After splitting a four-game set and failing to move atop the AL East over the weekend, the Baltimore Orioles will surely have their hands full again with the Tampa Bay Rays coming to town.
The second-place Orioles try to create some breathing room between themselves and the third-place Rays, who look for their recent momentum to carry over Tuesday night as they begin a crucial six-game road trip.
Baltimore (78-62) took two of the first three from the New York Yankees before falling 13-3 in Sunday's series finale, slipping back into second place in the division.
The Orioles, who won four of seven versus New York over a 10-day stretch, sit one game behind the Yankees and one in front of the Rays (77-63). Tampa Bay and Baltimore are also embroiled in a tight wild-card race with Oakland and the Los Angeles Angels.
"We don't care about the last four of seven. We care about the next three," said outfielder Adam Jones, batting .393 with three homers in his last seven games. "(These) are the most important three games of the season right now."
Winners of six of eight in September, the Rays are coming off Sunday's 6-0 victory over Texas. B.J. Upton belted three homers to tie a team record and James Shields threw a two-hitter, continuing the club's recent mastery on the mound.
Tampa Bay owns the majors' lowest ERA at 3.22, compiling a 2.64 mark this month while holding opponents to a .185 average.
"We've been pitching pretty well lately," Shields told the team's official website. "We're just trying to keep that momentum going, trying to feed off of each other."
The Rays, who visit New York following this series, now turn to Matt Moore (10-9, 3.66 ERA) - the only Tampa Bay pitcher scheduled to make two starts during the trek.
"I'm very happy with having that," said Moore, 2-1 with a 1.75 ERA in his last four road outings. "I'm glad that I'm going to have a hand in both of these series on the road."
The left-hander had gone 5-2 with a 2.08 ERA in his first nine starts following the All-Star break before surrendering six runs - four earned - and eight hits over 6 1-3 innings during Wednesday's 6-4 loss to the Yankees.
"There's some things that I can get better at as far as my last start ... it mostly has to do with getting ahead and staying ahead," he said.
Moore is 2-1 with a 1.15 ERA over three starts in this series but will need to be wary of Mark Reynolds, who's batting .343 with nine homers and 17 RBIs in his last 10 games. Matt Wieters is 4 for 7 with two long balls versus Moore.
The Orioles counter with fellow rookie Miguel Gonzalez (6-4, 3.62), who has gotten drastically different results in his two starts against Tampa Bay. The right-hander was tagged for a season-worst seven runs over 2 2-3 innings during a 10-1 home loss July 25, but he bounced back to allow two hits in seven scoreless innings Aug. 5 at Tropicana Field.
Gonzalez wasn't very sharp his last time out, yielding five runs over 6 1-3 innings Wednesday in a 6-4 loss at Toronto.
Desmond Jennings, who homered off Gonzalez in July, is expected to return to the Rays' lineup after missing the last two games with tightness in his lower back. He's gone 3 for 25 (.120) against the Orioles this season, though two of those hits have left the yard.
These teams have split 12 games overall and six at Camden Yards this year.
