vs. RAYS, 4/25

Baltimore Orioles (11-6, 1st +2.5) @ Tampa Bay Rays (8-10, 4th -3.5)

Streak / L10

BAL: -1, Lost 2 of 3 / L10: 4-6

TBR: +1, Lost 3 of 5 / L10: 5-5

Game 1 (7:10)

(QS=0)Kevin Gausman - 2016 Debut!

vs.

(QS=0)Chris Archer (0-4) 7.32 (2.08/.345), 29/11 (6HR)

Kevin Gausman: The much anticipated 2016 debut of Kevin Gausman has finally arrived! The bad news is Gausman has never been good against the Rays or at Tropicana Field. However, the Rays are struggling big time right now at least partly due to the performance of his opponent in this start. Hopefully, Gausman can have an uncharacteristic strong start against the Rays to get his season off to a good start.

Splits & Sits

0 vs. left:

0 vs. right:

Bases Empty:

RISP:

RISP w/2 outs:

Men on w/2 outs:

Man on 3rd, < 2 outs:

Career @ Tropicana Field (4 starts, 2 relief)

(2-1) 5.40 (1.50/.274), 2HR

Career vs. TB (7 starts, 2 relief)

(2-3) 6.16 (1.76/.318), 4HR

vs. Batter

Evan Longoria (18 AB) .333, 2B, HR, 4RBI

Kevin Kiermaier (16 AB), .250, HR, 2RBI

Desmond Jennings 1/8, 2B

Brandon Guyer 3/5, 3 2B

Logan Forsythe 4/5, 2 2B, HR, 3RBI

Curt Casali 1/3

Tim Beckham 1/3

Brad Miller 0/3

Logan Morrison 0/3

Steven Sousa 0/1

Chris Archer: Chris Archer has had an abysmal start to 2016 as the ace of the Rays staff. He has not recorded a quality start yet for the Rays. He hasn't even gotten through six innings yet. He could not get through the fifth in his last start against Boston and has allowed 16 runs in 19.2 innings on 30 hits and 11 walks; 41 baserunners. Archer has not been effective at all and the Orioles beat him when we faced him earlier this year. All things considered, this is a good matchup for the Orioles.

Splits & Sits

39 vs. left: .343/.410/.462, HR

59 vs. right: .346/.424/.576, 5HR

Bases Empty: .405

RISP: .286

RISP w/2 outs: .182

Men on w/2 outs: .188

Man on 3rd < 2 outs: .286

Career @ Tropicana Field (49 starts)

(14-18) 3.39 (1.19/.229), 26HR

Career vs Baltimore (9 starts, 1 relief)

(2-5) 5.03 (1.51/.279), 10HR

vs. Batter

Adam Jones (22 AB) .091, 2 2B, 3RBI

Manny Machado (22 AB) .409, HR, 3RBI

Matt Wieters (18 AB) .333, 2B, 3RBI

Ryan Flaherty (18 AB) .278, 2 2B, 2RBI

Chris Davis (14 AB) .357, 2 2B, 2HR, 6RBI

J.J. Hardy (14 AB) .357, 2 2B, 3RBI

Mark Trumbo 2/9

Jonathan Schoop 4/7, 2B, HR, RBI

Caleb Joseph 2/7, 2B, HR, RBI, 2BB

Pedro Alvarez 0/5

Nolan Reimold 1/4, HR, RBI

The finale in the KC series started off so well. Wright looked better than he has all season thus far, but once again, Buck leaves the starter in a little too long and the game gets blown open. Bundy comes in and gives up a few more soft line drives for singles to allow some more runs to score helped by a bad defensive play and throw by Rickard and a dropped ball at first base throwing behind the runner that would have been out if the ball was caught. So, the Orioles drop the series to KC and end up going 3-3 against the Jays and Royals, but even that isn't as encouraging as it could be because the Jays were obviously not clicking yet. Still, going 3-3 here is certainly acceptable heading into the Trop for three with the Rays.

The highlight of this game before it even starts is the 2016 debut of Kevin Gausman who should be pumped coming into this one and perhaps it will give the offense a shot in the arm as well. Gausman, however, does not have very good numbers against the Rays or at the Trop. Chris Archer on the other hand has been dreadful and the Orioles have already handed it to him once this season. The only possible saving grace for Archer is that in 49 starts, he has done very well when pitching at the Trop despite the lopsided record. The Rays are not playing well overall as they have three starters in the top 24 of runs allowed and sit 3.5 games out two games under .500.

I should note that Boston plays their game tonight and if they win, they will pull to within two games of the Orioles for first place. I would wait for the game to be played, but I might not be awake when that game finishes and I don't want to forget to put this up, so I'm doing it now. Also, since some of you love to hear this, the Yankees are in the basement at 7-10 and have lost seven of the last 10 games.

If Alvarez goes hitless again, he will be batting below .100. Give Kim a shot! Or at least Reimold.

Archer looks tough right now.

This can't be the game he puts it all together.

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That changeup is ominous.

Same ERA as Matusz in the same fraction of innings pitched.

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Archer looks like his old self. Long night for the O's. I'm gonna watch Gonzo.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Gausman fastball clocked at 99 mph on ground ball from Forsythe <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/orioles?src=hash">#orioles</a></p>— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) <a href="

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Gausman looked better than Archer.

Wow....

Great start KG!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Impressive 1st inning for Gausman. 10 pitches, 7 strikes. Strikes out Longoria on 84 mph slider. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/orioles?src=hash">#orioles</a></p>— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) <a href="

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Wow Gausman looked better!:boogie:

Gonzalez at 91 MPH. Got hit. Donaldson crushed him for a double.

Soooo, Gausman looks good. Haha. Great inning. Running to play volleyball for a couple hours, have a feeling this game may be way over by the time I get back home. Go O's!!