Jeff Niemann will attempt to improve his credentials in the
race for the American League's Rookie of the Year when the Tampa Bay Rays
hurler leads his team in tonight's opener of a four-game series with the
visiting Baltimore Orioles.
Niemann has produced a 12-6 record with a solid 3.81 earned run average in 29
games (28 starts) this season. The towering right-hander has been stuck on 12
wins for some time, however, having recorded one loss and four no-decisions
over his past five starts.
The 26-year-old generally hasn't pitched badly over the course of his winless
skid, as he's allowed three runs or fewer in all but one of those appearances.
He held Seattle to three runs on just four hits over 6 2/3 innings this past
Tuesday at Tropicana Field, but left with the contest tied at 3-3.
Niemann has faced the Orioles four times previously this season and gotten
mixed results. The former Rice University standout is 2-2 in those four games,
but has posted a lackluster 6.14 ERA over that span. For his career, Niemann
is 4-2 with a 5.34 ERA in six encounters (5 starts) with Baltimore.
He'll be facing a Baltimore squad mired in a season-worst 10-game losing
streak that was just swept by previously-struggling Cleveland over the
weekend. The Orioles mustered just five hits in Sunday's finale, a 9-0
Indians' rout.
Cleveland erupted for six first-inning runs off Baltimore starter Chris
Tillman, who was removed after throwing 53 pitches in just two frames.
"I don't think (Tillman) had a whole lot of finish or life to his pitches,"
Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. "He didn't miss too many (bats). It just
was not a very good outing."
Baltimore, which has not lost 11 straight tests since a 12-game losing streak
from August 16-28, 2004, will send ex-Ray Mark Hendrickson to the hill this
evening. The veteran lefty returned to the O's rotation in a September 17
clash against his former team, and took the loss that night after surrendering
two runs over 3 1/3 innings.
Hendrickson followed up with a sharp six-inning no-decision at Toronto on
Tuesday, holding the Blue Jays to two runs on just four hits.
The 35-year-old, who pitched for the Rays from 2004-06 and won a career-best
11 games for Tampa Bay in 2005, is 5-5 with a 4.37 ERA in 51 games (9 starts)
this season. As a starter, Hendrickson has gone just 1-5 with a 5.73 ERA.
In 13 games (10 starts) versus Tampa Bay, Hendrickson owns a 3-5 record with a
5.16 ERA.
The Rays return home after dropping two of three tilts in Texas, although the
club put forth a furious late rally to salvage Sunday's finale. Tampa Bay
scored three times in the eighth inning and four more in the ninth to come
through with a 7-6 decision that further crippled the Rangers' fading playoff
hopes.
Down 6-3 in the ninth, the Rays got an RBI single from Carl Crawford and a
two-run base hit by Ben Zobrist to tie the score. Fernando Perez then followed
with a ground out that scored Evan Longoria from third with the go-ahead run.
Zobrist also came through with a two-run single in the eighth for Tampa Bay,
while Crawford ended 3-for-5 and scored a pair of runs.
These American League East foes have split 14 meetings so far in 2009, with
the Rays having won three of the five matchups held at Tropicana Field.
Baltimore has lost 12 of its last 15 games as the visitor in this series.
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