First pitch: Wednesday, 4:35 p.m. ET
Line: Baltimore -105, Houston -105, Total: 8.5

The Houston Astros and Baltimore Orioles take each other on in the rubber-match of their three-game series on Wednesday afternoon.

Houston has been one of the bigger surprises in the league this year and currently sits behind only the St. Louis Cardinals for the best record in the league. They have not slowed down recently either, with wins in 10 of their last 14 games against the likes of San Francisco, Toronto, Oakland, Detroit and this Baltimore group. The Astros were able to even up this series with a 4-1 victory on Tuesday night where they backed a solid outing (6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 K) by starter Scott Feldman with four late runs. OF George Springer (.231) has been heating up and is 12-for-28 (.429) with four doubles, a homer and five runs in the last seven games. On the other side of the diamond is the 2014 AL East champion Orioles who have played underwhelming ball up to this point and are 10-13 in the month of May. The offense has scored three or fewer runs in 13 of those contests and managed just five hits while being 0-for-5 with RISP in the loss on Tuesday night. Staying hot was OF Jimmy Paredes (.348) who had three of the five hits in the defeat and has a knock in all but three of the 23 May games. The pitching matchup should be an exciting one as RHP Collin McHugh (5-2, 4.06 ERA) faces off against RHP Ubaldo Jimenez (3-3, 2.82 ERA) of the host Orioles. Houston’s win at Camden Yards on Tuesday brought its road record to a phenomenal 15-7 on the year as they take on the Baltimore group which is a solid 14-10 in front of its fans. The Orioles have had a solid grasp on this series going back to 2013 with a 9-6 record and are 5-3 when at home during that stretch. Some trends to watch include that the Astros are 11-4 in day games this season while Baltimore has gone 93-69 (.574) against right-handed starters in the past two years. SS Jed Lowrie (Thumb) continues to be out for the visiting club as 3B Ryan Flaherty (Groin), 2B Jonathan Schoop (Knee) and C Matt Wieters (Elbow) remain out for the Orioles.

Despite a fairly high ERA, McHugh has pitched great this year and through his first nine outings has six quality starts. His strikeouts (7.3 K/9) have been down from last year (9.1 K/9), but he has shown continued success as his already solid walk rate has improved to a mark of 1.7 BB/9. His team has won in all but two of his outings this season and is coming off a nice effort (7 IP, 3 ER, 9 H, 2 K) against a tough Detroit offense. He’ll look to continue a strong campaign against this Baltimore team which he has faced just once in his career, and in that start he lasted 6.1 frames with two runs allowed on seven hits while striking out four batters in a no-decision. Nobody on the Orioles has seen the righty more than three times and in the limited exposure, OF Adam Jones (1-for-3) has a solo homer as C Steve Clevenger is the only player with multiple hits in the matchup. The only active player who has faced the righty and does not have a hit is 3B Manny Machado who has gone 0-for-3. The bullpen for Houston has been huge in getting them this far and they’ve gone 12-4 with a 2.10 ERA (0.88 WHIP) and have saved 19-of-23 games (83%) successfully. Luke Gregorson (3.92 ERA, 13 saves) has allowed at least one run in four of his last 10 outings but is still a perfect 9-for-9 in save opportunities during that stretch.

Jimenez was a huge disappointment for the Orioles last year as he sported a 4.81 ERA and saw his control go out the window (5.5 BB/9) over 25 games (22 starts). He has fought back this year, though, and has given up more than three runs just once over eight starts. His control has improved dramatically as he is on pace to have a career-best walk rate which is currently at 2.6 BB/9. He has also actually seen his strikeouts (8.5 K/9) improve over last year and is keeping the ball in the park (0.60 HR/9). The Astros have given Jimenez no issues in the past as he is 4-0 (6-3 team record) with a 2.24 ERA (1.10 WHIP) and has gone 13 innings with a meager two runs allowed (9 hits) over his last two starts. Both OF Colby Rasmus (10-for-27, 5 doubles, 1 triple, 1 HR, 2 RBI) and 2B Jose Altuve (4-for-11, double, triple) have been successful against Jimenez in their careers while 1B Chris Carter (1-for-6, 2 K) has really struggled when facing the 31-year-old in the past. It has been a decent year for the Orioles ‘pen as they’ve gone 7-4 with a 3.41 ERA (1.24 WHIP) and have saved 13-of-16 (81%) games. Zach Britton (2.60 ERA, 11 saves) has just one blown save this year and has a 8:0 K/BB ratio with three perfect innings since the eighth of May.