Game 137: Orioles (55-81) @ Rays (74-63), 6:10pm

If a baseball game starts in the year 2011 and it's not on TV, is it really happening? We'll get the answer to the question tonight, as MLB rules prohibit the game from being broadcast prior to 7:06pm or something like that. Of course, you can always listen in the meantime on WBAL, but not online unless you paid for it, because that's how it goes.

There wasn't much favorable about last night's matchup of Price vs. the Orioles lineup, but somehow the O's won anyway. Tonight, the Rays starter is Wade Davis, who's actually sporting a higher ERA than Alfredo Simon, the O's starter. All of that is tossed out the window anyway, because what matters tonight is how those fellows will pitch tonight.

Simon has little track record against the Rays, with his last start against them coming in 2008. Davis, on the other hand, has seen the Orioles a number of times, and he's not had great numbers this season, giving up 15 runs in 23.2 innings across four starts. The last of these games was June 12, a game in which both Adam Jones and Vladimir Guerrero homered off Davis. The O's still lost 9-6, though, because Brian Matusz started. As fate would have it, Simon was the long man in that game, giving up only one ER in 4.2 innings. Keep up the tolerably passable work, Sauce.

One Oriole who hasn't done a lot of damage to Davis is Nick Markakis, who's come to the plate 29 times against Davis and put up a .214/.241/.286. This is peculiar in that it's a lefty hitter/righty pitcher matchup, which one might expect would be favorable to Markakis. Instead, Davis turns Markakis into a sub-Izturisian batter. Stats, man. They're ridiculous.

The Orioles are 6-1 against the Rays at the Trop and 1-5 against them at Camden Yards. This, too, makes little sense.

Above all else what we will hope for tonight is a win by such a margin that we do not see Kevin Gregg. We have suffered enough already.