Baltimore is 58-63. Tampa Bay is 74-46. The Orioles open a four-game series at Tropicana Field on Friday night having lost consecutive series to two of the AL wild-card teams they're chasing, and now face a Rays club that's running away with the American League's best record.
It hasn't gone the way Baltimore needed over the last week and a half. The Orioles dropped two of three to the Rangers, then lost two of three to the Twins as well, capped by Wednesday's 7-5 defeat in the series finale at Minnesota. Shane Baz took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the third before allowing four runs on six hits in that inning alone, finishing with his shortest and worst start of the season — three innings, nine hits, five runs, his fastball sitting roughly two miles per hour below his usual velocity. Dylan Beavers homered for the first time since April 24 and Leody Taveras added one of his own, but it wasn't enough.
Friday's series opener in Florida pits Kyle Bradish against Tampa Bay left-hander Steven Matz, and the matchup carries some extra weight for Baltimore given how the season has gone. Bradish signed a five-year, $90 million extension this summer that runs through 2031, a rare show of long-term investment from a front office that's historically avoided multiyear deals for starting pitching — and he's been the answer so far, sitting at 7-10 with a 3.79 ERA on a team that hasn't given him much to work with. Matz (5-4, 5.46 ERA) has been considerably more hittable, but Tampa Bay's lineup and bullpen have carried this team to the best record in the league regardless of who's on the mound.
The gap in the standings is real — 16 games separates these two clubs — but that doesn't make this series meaningless for Baltimore. With the toughest remaining schedule in the American League and a wild-card race that hasn't gotten any easier, every series left on the calendar matters, including the ones the Orioles aren't favored to win. A series against a team this good is as much a measuring stick as anything else: how competitive Baltimore looks against the class of the league will say something about whether this roster, reshaped since the trade deadline, is actually trending anywhere.
Probable Starters
Tampa Bay Rays: LHP Steven Matz (5-4, 5.46 ERA)
Baltimore Orioles: RHP Kyle Bradish (7-10, 3.79 ERA)
Where to Watch/Listen
First pitch: 7:10 PM ET at Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
TV: MASN
Radio: 98 Rock (97.9 FM) and WBAL NewsRadio (AM 1090 / FM 101.5)
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