The most important factor in Orioles' upcoming series against Rays

The Orioles haven't been playing their best baseball over the past few weeks. They're 5-5 in their last 10 games and have fallen into a tie for the top spot in the AL East with the Yankees, who have won seven of their last 10. Tonight, the Orioles will kick off an important series with the Rays.

The series will take place at Tropicana Field, and the Orioles will face a Rays team that pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind win against the Cardinals last night at Busch Stadium to avoid a sweep. The Rays obviously haven't been playing great, and they were sellers at the trade deadline, but they'll be the ones hosting this series.

Tonight, the Orioles will turn to Zach Eflin, who is making his first start in St. Petersburg since being traded away. He was brought in to stabilize the rotation with all the injuries the Orioles have dealt with. He'll face off against Zack Littell.

Tomorrow, the O's will turn to staff ace Corbin Burnes. The Rays haven't announced their starter yet for Saturday. The series will conclude on Sunday with Albert Suarez on the mound for the Orioles and Jeffrey Springs on the bump for the Rays.

The most important factor in Orioles' upcoming series

While this is going on, the Yankees will play the struggling Rangers, which is why the task to hold them off will not be an easy one. But looking at the matchups pitching-wise, we can at least deduce who might have the advantage.

I would say that the Orioles likely have the advantage tonight for the series opener. Eflin is obviously familiar with Tropicana Field and will have a good read on his former Rays teammates. Again, the Rays have not announced their starter for Saturday, and with Burnes on the mound for Baltimore, it would seem that they have the advantage over Tampa.

Sunday's game could go either way. Suarez has pitched well, going 5-4 with a 3.66 ERA. But Springs is no slouch, even after a tough outing in St. Louis on Tuesday. He's 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA, but he just got back from the injured list and when he's right, he can be one of the Rays' better starters.

The Orioles come into tonight's game after a tough loss to the Blue Jays, but Colton Cowser had a big game, so that's certainly an encouraging sign. Jackson Holliday is also starting to hit better since being called back up, so it will be interesting to see if the bats can stay hot at Tropicana Field.

The most important factor will be the starting pitching. They have two solid starters ready to go in the first two games and one that has been performing well on Sunday. Again, it's the way the rotation lines up that seemingly gives the Orioles the advantage in at least the first two games.