O's game blog: Matt Harvey faces Rays at The Trop

Trying to snap a losing streak that has reached 11 games, the Orioles begin a four-game series tonight in St. Petersburg, Fla., against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Orioles got swept three straight at Boston over the weekend, scoring just five runs in the series. They were swept for the 14th time this season.

Orioles right-hander Matt Harvey (6-11, 6.10 ERA) will make his 24th start of the year. He has recorded a WHIP of 1.558 for the season, allowing 11.2 hits and 1.2 home runs per nine innings with 2.8 walks and 6.8 strikeouts.

Harvey will make his sixth start since the All-Star break. He has gone 3-1 with a 1.65 ERA (five earned runs, 27 1/3 innings) and a 0.99 WHIP in his first five starts since the break. His ERA ranks as the fourth-lowest in the majors (minimum 27 innings) in the second half. He has allowed 21 hits and five earned runs in those five games with six walks and 17 strikeouts. He has allowed a .208 batting average and OPS of .566 in this span.

For his career, Harvey has posted a 3.65 ERA post-All-Star break compared to a 4.58 ERA prior. Harvey has made three road starts in the second half, going 2-0 with a 1.10 ERA (two earned runs/16 1/3 innings) after posting a 7.52 ERA and 2-4 record in nine first half road starts.

Right-hander Collin McHugh (4-1, 1.41 ERA) will make his 26th appearance and fifth start for the Rays. On the year, over 44 2/3 innings, he has allowed 32 hits and seven earned runs and has given up just one home run with nine walks and 64 strikeouts. He has a WHIP of 0.918 with a 0.2 homer rate, 1.8 walk rate and 12.9 strikeout rate.

McHugh has not allowed an earned over his past 15 games since May 24. He has thrown 30 innings in that span, allowing 17 hits and one unearned run with four walks to 43 strikeouts. Batters have hit just .160 against him. He allowed one hit and no runs in two innings on Thursday at Boston in his last game and the Rays are 3-1 in his starts.

Tampa Bay (71-47) is leading the American League East by three games over Boston and by 5 1/2 over the New York Yankees. The Rays lost the last two games of their series at Minnesota by scores of 12-0 and 5-4 and have lost three of the last five. But over longer stretches, Tampa Bay has won seven of 10 and 11 of 16 games. The Rays are 18-10 since the break and 24-13 since the start of July.

Earlier this month, the Rays swept a three-game series in Baltimore by scores of 10-6, 12-3 and 9-6. The Orioles have gone 1-11 this season versus Tampa Bay and been outscored 94-48. They have lost 15 of 17 to the Rays since Aug. 25, 2020.

O's center fielder Cedric Mullins has made 108 starts this season, all in center field, to lead the majors. He had a career-high 20-game hitting streak snapped Sunday when he went 0-for-5. It was the third -longest streak in the majors this season, the 16th separate hitting streak of 20 or more games in O's history and the first since Adam Jones also hit safely in 20-straight from May 10-29, 2012.

Mullins' 139 hits are the most in the AL and are the second-most in the majors. The only Oriole to ever lead the AL in hits was Cal Ripken Jr. in 1983 with 211. Mullins' .318 batting average ranks tied for second in the AL and the majors and his 53 extra-base hits are tied for the seventh-most in the AL and rank tied for 12th in the majors. His 236 total bases are the fifth-most in the majors. His .922 OPS is the fifth-highest in the AL and the 12th-highest in baseball.

A few farm notes: Triple-A Norfolk infielder Rylan Bannon was named the Triple-A East Player of the Week today. He played in five games for the Tides and slashed .500/.632/1.643 with a 2.275 OPS, going 7-for-14 with five homers and nine RBIs. He homered in three straight games from Aug. 11-13, including multi-home run games on both Aug. 11 and 13.

Outfielder Colton Cowser was among those promoted from the Rookie-level Florida Complex League to low Single-A Delmarva earlier today. Cowser appeared in seven games in the FCL, batting .500/.560/.773 (11-for-22) with three doubles, a home run, eight runs scored and eight RBIs.

Infielder Jordan Westburg was promoted from high Single-A Aberdeen to Double-A Bowie this morning. Westburg is currently in the midst of a 38-game on-base streak and put up a line of .289/.392/.473 in 61 games for the IronBirds. He is the O's No. 7 prospect, per Baseball America.

The O's No. 8 prospect, right-hander Kyle Bradish, collected his third win while with Norfolk Sunday. Over his last four outings, Bradish has posted a 1.04 ERA (two earned runs, 17 1/3 innings) and a .159 opponent batting average for the Tides.