O's game blog: The Tampa Bay series finale

The Orioles will wrap up their series with the Tampa Bay Rays today looking for a win to avoid a three-game sweep. The Rays won 10-6 Friday and 12-3 last night. At 67-44, they have the best record in the American League and lead the AL East by three games over Boston, 5 1/2 over New York, with Toronto seven games back in fourth place.

Right-hander Jorge López (3-12, 5.91 ERA) will get the start in the series finale for the Orioles. He is coming off of one of his best starts of the 2021 season. In Monday's 7-1 win at New York, he held the Yankees to one hit and one run over six innings with five walks and four strikeouts on a season-high 106 pitches. He had gone six straight starts throwing five or fewer innings. He took a no-hitter to the sixth before allowing Joey Gallo's double.

Lefty batters have hit .274 with an .861 OPS against López while right-handers have hit .305/.832. The Orioles are 8-14 in his starts this season.

López is 0-1 with a 9.64 ERA in one start this season versus the Rays, allowing eight hits and five runs over 4 2/3 innings with one walk and eight strikeouts. In four career games, he is 0-3 with a 4.86 ERA and 1.680 WHIP.

Right-hander Michael Wacha (2-3, 5.26 ERA) is his mound opponent. He has thrown 75 1/3 innings in 19 games (14 starts) on the year, allowing 82 hits, including 14 home runs, with 22 walks and 69 strikeouts. Wacha has a 1.381 WHIP with a 2.6 walk rate and 8.2 strikeout rate. The Rays are 9-5 in his starts.

A first-round pick (No. 19 overall) by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2012, Wacha allowed six runs and eight hits over four innings in his most recent start, against Seattle, throwing 86 pitches. In his two previous games he had allowed three earned runs over 10 innings.

In two starts this year versus the Orioles, he is 0-0 with a 5.14 ERA, allowing eight hits and four runs over seven innings. In four career games and starts against Baltimore, Wacha is 0-1 with a 6.43 ERA and 1.500 WHIP over 14 innings.

The Rays have won three consecutive games, improving to a season-high 23 games over .500 for the first time since ending the 2019 season at 96-66. This is only the fourth season in franchise history the Rays have reached as high as 23 games over .500 (2019, 2010, 2008). Tampa Bay is 7-2 in their last nine games, 12-5 in 17 games and 14-7 (.667) since the All-Star break, after going 53-37 (.589) before the break.

The Rays have trailed in all three games on their three-game winning streak, and have trailed in 50.7 percent (34 of 67) of their wins this season. Their 34 come-from-behind wins are tied with the Red Sox for most in the majors. On the other hand, the Rays have held a lead in 78.4 percent (87 of 111) of their games and led in 47.7 percent (21 of 44) of losses.

Farm notes: In his first two Triple-A starts, Norfolk righty Mike Baumann has gone 1-0 with a 1.64 ERA (2 ER/11.0 IP) with 10 strikeouts and two walks. He has a 0.64 WHIP during this stretch.

The Double-A Bowie Baysox have gone 7-3 in their last 10 games and 16-6 in the last 22. Their .769 OPS ranks third in all of Double-A. Baysox right-hander Cody Sedlock has gone 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA (4 ER/16.2 IP) and 18 strikeouts to just two walks in his last three starts.

The high Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds have gone 5-5 in their last 10 games and have won three straight. Since infielder Jordan Westburg joined the IronBirds, he has slashed .292/.398/.484 (64-for-219) with 24 extra-base hits (eight homers, 14 doubles, two triples), 39 runs, 41 RBIs, and 33 walks in 56 games. Westburg leads all O's minor leaguers with 65 RBIs. Robert Neustrom is second with 63.

Low Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds infielder T.T. Bowens ranks tied for third in the low-A East with 12 home runs. Delmarva's .752 OPS ranks fourth in the low-A East.