MLB Baseball
2026-05-19 - Baltimore Orioles at Tampa Bay Rays
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : Major League Baseball
Tuesday 19th May 2026 - Scheduled 6:40pm EST
11:40pm (British Time)
Preview
The bats were in hot form on Monday to open up this series and the Tampa Bay Rays (31-15) will be looking for more of the same as this Divisional rivalry continues. They roughed up the Baltimore Orioles (21-27) starter on Monday evening and that allowed Shane McClanahan to feel little pressure, even if not at his best.
Backing up the Tuesday starter is going to be more challenging for the Tampa Bay Rays.
They will be giving the ball to Griffin Jax who has a 1-2 record and 3.91 ERA in fifteen appearances this season and Tampa Bay are looking to convert this reliever into a fifth starter. This will be the fifth start of the season for Jax, who had eighteen starts in seven years in the Major League before this season, but his early performances on the mound are offering real encouragement.
In four starts so far this season, Griffin Jax has not factored into the decision, but he has a 1.29 ERA and currently is operating as an opener that is capable going through the batting lineup twice. He did not get out of the Third Inning in the first two starts, but Jax has had 9 full Innings from the last two and that is also offering plenty of encouragement for the pitcher and his team.
All ten previous appearances against the Baltimore Orioles have come out of the bullpen and Griffin Jax holds a 1.80 ERA from those outings which have covered 10 Innings.
The Baltimore Orioles will counter by handing the ball to Kyle Bradish who has a 2-5 record and 4.21 ERA in his nine starts made this season.
He has shown enough in the previous three seasons to suggest there is more to come from Kyle Bradish, but he is striving for some consistency. In three starts at the back end of April through to early May, Bradish took the decision loss each time and he had a 6.19 ERA, but the pitcher bounced back last time out to hold the New York Mets scoreless in 6 Innings thrown and he picked up just a second decision win of the season.
This will be the eighth time Kyle Bradish has started against the Tampa Bay Rays and he has a 2-3 record with a 5.94 ERA previously.
Prediction
The home team bats were firing on Monday and they may be able to build on that against the struggling Baltimore Orioles.
With the momentum behind the Tampa Bay Rays, it is suggested to go back in with the current American League East Divisional leaders.
The Pick :
Tampa Bay Rays 6-3 Baltimore Orioles
