O's game blog: Spenser Watkins faces the Rays at the Yard

The Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays were tied 5-5 in the eighth inning last night. Both clubs loaded the bases with no outs. The Rays turned their rally into five runs while the Orioles scored just once as Tampa Bay won 10-6 in the series opener.

The Orioles have allowed 13, 10 and 10 runs in losing their past three games by a combined 33-10 score. The Orioles (38-70) are two-thirds of the way into their season with 54 games to go, which projects to a final record of 57-105.

They have struggled against Tampa Bay, going 1-9 this year, and have been outscored 73-40 in the season series. Tampa Bay has scored 42 runs in going 4-0 this year at Oriole Park. The Rays are 15-2 against the Orioles since Aug. 25, 2020. With one more win this season, Tampa Bay will take the season series from Baltimore for the fifth consecutive season.

O's center fielder Cedric Mullins extended his single-season, career-high hitting streak to 14 games with a single in the first inning last night. He is batting 21-for-57 during the run for a line of .368/.410/.561/.971 with three doubles, a triple, two homers, 11 runs, five steals and two RBIs. Mullins is tied for the longest active hitting streak in the majors.

Mullins has 131 hits, to lead the American League and rank second in the majors. The only Oriole to ever lead the AL in hits was Cal Ripken Jr. in 1983 (211). Mullins' .321 batting average ranks third in the AL and fifth in the majors. His 50 extra-base hits are the seventh-most in the AL and his 28 doubles are tied for the third-most in the AL and tied for the eighth-most in the majors. He is batting .396 (38-for-96) in the first inning this season and the 38 first-inning hits are the most in the majors.

Tampa Bay (66-44) has won back-to-back games, and the Rays are 6-2 in their last eight, 11-5 in the last 16 and 13-7 since the All-Star break. The Rays enter today's games a season-high-tying 22 games over .500 and in sole possession of the AL's best record for the first time since the end of play on June 15. They are tied with the Milwaukee Brewers for the second-best record in the majors, three games behind the San Francisco Giants (69-41).

Tampa Bay has scored 201 runs in the seventh inning or later, most in the majors, including a majors-most 57 runs in the ninth inning. The Rays have outscored their opponents 201-126 in these frames, and their plus-75 run differential leads the majors.

With Tampa Bay infielder Wander Franco officially graduating from prospect status yesterday, the Orioles' No. 1 prospect, catcher Adley Rutschman, is now the top prospect in baseball, according to MLBPipeline.com. Rutschman is the first Orioles prospect to be named the No. 1 prospect in baseball by MLBPipeline.com since they began ranking prospects in 2004.

For Double-A Bowie, Rutschman, 23, has slashed .273/.394/.516 with 34 extra-base hits (18 homers, 16 doubles), 60 runs scored, 55 RBIs, and 54 walks to 55 strikeouts in 78 games.

Right-hander Spenser Watkins (2-2, 3.81 ERA) will make his sixth big league start tonight, and for the first time in his short career will face a big league opponent a second time. On July 19 at Tropicana Field, he allowed just one run and four hits over six innings. And in two starts against the AL East, he is 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA. Watkins pitched to a 1.65 ERA his first four games, and that number is 7.45 his past two outings.

Lefty Shane McClanahan (5-4, 3.74 ERA) gets the ball for the Rays. He beat the Orioles on July 20, allowing one run over five innings. Tampa Bay is 9-7 in his starts this year. Over his past seven games, he has a 3.05 ERA, allowing a .214 batting average and .632 OPS with 45 strikeouts to 14 walks in 38 1/3 innings.