O's game blog: Can Orioles bounce back against Tampa Bay?

Remember when the American League East standings were so tightly bunched? Not anymore as New York has separated itself from the pack. Tonight, two teams that have fallen back meet in St. Petersburg.

The Tampa Bay Rays (48-49) host the Orioles (46-48) to start a three-game series. The Rays are in third place, 6 1/2 games out, and the Orioles are in fourth, seven games back.

Both have been on extended losing stretches. The Rays were 42-34 on June 27 and have gone 6-15 since. They are 6-12 this month. The Orioles have played even worse than that in July. In fact, the Yankees have gained at least five games on every American League East team this month:

.750 - New York, 12-4
.444 - Toronto, 8-10
.353 - Boston, 6-11
.333 - Tampa Bay, 6-12
.294 - Orioles, 5-12

Since they went 18-5 between June 4 and June 28, the Orioles are 5-14. On June 29, the Orioles were tied for first place, leading the division by a 1/2 game.

The Orioles lead the season series 5-4 versus Tampa Bay this season in a series marked by low-scoring games. The O's have scored 27 runs to 26 for the Rays. The O's team average is .198 and Tampa Bay hitters are batting just .213 against Baltimore pitching.

On the mound tonight, Chris Tillman (7-7, 4.96 ERA) faces right-hander Chris Archer (9-7, 2.73 ERA). Archer ranks sixth in the AL in ERA, third in strikeouts, fourth in WHIP (1.01) and second in swing and miss percentage (29.8).

Tillman allowed just one hit in eight scoreless innings Saturday at Detroit. He gave up a hit to the game's first hitter and he ended his outing retiring the last 23 consecutive batters. Tillman teamed with Zach Britton on the Orioles first one-hitter since he and Troy Patton combined to one-hit Boston on Sept. 28, 2012.

Over his last four starts, Tillman is 2-0 with a 1.40 ERA. He has walked three, fanned 24 and not allowed a homer in that stretch over 25 2/3 innings.

Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria is a career .375 (15-for-40) hitter versus Tillman with six homers and nine RBIs.

Archer is 0-3 over his last four starts, his longest career winless stretch. Also, he is 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA this year versus the Orioles and 1-4 with a 5.65 ERA in seven career games against Baltimore. Archer has allowed four runs or more in five of his 20 starts and twice he has allowed that many against the O's.

B-Rob TV: Former Oriole Brian Roberts will serve as a guest analyst on MLB Network across three shows next week. Roberts will first appear on the weekday morning show "MLB Central" on Monday from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. That will be followed on Tuesday with an appearance on "The Rundown" at 2 p.m. ET and "MLB Tonight" at 6 p.m. Roberts will finish his guest stint with a second appearance on "MLB Tonight" on Wednesday from 6-9 p.m.