Tonight at 7:10 p.m. ET, the Baltimore Orioles (35-34) and Tampa Bay Rays (28-43) play the second contest of a three-game set live from Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay. The game can be live streamed for free here. Baltimore fans can hear all of the action on WBAL 1090 while Tampa Bay fans can do the same on WDAE 620.
Baltimore continues its six-game road trip while Tampa Bay continues a lengthy 10-game homestand which it kicked off with a 5-4 victory on Monday. The Orioles enter in third place in the National League East while the Rays sit in dead last in that division with the worst record in Major League Baseball.
Miguel Gonzalez (3-4, 4.17) comes off of the disabled list to man the mound for Baltimore while the Rays counter with Erik Bedard, who is 3-4 with a 3.83 ERA.
Gonzalez is hopeful for a big return after spending time on the 15-day DL with a right oblique strain.
"Guys talk to me about it all the time, they want me to go out there and perform," Gonzalez said via MLB.com. "We are here to help out each other and get better as a team. That's what we've been doing the past couple weeks and it's been paying off. It's exciting."
The Rays hope that Bedard will go deep in the game rather than have to tax the bullpen as he has recently in starts.
"Even in his perceived 'bad' games, I don't think he's thrown the ball any differently than in his perceived 'good' games," manager Joe Maddon said per MLB.com. "He's been kind of consistent for me. The trick would be to get him five, into six, hopefully. And if we do that, then the bullpen's in pretty good shape."
The Orioles will be without catcher Matt Wieters for the rest of the season, as he will undergo Tommy John surgery. Wieters, who hasn't played since May 10, was hitting .308 with five homers and 18 RBI.
Baltimore outfielder Nelson Cruz leads the entire MLB with 21 homers and 57 RBI thus far this season. Cruz also ranks first in the AL in total bases (155), second in slugging percentage (.605) and third in OPS (.979).
Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis ranks tied for third in the AL with 86 hits and is second on the team among healthy qualifiers with a .300 batting average, five points behind Cruz (.305).
Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria leads the team with eight homers and 32 RBI and is hitting .266 on the season. Rays first baseman James Loney paces the team's qualifiers with a .279 average and has added three homers and 31 RBI.
The Orioles and Rays battle tonight in the second contest of their three-game set live from Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay.
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