Baltimore Orioles (59-38) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (61-40)
The 2023 MLB season continues Sunday, July 23, with the Baltimore Orioles squaring off against the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East showdown at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, and the first pitch is set for 1:40 PM ET.
Baltimore and Tampa Bay wrap up a four-game series at The Trop. They split the first two contests, while Saturday’s clash has been excluded from the analysis. The Rays are -122 moneyline favorites for the closing game, and the totals sit at 8.5 runs.
After beating the Rays 4-3 in Thursday’s opener, the Baltimore Orioles suffered a 3-0 defeat at Tropicana Field on Friday night. It was their third loss in eight games in the second half of the season, and the 59-38 Orioles were still topping the AL East thanks to a better winning percentage than Tampa Bay.
The O’s are slashing .253/.319/.424 with 40 extra-base hits and 18 home runs in July. They’ve posted a 96 wRC+ against right-handed pitchers and 145 wRC+ versus left-handed pitchers over the previous three weeks, while the Orioles’ bullpen has thrown 54.1 innings so far this month, notching a 3.48 ERA and 3.78 FIP.
Tyler Wells will get the starting call Sunday, and the 28-year-old right-hande r is 7-5 with a 3.54 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 105/26 K/BB ratio in 18 starts and one relief appearance (106.2 innings pitched) this season. After surrendering exactly two earned runs in seven straight outings, Wells gave up five earned runs on six hits and a pair of walks in a 10-3 loss to the LA Dodgers last Tuesday.
Wells meets the Rays for the second time in 2023. He was charged with a loss in a 7-2 defeat at The Trop on June 21, allowing four runs (two earned) on four hits and three walks through five innings of work. The current Rays are 18-for-75 with four home runs against Wells.