Tampa Bay Rays vs Baltimore Orioles Live Streaming 5/10 MLB Online Coverage Baseball Radio Commentary Experts Review: Jeremy Hellickson has been one of the best pitchers in the majors over the last six weeks.
Looking to win a fourth consecutive start against the Orioles, Hellickson takes the mound for the Tampa Bay Rays as the AL East rivals open a three-game set at Camden Yards on Friday night.
Tampa Bay (33-29) has won three straight and four of five thanks in part to some strong performances from its staff. The Rays' rotation has compiled a 1.95 ERA during the team's last four victories, a stretch Hellickson (7-3, 2.64 ERA) began by limiting the Mariners to one run and three hits over 7 1/3 innings of Saturday's 3-2 win.
"We were never able to get anything going against this kid," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "He had a good fastball. He pitched, he located the ball and threw a good ballgame."
Hellickson is 6-1 with a 1.74 ERA in his last seven starts, ranking among the MLB leaders in wins and ERA in that stretch. Two of those outings came against the Orioles (29-31), who have yet to score in 14 innings against Hellickson in 2011.
After overcoming five walks to throw five scoreless innings during an 8-2 win at Baltimore on May 7, Hellickson recorded his first career shutout with a four-hitter in a 3-0 victory six days later, improving to 3-0 with a 0.45 ERA in three starts in the series.
"We couldn't put him in much duress. You knew that changeup was always there," Baltimore manager Buck Showalter told MLB.com on May 13. "He's got a lot of deception in his delivery and things he does, late-life fastball."
Hellickson, however, now must face a red-hot Baltimore team coming off a three-game sweep of Oakland. The Orioles, who have won nine of 11 at home, limited the Athletics to a .179 average and a combined four runs.
"It feels good to get wins," said catcher Matt Wieters, a career .355 hitter against Tampa Bay. "We got some good starting pitching and a good bullpen in this series. If our starting pitching keeps throwing like it did this series, then we're going to be a lot better ball club."
The Orioles, whose starters have compiled a 3.26 ERA against the Rays this season, will look for Jake Arrieta (7-3, 4.93) to continue that success.
The right-hander has been shaky at times lately, but has benefited from 7.14 runs of support per nine innings. Hellickson (7.53) is one of the few pitchers who has gotten more this season.
Arrieta, who went 0-1 with a 6.35 ERA in two starts against the Rays last season, held them to two runs and four hits in six innings during a 9-3 road victory May 15.
He'll look to slow down Matt Joyce and Evan Longoria, who have given the Orioles major problems lately. Joyce, 3 for 7 with a homer off Arrieta, is 8 for 17 (.471) with two homers in his last five games in the series. Longoria has gone deep three times and is batting .370 over a seven-game hitting streak in Baltimore.
Longoria, however, missed two games with the stomach flu prior to entering as a pinch-hitter Wednesday.
Orioles first baseman Derrek Lee is expected to miss this series to attend his grandfather's funeral.
7:05 PM ET, June 10, 2011
Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, Maryland
The Baltimore Orioles are all too familiar with the 24-year-old right-hander's impressive skill set.Regular Season Series
Baltimore leads 5-4 (as of Fri 6/10)
Fri 4/1 BAL 4, @TB 1 Recap
Sat 4/2 BAL 3, @TB 1 Recap
Sun 4/3 BAL 5, @TB 1 Recap
Fri 5/6 TB 6, @BAL 2 Recap
Sat 5/7 TB 8, @BAL 2 Recap
Sun 5/8 TB 5, @BAL 3 Recap
Fri 5/13 @TB 3, BAL 0 Recap
Sat 5/14 BAL 6, @TB 0 Recap
Sun 5/15 BAL 9, @TB 3 Recap
Jun 10, 2011 TB (Hellickson) @ BAL (Arrieta) 7:05 PM ET
Jun 11, 2011 TB (Price) @ BAL (Guthrie) 7:05 PM ET
Jun 12, 2011 TB (Davis) @ BAL (Matusz) 1:35 PM ET
Sep 2, 2011 BAL @ TB 7:10 PM ET
Sep 3, 2011 BAL @ TB 4:10 PM ET
Sep 4, 2011 BAL @ TB 1:40 PM ET
Sep 12, 2011 TB @ BAL 7:05 PM ET
Sep 13, 2011 TB @ BAL 7:05 PM ET
Sep 14, 2011 TB @ BAL 7:05 PM ET
Looking to win a fourth consecutive start against the Orioles, Hellickson takes the mound for the Tampa Bay Rays as the AL East rivals open a three-game set at Camden Yards on Friday night.
Tampa Bay (33-29) has won three straight and four of five thanks in part to some strong performances from its staff. The Rays' rotation has compiled a 1.95 ERA during the team's last four victories, a stretch Hellickson (7-3, 2.64 ERA) began by limiting the Mariners to one run and three hits over 7 1/3 innings of Saturday's 3-2 win.
"We were never able to get anything going against this kid," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "He had a good fastball. He pitched, he located the ball and threw a good ballgame."
Hellickson is 6-1 with a 1.74 ERA in his last seven starts, ranking among the MLB leaders in wins and ERA in that stretch. Two of those outings came against the Orioles (29-31), who have yet to score in 14 innings against Hellickson in 2011.
After overcoming five walks to throw five scoreless innings during an 8-2 win at Baltimore on May 7, Hellickson recorded his first career shutout with a four-hitter in a 3-0 victory six days later, improving to 3-0 with a 0.45 ERA in three starts in the series.
"We couldn't put him in much duress. You knew that changeup was always there," Baltimore manager Buck Showalter told MLB.com on May 13. "He's got a lot of deception in his delivery and things he does, late-life fastball."
Hellickson, however, now must face a red-hot Baltimore team coming off a three-game sweep of Oakland. The Orioles, who have won nine of 11 at home, limited the Athletics to a .179 average and a combined four runs.
"It feels good to get wins," said catcher Matt Wieters, a career .355 hitter against Tampa Bay. "We got some good starting pitching and a good bullpen in this series. If our starting pitching keeps throwing like it did this series, then we're going to be a lot better ball club."
The Orioles, whose starters have compiled a 3.26 ERA against the Rays this season, will look for Jake Arrieta (7-3, 4.93) to continue that success.
The right-hander has been shaky at times lately, but has benefited from 7.14 runs of support per nine innings. Hellickson (7.53) is one of the few pitchers who has gotten more this season.
Arrieta, who went 0-1 with a 6.35 ERA in two starts against the Rays last season, held them to two runs and four hits in six innings during a 9-3 road victory May 15.
He'll look to slow down Matt Joyce and Evan Longoria, who have given the Orioles major problems lately. Joyce, 3 for 7 with a homer off Arrieta, is 8 for 17 (.471) with two homers in his last five games in the series. Longoria has gone deep three times and is batting .370 over a seven-game hitting streak in Baltimore.
Longoria, however, missed two games with the stomach flu prior to entering as a pinch-hitter Wednesday.
Orioles first baseman Derrek Lee is expected to miss this series to attend his grandfather's funeral.
