Baltimore Orioles: Series Outlook Against Tampa Bay Rays

The Baltimore Orioles head down to St. Petersburg to face the AL East division-leading Tampa Bay Rays in a three-game weekend series, starting on Friday

As the month of June brings hot weather, it seems the Baltimore Orioles‘ lineup has inherited some of the heat. Batting .359 with a slugging percentage of .602 in the past week, the O’s send those red hot bats down to Tampa Bay for a matchup that begins on Friday at Tropicana Field. The Orioles have been playing some good baseball as of late, and will be in for quite the test as they face the Rays who sit in first place in the AL East.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

BATTER: Cedric Mullins (.325, 9 HR, 19 RBI) Mullins has been on fire with both his bat and in the field. Look for him to continue to lead by example against the Rays.

https://twitter.com/Orioles/status/1402764895309991948

PITCHER: Bruce Zimmermann (4-3, 4.83 ERA) Zimmermann has six-plus strikeouts in his last three starts and has a 2-0 record in those appearances.

Friday, June 11, 2021 @ 7:10pm

Projected Starting Pitchers:

BAL: Keegan Akin (0-0, 3.60 ERA)

TB: Ryan Yarbrough (3-3, 3.95 ERA)

A Friday night matchup at the Trop! The O’s start Keegan Akin on the mound, who pitched five innings in his last start, recording four strikeouts and allowing no earned runs. He has yet to register a win but his innings pitched in each appearance have slowly continued to rise. If he can continue to add more innings under him, he will make a deciding impact on more games he starts. Akin starts against Ryan Yarbrough, who pitched a complete game against the New York Yankees and allowed just two earned runs to earn his third win of the season. If Baltimore can get some early runs on Yarbrough, he may not be able to get into a rhythm, which would be beneficial for the Orioles.

Saturday, June 12, 2021 @ 4:10pm

Projected Starting Pitchers:

BAL: Jorge Lopez (2-6, 5.30 ERA)

TB: Rich Hill (5-2, 3.05 ERA)

Baltimore goes against the rays in an early evening matchup sending out Jorge Lopez to the mound. Lopez earned his second win of the season in his last appearance when he pitched five innings and allowed three earned runs in which the Orioles routed the Indians 18-5. He faces against veteran left-hander Rich Hill, who comes in having earned a win in each of his last two most recent starts where he has recorded zero earned runs in each of those games. The Orioles lineup got one run on Hill in their last meeting, this June lineup will look to improve on that and earn themselves a Saturday victory.

Sunday, June 13th, 2021 @ 1:10pm

Projected Starting Pitchers:

BAL: Bruce Zimmermann (4-3, 4.83 ERA)

TB: TBD

Tampa has yet to determine who their projected starting pitcher is, but the Orioles can say that they are happy to send out the 26-year-old Zimmermann at the moment. Bruce had a rough start to his 2021 campaign but has found some consistency with his pitching. If Zimmermann can continue to keep his earned runs down and continue to strike out batters with that nasty slider of his, the Orioles have a good opportunity to steal a win against the Rays on Sunday afternoon.