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Alex Cobb will start the series opener this evening against the Rays. He has faced his former team three times this year, going 0-3 with a 6.06 ERA and 1.65 WHIP. All three of those starts came at Camden Yards, so this will be the first time he’s pitching at Tropicana Field in a uniform other than Tampa Bay’s. In 58 career starts at the Trop while pitching for the Rays, Cobb accumulated a 3.10 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. The right-hander may have an unsightly 5.83 ERA on the year, but in three starts since the All-Star break he has only given up five runs over 17 innings.
Right-hander Tyler Glasnow, acquired recently from the Pirates in the Chris Archer trade, will get the start for the Rays. Before he switched teams, Glasnow made 34 appearances out of the bullpen for Pittsburgh, pitching to a 4.34 ERA and 1.45 WHIP. It appears that he will now be used an ‘opener,’ as mentioned in Tyler Young’s Orioles-Rays series preview. In his lone start for the Rays, he gave up one run over three innings with five strikeouts.
The Orioles offense has been hot recently, averaging six runs per game over the last seven games. Jonathan Villar is 8-for-17 since coming over to the Orioles in the Jonathan Schoop trade. In the last seven games, Mark Trumbo is hitting .379 with three home runs and 11 RBI. Over that same time span, Tim Beckham is hitting .345 and Renato Nunez is hitting .440.
We’ll see if the offense shows up tonight in Tampa. It will be especially interesting considering the home-road splits of these two teams. The Rays are 32-23 at Tropicana Field while the Orioles are 14-43 on the road.
Orioles lineup
- Jonathan Villar 2B
- Tim Beckham SS
- Adam Jones CF
- Mark Trumbo DH
- Chris Davis 1B
- Trey Mancini LF
- Renato Nunez 3B
- Jace Peterson RF
- Caleb Joseph C
- Alex Cobb RHP
Rays lineup
- Mallex Smith RF
- Matt Duffy 3B
- Jake Bauers 1B
- C.J. Cron DH
- Joey Wendle 2B
- Kevin Kiermaier CF
- Brandon Lowe LF
- Michael Perez C
- Willy Adames SS
- Tyler Glasnow RHP