Explaining the lineup and Brach's cheering section (O's win 8-6)

Orioles manager Buck Showalter broke out his right-handed lineup for Game 2 of tonight's doubleheader against the Rays.

He had a choice between doing it in the opener or the nightcap, with the Rays sending right-handers Matt Andriese and Jake Odorizzi to the mound. Or he could have mixed it up in both lineups. Manager's choice.

Showalter did his homework as usual and noted how Odorizzi is a reverse-splits guy. Left-handers are batting .192 against him, while right-handers are hitting .265.

Tonight seemed like the appropriate time to put Nolan Reimold and Joey Rickard in the outfield and use Mark Trumbo as the designated hitter. Hyun Soo Kim and Pedro Alvarez will sit.

Jonathan Schoop moves up from sixth to second, giving the Orioles three right-handers in a row before Chris Davis bats. Davis and Matt Wieters are the only starters who will hit from the left side against Odorizzi.

Showalter used only one reliever, Oliver Drake, in Game 1. Kevin Gausman allowed him to rest the bullpen.

The Orioles are 28-5 when Brad Brach pitches this season, the latest win coming last night. He threw 17 pitches while retiring the side in order in the eighth and lowering his ERA to 1.08 in 41 2/3 innings.

Brach had an especially vocal two-man cheering section - his JV baseball coach and varsity basketball coach from Freehold Township High School in New Jersey. Todd Smith, now the varsity baseball coach, and Brian Golub have turned these visits into a tradition.

"They've been coming down here the last three years," Brach said. "They make like a trip of it every year and they have a great time. It's like the first time they've come every single time. They get real loud. They get the whole section into it. I can hear it when I go out there. The guys in the press box say they can hear them. They kind of pride themselves on being the loud ones out there.

"It's awesome. I love that they're so supportive. I helped them coach when I was still in the minor leagues. I went back and substitute taught and I helped them coach basketball one season in 2010, so for them to be able to come down and get the experience is just awesome. It's more than just a player-coach relationship. It's really become like a friendship. Even like older brother/second dad type thing with those guys."

I wasn't aware of Brach's hoops exploits until this morning. Someone needs to update his Wikipedia page.

"I played through high school," he said. "I mean, I was all right. I played small forward. I played varsity two years, so nothing really too great. But I could shoot threes and that was about it. Rebound every once in a while. A terrible defender, so that was about it."

A 6-foot-6 high school small forward? That's a center on a lot of teams.

"Yeah, there were a couple guys who were good down low and I could shoot threes, so it was kind of like a mismatch-type thing, too," Brach said. "I always had a guy who was a little bit smaller than me as a small forward. He wanted me to take the ball out when I was on offense, so that was just kind of the position I fell into."

Update: Chris Tillman has allowed two runs and five hits in two innings. Logan Morrison had an RBI double in the first and Hank Conger hit a two-out home run in the second.

Update II: The Rays took a 4-0 lead in the third after Tillman again retired the first two batters, stringing together singles by Morrison, Brad Miller and Desmond Jennings and getting a bases-loaded walk from Conger.

Adam Jones made a tremendous diving catch in right-center to rob Jaff Decker and end the inning. Tillman may have been facing his last batter if that ball drops.

Update III: The Orioles scored in the bottom of the third on Nolan Reimold's leadoff double and Joey Rickard's single. They had two on with no outs after Jones walked, but Jonathan Schoop grounded into a double play.

Update IV: Matt Wieters hit a long two-run homer in the fourth after Mark Trumbo doubled with one out. Rays 4, Orioles 3.

Update V: Wieters' ball landed on Eutaw St., the second of his career and the third by an Oriole this season. Pedro Alvarez and Ryan Flaherty also did it. It's the 85th at Camden Yards and the 37^th by an Oriole.

Meanwhile, Tillman couldn't produce a shutdown inning. Morrison and Miller doubled to open the fifth and Oswaldo Arcia lifted a sacrifice fly to center field. Rays 6, Orioles 3.

Update VI: Jones homered in the fifth. Rays 6, Orioles 4.

Tillman tied his season high by allowing six runs and set a season high with 10 hits over five innings. He walked two, struck out two and surrendered a home run. He threw 95 pitches, 64 for strikes.

Update VII: Chris Davis led off the bottom of the sixth with a home run that drove Odorizzi from the game. Rays 6, Orioles 5

Update VIII: Rickard led off the bottom of the seventh with a double and scored on Jones' single into right field to tie the game and take Tillman off the hook. We've had runs in every inning tonight.

The Orioles came all the way back, going ahead in the seventh on Davis' RBI single off left-hander Xavier Cedeno after Machado singled.

Update IX: Wieters has his fifth career multi-homer game and his first since Sept. 16, 2012 in Oakland. Orioles 8, Rays 6.

Brad Brach stranded two runners in the top of the eighth.

Update X: The Orioles sweep the doubleheader by winning the nightcap 8-6 at Camden Yards.

T.J. McFarland gets the win as the 26th man, and Zach Britton records his 23rd save in as many opportunties.

The Orioles are 44-30 to move 14 games above .500 for the first time this season. They're 30-13 at home.