Tampa Bay Rays look to extend dominance over Orioles in Memorial Day pitching matchup

Happy Memorial Day everyone. I hope your beers are cold, your grills are working, and most importantly, you have a happy and safe day. Take a moment to remember why we have this day. Many brave men and women gave their lives for us to enjoy such days, and we should think about them a little today.

The Tampa Bay Rays are one of the best teams in baseball. I guess this shouldn’t be that shocking because the team has been one of the best teams in the sport for years. No matter which team is on the field, they somehow find a way to win. More than almost any franchise, they get diamonds from their starting pitchers and their teams play good, base ball. They have almost 20 games over .500 this year and lead the American League East. However, they are not very good away from home.

They’re not terrible with a 15-11 road record, but they definitely need improvement. Today’s starter, Shane McClanahan, is one of the best pitchers in baseball, but injuries have held him back for several years. He’s coming along nicely to a 5-2 record this season with a 2.82 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. Their away numbers are worse, but they’re not really that different from their home starts. He faced the Orioles last week and allowed four earned runs on six hits in five innings.

The Baltimore Orioles needed to improve this year. They made several additions in the offseason and tried to get back into the playoffs. The team is 23-29 this year and sits in fourth place in the AL East. The team was 18-34 on Memorial Day last year, so at least there’s progress. But they’re already 12 games behind the Rays, which means they’re going to need a lot of help if they want to make a run at the postseason.

Shane McClanahan of the Tampa Bay Rays left for St. Louis on May 19, 2023. He pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers in the second inning at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. (Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

Today’s starter, Kyle Bradish, will try to give him some of that help. I read from a sports betting operator on X that their biggest responsibility (before the season started) was for Bradish to win the Cy Young. I don’t think books need to worry about this. Bradish is 2-6 with a 4.13 ERA and 1.51 WHIP. He has good things, but injuries also hurt him. He has made 10 starts this year, which is more than he has made in the past two seasons. To be fair, most of his outings haven’t been bad, but the Orioles aren’t giving him much support. In his last game, he came against the Rays and allowed two earned runs on four hits in 5.1 innings.

This should be a pretty good match. All in all, I’d say this was probably the best shooting match of the day. That doesn’t necessarily mean there will be a pitchers’ duel, but on paper the signs point to it. I’ll probably be left out of the total though.

Kyle Bradish of the Baltimore Orioles throws a pitch during the second inning against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, Illinois on May 26, 2024.

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I will root for the Rays. Tampa Bay wreaked havoc on Baltimore, so I’m sure the Orioles are looking for revenge. Unfortunately, I don’t think they’ll do that against McClanahan. The Tampa pitcher didn’t have a great game last time out, but he rarely has two bad performances in a row. Bradish has performed well this year, but it also allows too much traffic on the base paths, which translates into skewed numbers. Give me the Rays to win.

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Follow David on X/Twitter for more sports betting information and games: @futureprez2024