Tampa Bay Rays news and notes

The dish

Rays at Orioles

When/where: 12:35 today; Camden Yards, Baltimore

TV/radio: Sun Sports; 620-AM, 680-AM (Spanish)

Probable pitchers:

Rays: RHP James Shields (7-9, 4.86)

ORIOLES: RHP Brad Bergesen (3-7, 6.37)

Watch for

Shields up: As much as Shields insists he has pitched better than his numbers show (losing eight of his past 10 starts), there's some comfort in his past performance vs. Baltimore: 6-2, 3.01 in 16 starts.

B-game: Bergesen hasn't been good overall, and hasn't been good at home, where he is 2-3, 6.34 and has allowed at least four runs in seven of his eight starts. And he hasn't been good vs. the Rays, 0-2, 9.35 in two starts.

Key matchups

Orioles vs. shields

Adam Jones9-for-19, HR

Nick Markakis14-for-46, HR

Miguel Tejada7-for-23

Rays vs. bergerson

Carl Crawford2-for-6, HR

Carlos Peña 3-for-4, HR

B.J Upton3-for-5, HR

On deck

Thursday: Off

Friday: at Indians, 7:05, Sun Sports. Rays — Jeff Niemann (8-2, 2.92); Indians — Fausto Carmona (9-7, 3.65)

Flashback of the day

Shortly after Adam Jones hit the third of three straight homers, the O's announced it was their first back-to-back-to-back blasts since a Sept. 5, 1995, game against the Angels. That sounded awfully familiar to Rays TV analyst Brian Anderson, and for good reason — he gave them all up, to Jeff Manto, Mark Smith and Brady Anderson, in what he considers the worst outing of his big-league career. Rays manager Joe Maddon was the Angels first-base coach.

Number of the day

19 Innings played by the Class A Stone Crabs Monday night, and Tuesday morning, in a 4-3 loss to Daytona that took 5:13 to play.

Flashback of the day II

The last Rays pitcher to allow three consecutive homers in an inning was RHP Edwin Jackson, right, on Aug. 27, 2007, at the White Sox, with A.J. Pierzynski, Jermaine Dye and Jose Uribe going deep.