O's game blog: Hess and Cobb start in doubleheader

Right-hander David Hess will make his major league debut this afternoon as the Orioles host Tampa Bay in Game 1 of a single-admission doubleheader.

The Orioles (11-27) beat the Rays 11-6 last night as Manny Machado hit a grand slam, homered twice and drove in six runs. The Orioles have their first three-game win streak of the season and have outscored their opponents 25-13 in those games.

The Orioles have scored 32 runs with 47 hits and hit 11 home runs in the four games on this homestand. In the last two games they've hit seven homers and scored 20 runs.

Hess, 24, has gone 6-0 with a 2.12 ERA for Triple-A Norfolk, allowing one run or none in five of six starts. Over 29 2/3 innings he has allowed 20 hits and 12 walks while recording 29 strikeouts. Lefty batters have hit just .131 against him and right-handers are batting .267.

Hess is pitching on three days' rest today after allowing just one hit and no runs in seven innings Tuesday at Durham. Hess was drafted in round five of 2014 out of Tennessee Tech.

Right-hander Chris Archer (2-2, 5.32 ERA) will pitch the opener for the Rays. Archer pitched to an ERA of 7.84 his first four starts. Over his past four he is 1-1 with a 3.24 ERA. His ERA is 2.08 his past two starts, with one walk and 12 strikeouts over 13 innings.

Archer has identical 5.32 ERAs at home and on the road in four starts each. But he has allowed a .253 batting average at home and .315 in road games.

Archer has allowed an ERA of just 1.13 in the first innings of his eight starts. But that goes up to 12.38 with a .378 average against in the second inning. Lefty batters are hitting .341 against him and right-handers are batting .232. He yields a .333 average with runners in scoring position.

He faced the Orioles April 26 and got the win. Over 5 1/3 he allowed 11 hits and four runs on a season-high 115 pitches. He was the first Ray to win when allowing 11 hits or more since James Shields on April 27, 2012 at Texas. In 18 career games (17 starts) against the Orioles, Archer is 6-8 with a 4.92 ERA. That is his third-highest ERA (minimum of five starts) versus any opponent behind a 5.87 mark against Cleveland and a 5.49 versus Boston.

Right-hander Alex Cobb (0-4, 7.61 ERA) makes the start in the nightcap for the Orioles. Cobb has pitched better his past two starts, after going 0-3 with a 13.11 ERA and a .484 average against in his first three starts.

Over his last two games - against the Angels and Athletics - he went 12 innings, allowing 12 hits and four runs (three earned) with three walks and seven strikeouts. He has allowed a .250 batting average in those games.

On Sunday at Oakland, Cobb allowed two runs (one earned) over six innings. He threw 103 pitches and fanned a season-high five batters.

"I think that's very safe to say that was just the best rhythm I've been in," Cobb said after that game. "Less thinking, more getting the ball in your hand, visualizing what pitch you want to throw and executing it. That just comes with repetition and getting a better feel out there. So, hopefully, it gets better and better and just continues to improve with each outing. I think it's fair to say I'm feeling a lot more comfortable out there.

"It's coming," he said. "I didn't have any pitches to do it (get strikeouts) with. There were no swing-and-miss pitches. The changeup is coming. You can only go to the curveball so many times before they start picking up on it and put it in play. It's coming now. I think just repetition and throwing, getting off to that late start was kind of tough to get the sharpness of the pitches."

For the season, Cobb has allowed 42 hits in 23 2/3 innings. Lefty batters are hitting .500 with an OPS of 1.283 against him and right-handers are batting .297/.873. He yields an average of .375 when pitching with runners in scoring position.

Right-hander Matt Andriese (0-1, 3.92 ERA) will start the second game for Tampa Bay, making his 12th appearance and second start of the season. The Rays are 15-20 and have lost four in a row, six of eight and seven of their last 10 games.

Note to readers: There will be one game blog for both games today, so when Game 1 is over, stay in here to make your comments between games and during Game 2.