The Baltimore Orioles' Wei-Yin Chen is coming off a gem of his own.
In what could be a low-scoring affair, Hellickson takes the mound against Chen as the Rays continue a three-game set with the visiting Orioles on Saturday night.
Hellickson (6-6, 3.23 ERA) posted an 0-6 record and a 4.29 ERA over a nine-start stretch May 21-July 18 but has since picked up the pace. He gave up one run and three hits in 6 1-3 innings during a 3-1 win over Chen and the Orioles on July 24, then struck out five and walked none over six innings of two-hit ball Sunday in a 2-0 road victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
Chen (9-6, 3.65) enters the weekend having gone 2-1 with a 2.49 ERA in four starts since the All-Star break, and he was especially good his last time out. The rookie left-hander allowed one unearned run and three hits while striking out a season-high 12 in 5 2-3 innings of Sunday's 6-1 victory over Oakland, setting a single-game MLB record for strikeouts by a Taiwanese-born pitcher.
While Chen has compiled a 5.84 ERA in losing both his meetings with the Rays (56-50), Hellickson has thrived in this series. The right-hander, 5-2 with a 1.99 ERA over eight career starts versus the Orioles, has gone 3-1 with a 0.88 ERA in four home outings against them.
Baltimore (55-51) has had a hard time scoring runs at Tropicana Field in general of late, losing five of six there by a 30-10 margin. The Orioles dropped Friday's series opener 2-0, managing eight hits - all singles - and going 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position.
Tampa Bay's staff has posted four shutouts, a 0.75 ERA and 69 strikeouts in the last six games.
Orioles are 1-4 in the last 5 meetings.
Orioles are 1-5 in the last 6 meetings in Tampa Bay.
The Orioles have simply not played well since the break. The Rays have also seen better days, but the fact remains that Baltimore doesn't play well in TB and Hellickson is much improved. I believe he will be again today. I'm on the TB Rays today. Good Luck
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