Orioles try to move forward vs. reverse-splits guy

ST. PETERBURG, Fla. - If you're trying to predict the Orioles lineup for tonight, you may want to look beyond how the opponent's right-handed starter traditionally is countered by left-handed hitters.

Break down the splits.

Left-handers are batting .189 against the Rays' Jake Odorizzi, and right-handers are batting .286. He's a reverse-splits guy and manager Buck Showalter probably will react accordingly.

Odorizzi has faced the Orioles in four games this season. Joey Rickard has started twice in left field, Nolan Reimold and Hyun Soo Kim once each. Mark Trumbo has started in right field three times and Rickard once.

Kim was in left field for Odorizzi's first start, but Rickard was the center fielder.

That's a heavy lean toward the right side of the plate.

Rickard is on the 60-day disabled list, but Showalter has Reimold, Steve Pearce and Drew Stubbs on the roster.

Pedro Alvarez has been in the lineup for three of Odorizzi's four starts. However, the designated hitter is 3-for-8 with a home run lifetime against him.

Adam Jones is 11-for-28 with a double and two home runs, Trumbo is 5-for-12 with a double, Jonathan Schoop is 6-for-16 with three doubles and Chris Davis is 5-for-24 with two doubles, two home runs and 11 strikeouts.

Odorizzi is 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA against the Orioles this season and 3-3 with a 4.83 ERA in 12 career games (11 starts). He's 6-0 with a 1.89 ERA in nine starts since the All-Star break and registered five quality starts in August.

Pitching keeps the Rays competitive.

Yovani Gallardo registered four quality starts in August, but he allowed seven earned runs (eight total) in 1 1/3 innings in New York. Left quite a mark.

Gallardo is 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA in five career starts against the Rays and 1-1 with a 3.12 ERA in three starts at Tropicana Field. He's faced them twice this season and allowed six runs and 15 hits over 10 1/3 innings.

The Rays come at Gallardo in extremes.

Logan Morrison is 2-for-23 against him and Logan Forsythe is 6-for-16. Evan Longoria is 2-for-14 and Corey Dickerson is 5-for-9 with a double and home run.

No sign of Rickard yesterday, and Showalter was going to check whether the outfielder planned on visiting the team at Tropicana Field or staying in Sarasota. The media votes for a visit so we can interview him.

Davis has four home runs in his last nine games and 31 at-bats. His two-run single yesterday gave him 13 game-winning RBIs to break a tie with Schoop for the team lead.