The Orioles conclude another homestand today and will try to complete a sweep of the first-place Rays while improving to 9-4 against them.

The team is one game back for the last Wild Card, tied with the Twins and a half-game behind the Blue Jays.

Dylan Beavers is in left field today. He homered in three straight games and had a walk-off double last night in the 10th inning.

“He’s very consistent with is work, and even when things aren’t going well, he still continues to just grind away,” said hitting coach Dustin Lind. “He’s got a really high floor just because of his ability to make contract and control the zone. And so the work habits really lend themselves to just kind of an overall consistency in the at-bat. And eventually the hits are gonna fall, and that’s what we’ve seen lately.”

Pete Alonso is playing first base and Coby Mayo is the designated hitter. Samuel Basallo is catching.

Leody Taveras is in right field.

Shane Baz is making his third start against the Rays. He allowed one run and two hits in six innings at Tropicana Field and one run and seven hits with nine strikeouts in seven innings at Camden Yards.

Former Oriole Cedric Mullins is 0-for-8 with two walks and three strikeouts against Baz. Liam Hicks is 2-for-3 with a home run. Jonathan Aranda is 2-for-5.

Baz’s curveball is inducing a 58.3 percent groundball rate in two starts against the Rays this season, up from the 47.4 percent rate against all other opponents.

Right-hander Nick Martinez is 12-4 with a 3.05 ERA in 24 starts, including one complete game. He’s posted a 3.87 ERA and 1.211 WHIP in 13 home games and a 2.14 ERA and 1.055 WHIP in 11 road games.

Martinez has seen his walks per nine innings this season drop from 1.62 before the All-Star break to 0.74 in the second half.

Martinez is facing the Orioles for the first time in 2026.

Orioles hitters rank third in the majors with a 10.1 percent walk rate, and Tampa Bay’s pitching staff has issued a major league-low 2.58 walks per nine innings.

For the Orioles
Jackson Holliday 2B
Pete Alonso 1B
Gunnar Henderson SS
Samuel Basallo C
Coby Mayo DH
Dylan Beavers LF
Christian Encarnacion-Strand 3B
Colton Cowser CF
Leody Taveras RF

Shane Baz RHP