A closer look at the pitcher the Orioles are facing tonight

Here are some notes on Jeremy Hellickson, the right-handed Tampa Bay pitcher the Orioles will try to beat tonight. * He is 3-2 on the year with an ERA of 3.72 in six starts with a batting average against of .236. He gets more air outs with a ground to air out ratio of 0.74. * His last start was last Saturday when he got the win in Baltimore against Jeremy Guthrie. He went five scoreless innings, but walked five and allowed three hits, throwing 92 pitches. In three games, two career starts, versus Baltimore, he is 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA over 12 2/3 innings. * Hellickson leads all major league pitchers in run support, getting 9.91 runs per every nine innings he has pitched this year. Tampa Bay has scored 15 or more in a game twice this year and Hellickson was on the mound both times. * Hellickson has lost his two home starts this year and is 0-2 with an ERA of 4.97 in those starts against Minnesota and Los Angeles. * Opposing batters swing and miss at 27.4 percent of his pitches and that is second best in the American League behind Toronto's Brandon Morrow. * He has allowed three runs or less in nine of his 10 career starts. * Lefty batters hit .265 off him while right-handed batters are hitting .208 versus Hellickson. He yields a batting average of .211 when pitching with runners in scoring position. * He was a fourth-round draft pick out of an Iowa high school in 2005 and turned down an offer from LSU to sign with Tampa Bay. Hellickson turned 24 on April 8. * He was named the minor league player of the year for last season by both USA Today and Baseball America.