ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The final week of July is a dangerous time for middling baseball teams, knowing a single series can change a club from being a buyer to a seller at the trade deadline, or vice versa.
That stands for both teams as the Tampa Bay Rays, suddenly mired in a four-game losing streak, play host to the Baltimore Orioles, who find themselves 3 1/2 games back of the Rays entering the clubs' three-game series that starts Monday.
Third-place Tampa Bay is 3 1/2 games behind the first-place Boston Red Sox in the American League East and tied for the second AL wild-card spot.