O's game blog: Tyler Wells faces Tampa Bay

The Orioles lost by one run opening day and by two runs yesterday. And now at 0-2 for the first time since the 2010 season, they need a win this afternoon at the Trop to avoid being swept three in a row by the Tampa Bay Rays.
 
After two games of the season, Tampa Bay, Toronto and the New York Yankees are tied for first at 2-0 in the American League East, and the Orioles and Boston are 0-2.
 
The O’s offense has produced 15 hits in 67 at-bats (.224), scoring just four runs in the series. Anthony Santander and Ryan Mountcastle have homered. Mountcastle hit No. 1 Saturday when he drove a Drew Rasmussen slider out to right field to score two runs. The O’s batters are 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position the past two days. Baltimore hitters have fanned 24 times with four walks.
 
The Orioles have lost 14 games in a row versus the Rays, dating to last July. They have lost eight in a row in St. Petersburg and have lost eight consecutive road games and 10 of 11 overall dating to late last season. Tampa Bay has won six consecutive home games going back to last September.
 
Right-hander Tyler Wells (2-3, 4.11 ERA in 2021) made 44 appearances, all in relief, last season, so today will be his first major league start. Selected by the Orioles in the 2020 Rule 5 draft from Minnesota, he pitched to an ERA of 1.59 in spring training. Over 11 1/3 innings he walked four and fanned 14.
 
Last year Wells threw 57 innings, allowing 40 hits with 0.912 WHIP. He walked 1.9 batters per nine and struck out 10.3. Lefty batters hit just .167 with a .468 OPS against him, and right-handers batted .206/.675 versus Wells.
 
Wells was stellar in road games last season, with a 1.14 ERA and 0.803 WHIP over 23 2/3 innings in which he did not allow a single home run. He had a 6.21 ERA in 25 games at home.
 
Wells made four appearances against the Rays in 2021 with an ERA of 3.00. Over six innings he allowed four hits and two runs with no walks and 12 strikeouts.
 
Two-time American League Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber (5-3, 3.83 ERA in 2021) gets the start for his new team after making 16 starts last season for the New York Yankees. The right-handed Kluber won Cy Young Awards in 2014 and 2017 with Cleveland. He is one of 19 pitchers to win two or more such awards.
 
The three-time All-Star threw 80 innings last summer, allowing 74 hits with 1.338 WHIP, allowing a 0.9 homer rate with 3.7 walks and 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings.
 
Kluber turns 36 today and celebrates his birthday by making his11th career start versus the Orioles. He is 5-1 with a 3.15 ERA and 1.127 WHIP in his career over 65 2/3 innings against Baltimore. In three starts last season for the Yankees, he went 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA against the Orioles.
 
The Orioles return home after the game to host the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday afternoon at 3:05 p.m. on opening day in Baltimore. It begins a week-long homestand before the club hits the road for a West Coast road trip.