Rays at Orioles 4/24/18 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The Tampa Bay Rays (8-13, 4th AL East) visit the Baltimore Orioles 6-16, 5th AL East) for the start of a new series between the two American League East rivals.

Tampa Bay is off on Monday, but has won four-straight after beating Texas and sweeping the Minnesota Twins over the weekend. On Sunday, Tampa Bay received a two-run home run from Carlos Gomez to win 8-6.

Baltimore ends a four-game series with Cleveland on Monday prior to hosting the Rays on Tuesday. The Orioles won the opener of the series on Friday, but have lost two straight to the Indians including Sunday’s 7-3 setback. The Orioles have now lost 8 of their last 10 games played. Baltimore outfielder Trey Mancini is out with a sore knee on Monday, but his status is unknown for Tuesday. Mallex Smith leads the Rays with a batting average of .344 and 21 hits, C.J. Cron is the team leader in home runs with five and Denard Span leads in RBIs with 17. Tampa Bay has a team batting average of .251, while opposing hitters are averaging .249 against Rays pitching. The Rays have not yet announced who will be starting on the mound Tuesday against Baltimore.

Manny Machado leads Baltimore with a .356 batting average, in home runs with eight, RBIs with 17 and hits with 31. Baltimore has a team batting average of .215, while opposing hitters are averaging .282 against Orioles pitching. Baltimore has not yet released the name of their starting pitcher for Tuesday’s opener of their series with Tampa Bay.