Wednesday night Orioles game thread: vs Rays, 7:05

Winning baseball games is quite a bit of fun. The Orioles should keep doing that. Another win today would give them the series over the visiting Rays with one game to go.

Tyler Wells is back on the bump, where he will look to improve upon what has been a poor July for him. Over four starts so far this month, Wells has a 5.23 ERA over 20.2 total innings. This will be his fourth start of the season against Tampa. His most recent outing against them came just before the All-Star break. That’s when he allowed three runs on six hits, two walks, and six strikeouts over 5.2 innings.

Terrin Vavra will remain on the bench to begin this game, still awaiting his big league debut. Getting him into this game in some fashion should be a priority, perhaps as a pinch runner for someone like Trey Mancini or Anthony Santander late. Letting the rookie nerves swirl for too long on the pine feels like a disservice to the youngster. On top of that, we learned today that Vavra’s very pregnant wife made sure to be in Baltimore this week to see his debut in person. Make it happen!

In other news, the O’s officially introduced their latest top draft pick, Jackson Holliday, to the media earlier today. He’s already gotten acquainted with Ben McDonald and Adley Rutschman, the other two guys that the team has selected with the first overall pick in their history. One would imagine a pit stop in the MASN commentary booth for Holliday will be part of this evening’s broadcast.

Orioles Starting Lineup

1. Cedric Mullins, CF
2. Adley Rutschman, C
3. Trey Mancini, DH
4. Anthony Santander, RF
5. Ryan Mountcatle, 1B
6. Austin Hays, LF
7. Rougned Odor, 2B
8. Ramon Urías, 3B
9. Jorge Mateo, SS

Tyler Wells, RHP (7-6, 3.69 ERA)

Rays Starting Lineup

1. Yandy Días, 3B
2. Brandon Lowe, 2B
3. Randy Arozarena, LF
4. Ji-Man Choi, DH
5. Isaac Paredes, 1B
6. Luke Raley, RF
7. Christian Bethancourt, C
8. Josh Lowe, CF
9. Taylor Walls, SS

Drew Rasmussen, RHP (6-3, 3.13 ERA)