Greene starting tonight, Orioles claim Krehbiel off waivers

With rookie Chris EIlis unavailable to make tonight's start due to some arm fatigue, the Orioles are going with Conner Greene in a bullpen game against the Phillies.

Greene is making his first major league start after 18 relief appearances this season. He hasn't gone more than two innings or thrown more than 37 pitches, which happened in his debut on July 27 against the Marlins.

Until allowing three runs Sunday in one-third of an inning at Fenway Park, Greene had strung together six scoreless appearances in a row to lower his ERA to 4.05.

Thomas Eshelman is on the active roster and available for bulk relief.

The Orioles announced this afternoon that they claimed right-hander Joey Krehbiel off waivers from the Rays and designated reliever Manny Barreda for assignment.

They're deciding whether to put Krehbiel, 28, on the active roster.

Krehbiel has tossed four scoreless innings with one hit allowed, three walks and two strikeouts in parts of two major league seasons. He made two appearances with the Diamondbacks in 2018 and didn't allow a run in three innings. The Rays used him in Saturday's game against the Tigers and he had a scoreless inning with one walk and two strikeouts.

The former 12th-round pick of the Angels in 2012 has struck out 589 batters in 492 innings in 10 minor league seasons.

Barreda earned a win in his major league debut on Sept. 8 against the Royals, but he allowed four runs and four hits in 2 2/3 innings over three appearances before the Orioles optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk.

Reliever Dusten Knight cleared waivers and was assigned to Norfolk.

The Orioles will try to post back-to-back wins over the Phillies.

Austin Hays is slashing .292/.346/.653 this month and is batting .303 (57-188) against left-handers this season.

The Orioles recorded their fourth shutout last night, with three coming while John Means started. All four shutouts have come on the road.

Bryce Harper has reached base in 28 of his last 29 games since Aug. 20, posting a .492 on-base percentage in that span. He's walked 15 times in his last 13 games.

However, Harper has gone hitless in back-to-back games for the first time since Aug. 18-19.

The Phillies are three games behind the first-place Braves with 12 to play.

The Orioles swept a three-game series in Philadelphia last summer. The Phillies have never swept the Orioles in a three-game set at home.