The final road series: O's at Tampa

Game Preview Orioles (60-95) at Tampa (79-76) After going winless at Toronto and Cleveland, the O's play at Tampa tonight. It's the start of the final week and final road series of the year. The Orioles are 0-6 on this trip and have lost ten games in a row. Tonight, the Rays host the Orioles in the opener of a four-game series at Tropicana Field at 7:08 p.m. Pitching Matchups - Tampa series: Mon, 7:08p - Mark Hendrickson (5-5, 4.37) v. Jeff Niemann (12-6, 3.81) Tues, 7:08p - Jeremy Guthrie (10-16, 5.10) v. Wade Davis (1-1, 4.07) Wed, 7:08p - David Hernandez (4-9, 5.20) v. James Shields (10-12, 4.17) Thurs, 7:08p - Jason Berken (5-12, 6.51) v. Matt Garza (8-11, 3.93) The Orioles were out-scored 22-10 and swept three straight at both Toronto and Cleveland. The Indians entered the series with an 11-game losing streak but picked up their first three-game sweep of the Birds since August of 2005 with Sunday's 9-0 win. During the O's ten-game losing streak: *O's out-scored 70-29 *O's team average is .244 *O's team ERA is 6.46 During this streak, the Orioles have allowed seven runs or more six times and scored three runs or less seven times as well. The O's have been shutout three times over the last 18 games and ten times on the season. Chris Tillman took the loss Sunday, pitching just two innings, allowing six runs on six hits. In the Cleveland series, the O's team ERA was 7.77. The Orioles will need to win at least three of the final seven games to avoid the third 100-loss season in O's history. In addition to ten losses in a row, the Orioles have lost 12 of 14 and 18 of the last 24. They are 6-17 in September and 20-47 since the All-Star break. Micheal Aubrey is 9 for 26 over his last seven games with two homers and 5 RBI. Matt Wieters is batting .408 over his last 13 games (20 for 49) with three homers and 13 RBI. He is batting .424 (14 for 33) since moving into the third spot in the batting order. The Orioles are 7-7 on the year vs. Tampa after winning just three of the 18 games last year. They are 5-4 at home vs. the Rays and 2-3 on the road. After losing the first two games of a weekend series vs. Texas by a 23-6 score, Tampa rallied late to win Sunday's game 7-6 vs. the Rangers. Texas led 5-0 after seven innings, but Tampa scored seven runs over the 8th and 9th innings. Ben Zobrist had 4 RBI in the comeback. Tampa is 19-27 since August 7th. The Rays are 7-5 since the end of their 11-game losing streak. Quite the Stat - Tampa Bay has had rookie pitchers make 54 starts this year. That's the most by a defending American League champ since the 1967 Orioles had 67 rookie starts by Jim Hardin, Bill Dillman, Tom Phoebus, Mike Adamson and Dave Leonhard. O's hitters, 2009 vs. Tampa: Andino: 1-9/0/0 Aubrey: 5-14/0/0 Fiorentino: 3-12/0/0 Izturis: 12-42/0/3 Markakis: 14-57/1/6 Moeller: 1-11/0/0 Montanez: 2-8/0/1 Mora: 12-50/1/10 Pie: 6-30/1/2 Roberts: 19-54/5/13 with 14 runs Scott: 9-37/1/5 Turner: 0-1/0/0 Wieters: 8-21/3/11 Wigginton: 9-34/1/2