The top two teams in the American League East are set to play a key four game series that will start Thursday evening at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Baltimore Orioles lead the American League East at 91 wins and 54 losses, and the Tampa Bay Rays are only two games back at 90 wins and 57 losses. The Orioles and Rays are not just the two best teams in the American League East, but the entire American League as well. The only team in the National League better than the Orioles and Rays are the Atlanta Braves at 96 wins and 50 losses.
Offensive Stars
Tampa Bay Rays All-Star first baseman Yandy Diaz of Sagua la Grande, Cuba is second in the American League with a .324 batting average. He has 157 hits in 485 at bats. The only player with a higher batting average in the American League is Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager of Charlotte, North Carolina, who is batting .340. Diaz also has the fifth best batting average in the entire Major Leagues.
The Orioles are led by right fielder Anthony Santander of Margarita, Venezuela, and catcher Adley Rutschman of Portland, Oregon. Santander leads the Orioles with 27 home runs, 84 runs batted in, 37 doubles, and 257 total bases. Rutschman leads the Orioles with 77 runs scored, 144 hits and a .368 on base percentage. He is without a doubt emerging as one of the elite hitting catchers in all of baseball.
Pitching Stars
Orioles starting pitcher Kyle Bradish of Peoria, Arizona, who gets the start on Thursday, has the third best earned run average in the American League at 3.03. The only two pitchers who have a better earned run average are New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole of Newport Beach, California at 2.79 and Minnesota Twins starter Sonny Gray of Smyrna, Tennessee at 2.96. The Rays starter on Thursday, Aaron Civale of East Windsor, Connecticut, is having a fine season himself, as he has given up only 37 earned runs in 112 2/3 innings of work.
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