Focus turns to pitchers after Orioles, Rays engage in 20-run slugfest

After flexing their offensive muscle in their showdown Wednesday night, the Baltimore Orioles and host Tampa Bay Rays actually have reason to feel confident with their starting pitchers on Thursday night in the finale of their four-game series.

Baltimore’s Charlie Morton (3-7, 6.05 ERA) will get the nod against Tampa Bay’s Drew Rasmussen (6-4, 2.55) in a battle of right-handers.

While both pitchers are enjoying positive stretches, Morton and Rasmussen will need to be sharp after their teams combined for 20 runs on 25 hits — including four homers — in the Rays’ 12-8 victory on Wednesday.

Tampa Bay matched its largest comeback win in franchise record by overcoming an eight-run deficit. The uprising allowed the Rays to secure their second win in the first three contests of the series and their 20th victory in their past 27 games overall.

Junior Caminero collected his second RBI single of the game in the seventh inning to cap a four-hit performance on Wednesday. He is 10-for-20 with two homers, seven RBIs and seven runs during a five-game hitting streak.

Tampa Bay’s Brandon Lowe, who hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer on Wednesday, is 13-for-27 with two homers, five RBIs and nine runs during his seven-game hitting streak.

Baltimore bolted out of the blocks with an eight-run inning in the second, highlighted by Colton Cowser and Ramon Laureano each launching a three-run homer and Cedric Mullins going deep. Gunnar Henderson added an RBI single for the Orioles, who did not record another hit after the second inning.

“It’s a tough game. It hurts, it really hurts,” Baltimore interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “Tomorrow’s another game. We’ll have to figure out how to bounce back and try to win a game.”

Morton, 41, has turned around his season after a disastrous 0-7 start with a bloated 9.38 ERA over his first nine outings (six starts). He is 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA and 39 strikeouts over his past 29 1/3 innings.

“And I think there was probably something, my guess without knowing any information about it whatsoever, there’s probably something mechanical that he was working through when he was struggling that they fixed,” Mansolino said.

Morton matched a season high with 10 strikeouts and scattered five hits over five scoreless innings in a 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels last Friday. He is 4-3 with a 2.94 ERA in eight career appearances (all starts) against the Rays, with whom he pitched in 2019-20.

Rasmussen improved to 5-0 in his past six starts despite permitting four runs in five innings in an 8-4 victory over the New York Mets on Saturday.

“To get picked up by our offense is great. The way we can win games — we can do it with power, speed and play some small ball,” Rasmussen said. “We drive in runs at a pretty good clip. It’s great to be in the dugout when things are rolling like that.”

Rasmussen, 29, is 2-0 with a 2.89 ERA in eight career appearances (five starts) against Baltimore.

–Field Level Media