ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays are back at Tropicana Field this week as the team prepares for its two-game series against the Baltimore Orioles.
It's a contest between the two best teams in the AL East — and two of the top three teams in the American League — as Baltimore looks to narrow the gap of their winning record against Tampa Bay's.
The current AL standings have the Rays on top of their division and conference with a 51-24 record, with the next two best records belonging to the Texas Rangers (45-27) in the AL West and the Orioles (44-27).
Although the Rays have the best MLB home record, that probably won't phase the Orioles too much with their second league-best away record.
For Tampa Bay, getting on base has not been a problem for them this season. They have the third-best team on-base percentage in league play at .337. Star players have also proved to play at a high level consistently, including Yandy Diaz who leads the Rays with a .302 batting average, including 15 doubles, 12 home runs, 32 walks and 36 RBI, and Luke Raley who is 12-for-37 with two home runs and five RBI over the past 10 games.
But Baltimore's potent defense will have the chance to limit Tampa Bay's attack as the Orioles are 17-6 in games when they did not allow a home run.
This will be the fourth time both sides meet up this year, and the Rays are heading into this one in shaky form with a 5-5 record in their last 10 games.
Tyler Glasnow will be out on the mound for Tampa Bay, while Kyle Bradish is set to pitch for Baltimore.
All the Rays players ruled out due to injury can be seen below:
- Josh Fleming: 60-Day IL (elbow)
- Calvin Faucher: 15-Day IL (elbow)
- Brandon Lowe: 10-Day IL (leg)
- Drew Rasmussen: 60-Day IL (flexor)
- Garrett Cleavinger: 60-Day IL (knee)
- Jeffrey Springs: 60-Day IL (elbow)
- Shane Baz: 60-Day IL (elbow)
- Andrew Kittredge: 60-Day IL (elbow)
First pitch is scheduled at 6:40 p.m. Tuesday night inside Tropicana Field. Ticket information for that game and the series can be found here.
Following the Baltimore series, Tampa Bay will take on the Kansas City Royals for a three-game series beginning Thursday, June 22.
Compared to all MLB teams this season, the Rays have the best record. The next best record belongs to the Atlanta Braves (46-26).
The Associated Press contributed to this report.