Friday night Orioles game thread: at Rays, 7:10

After having Thursday off, the Orioles open up a three game series tonight against the Rays at Tropicana Field. Baltimore is 4-6 in their last 10 games as they limp to the finish line of the season. They currently sit at 99 losses on the year.

The Rays will actually send a legitimate starting pitcher to the mound — not a reliever masquerading as a starter — for a change. And it’s a really good one too — left-hander Blake Snell, who is 17-5 with a 2.02 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in 151.2 innings. In his career against the O’s, Snell is 1-2 with a 4.98 ERA in four games started. The Orioles haven’t seen much of the lefty — no batter has more than eight career at-bats against him.

Dylan Bundy is on the bump for the Orioles and he had a decent outing last time he pitched. Although he got a no-decision, he only allowed three runs in 5.1 innings with one walk, eight strikeouts and one home run. In his last eight games, Bundy has a 7.80 ERA and .322 batting average against and he’s still struggling with the long ball. He’s allowed 35 home runs on the year, the most of any eligible starting pitcher in baseball and five more than the next closest pitcher, Bartolo Colon.

Interestingly, Cedric Mullins will get the start in center field at leadoff against a left-handed pitcher tonight. That had not been the case much recently. Also, both Chris Davis and Adam Jones are out of the starting lineup. In other news, infielder Corban Joseph’s contract has been selected and he will join the Orioles roster.

Orioles lineup

1. Cedric Mullins CF
2. Joey Rickard RF
3. Jonathan Villar 2B
4. Trey Mancini 1B
5. Tim Beckham DH
6. Renato Nunez 3B
7. John Andreoli LF
8. Breyvic Valera SS
9. Austin Wynns C

• Dylan Bundy RHP

Rays lineup

1. Mallex Smith RF
2. Matt Duffy 3B
3. Ji-Man Choi DH
4. Tommy Pham LF
5. Joey Wendle 2B
6. Kevin Kiermaier CF
7. Willy Adames SS
8. Jake Bauers 1B
9. Nick Ciuffo C

• Blake Snell LHP