A pair of AL East opponents continue their final series before the All-Star break on the diamond down in the Sunshine State. The Baltimore Orioles are on the road as they play the middle game of a three-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays Saturday afternoon. Baltimore swept a brief two-game interleague set on the road in the Windy City as they rolled the Cubs 7-1 in the finale Wednesday night. Tampa Bay closed a four-game series with the Red Sox at home Thursday night and earned a sweep as they rallied for a 5-4 triumph in the series finale Thursday night. This article was published prior to the conclusion of the opening game of the series Friday night at Tropicana Field.
Baltimore ran their win streak to 10 games as they took care of business against the Cubs on Wednesday night to sweep that two-game interleague set. The Orioles entered Friday above .500 for the first time this last in the season since they were 71-71 on September 9, 2017. They are still in the cellar of the AL East, 17 games behind the Yankees for the top spot, and 1.5 games behind the final wild-card spot in the American League. On Wednesday, Baltimore scored three in the top of the first and cruised from there. Austin Hays (run) led the way with four hits while Cedric Mullins (run) added a pair in the victory. Spenser Watkins (3-1) earned the win as he threw five innings, allowing one run on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts before handing things off to the bullpen.
Dean Kremer is expected to take the hill and log his eighth start of the season for the Orioles in this contest. He comes in 3-1 with a 2.15 ERA, a 1.248 WHIP, 12 walks and 30 strikeouts over 37.2 innings of work on the year. Kremer earned the win in his last start, which came last Saturday at home against the Angels. He threw five innings, allowing no runs on two hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in a 1-0 Orioles victory. In his last three starts, Kremer is 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP, seven walks and 16 strikeouts over 16.2 innings of work. Kremer makes his fourth career start against the Rays in this contest. He comes in 0-1 with a 3.21 ERA, a 1.50 WHIP, eight walks and 14 strikeouts over 14 innings of work. Kremer, in his 25th career major league start, pitches at Tropicana Field for the first time in this contest.