 a.m. ET

Baltimore Orioles (7-12, third in the AL East) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (14-4, first in the AL East)

St. Petersburg, Florida; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Orioles: Andrew Cashner (3-1, 5.31 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, 9 strikeouts) Rays: Hunter Wood (3-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 5 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE: Tampa Bay can secure a series sweep over Baltimore with a win.

The Rays are 4-1 against the rest of their division. Tampa Bay's team on-base percentage of .343 is third in the American League. Austin Meadows leads the team with an OBP of .406.

The Orioles are 6-6 on the road. The Baltimore pitching staff as a whole has an ERA of 6.06. Andrew Cashner leads the team with a 5.31 earned run average. The Rays won the last meeting 8-1. Yonny Chirinos earned his third victory and Brandon Lowe went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBIs for Tampa Bay. David Hess registered his third loss for Baltimore.

TOP PERFORMERS: Meadows leads the Rays with 22 hits and is batting .349. Lowe is 13-for-35 with three doubles, four home runs and 10 RBIs over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay.

Trey Mancini leads the Orioles with 24 hits and is batting .320. Renato Nunez has 12 hits and is batting .286 over the last 10 games for Baltimore.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 8-2, .304 batting average, 2.97 ERA, outscored opponents by 33 runs

Orioles: 3-7, .217 batting average, 5.97 ERA, outscored by 17 runs

Rays Injuries: Blake Snell: 10-day IL (toe), Jose De Leon: 10-day IL (elbow), Anthony Banda: 60-day IL (elbow), Joey Wendle: 10-day IL (hamstring), Matt Duffy: 10-day IL (back).

Orioles Injuries: Nate Karns: 10-day IL (forearm), Alex Cobb: 10-day IL (lumbar strain), Richard Bleier: 10-day IL (lat), Chris Davis: day-to-day (illness), Mark Trumbo: 60-day IL (knee).