Orioles-Rays and other things

The Orioles' homestand continues tonight against the Tampa Bay Rays and right-hander Jeremy Hellickson, who's 7-3 with a 2.64 ERA. Hellickson hasn't allowed a run against the Orioles in two starts this season covering 14 innings. He turned in five scoreless innings May 7 at Camden Yards, though he walked five batters, and tossed a four-hit shutout six nights later at Tropicana Field. Overall, Hellickson is 3-0 with a 1.25 ERA in 21 2/3 career innings against the Orioles. They're batting .205 against him. Good luck. With Derrek Lee away from the team through the weekend, Luke Scott will probably start at first base tonight and again on Sunday against Rays right-hander Wade Davis. Brandon Snyder, expected to be recalled today from Triple-A Norfolk, could start tomorrow night against left-hander David Price. Scott is 2-for-9 with a double and three strikeouts lifetime against Hellickson. Nick Markakis is 2-for-11. I'll assume that Markakis continues to bat second, with Adam Jones third. Lee's absence creates a hole in the fifth slot that could be filled by Matt Wieters or Scott. Snyder is batting .253 with 10 doubles, eight homers and 26 RBIs in 190 at-bats at Norfolk. He went 2-for-9 with a double earlier this season with the Orioles. Snyder's doesn't exactly bring a hot hand to Baltimore. He's 2-for-26 and 4-for-40 with the Tides. Speaking of Norfolk, Mark Hendrickson tossed another scoreless inning yesterday, increasing his streak to 12 1/3 innings. He also registered the win, improving to 2-3 with a 2.81 ERA. Matt Hobgood tweeted last night that he's scheduled to pitch in a simulated game today in Sarasota. I wonder if Damon Runyon ever passed along a tweet? And speaking of tweets, I read one out of Oakland last night that Jemile Weeks is being credited with a triple in Wednesday night's game at Camden Yards. Take away the error from Nolan Reimold, and give Jim Johnson an earned run. Single-A Frederick pitcher Bobby Bundy and first baseman Tyler Townsend have been named to the Carolina League All-Star team, which will play representatives of the California League on June 21 in Modesto, Calif. Townsend will have to recover from a hamstring injury he suffered Wednesday night. He's expected to stay on the disabled list, along with teammate Trent Mummey, at least until the Keys reach the break. Bundy, 21, is 6-3 with a 2.73 ERA. He leads the Orioles farm system in wins, ERA, and strikeouts (58). The Orioles just drafted his brother, Dylan, with the fourth-overall pick, in case you hadn't heard. Townsend, 23, currently leads the Carolina League with a .317 average. He began last night ranked second in slugging percentage (.576), tied for second in doubles (19), tied for third in home runs (10) and fourth in RBIs (39). Jonathan Schoop went 3-for-4 for the Keys last night, raising his average to .429 in five games since moving up from Single-A Delmarva, where he batted .316 in 51 games. Single-A Delmarva shortstop Manny Machado hit his sixth home run to account for the Shorebirds' only run in a 4-1 loss to Hagerstown. Double-A Bowie's Brandon Waring homered twice last night, raising his total to seven on the season. Those were the only runs the Baysox scored in an 8-2 loss to New Hampshire. If you follow high school baseball here, the Brooks Robinson High School All-Star Game (formerly the Crown All-Star Game) will take place Sunday at Camden Yards after the Orioles and Rays are off the field. It's sponsored by the Geier Financial Group, and it includes Orioles 14th-round draft pick Kevin Hockaday of John Carroll.