Phillies, Orioles to try to sneak one in before rain

The Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies have to deal with Mother Nature before they meet for the first time since 2015.

The first contest of their brief, two-game set at Oriole Park at Camden Yards was rained out Tuesday night. The Orioles and Phillies will attempt to get a game in at 12:05 p.m. ET on Wednesday. The time of the first pitch was moved up 30 minutes as the teams try to beat more rain in the Baltimore forecast.

The Orioles' Andrew Cashner and the Phillies' Nick Pivetta, Tuesday's originally scheduled starters, will face each other Wednesday. Neither team has played since Sunday thanks to off days Monday and Tuesday's rainout.

Baltimore is coming off its most prolific offensive outing of the 2018 season. They scored 17 runs on 19 hits in a rout of the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday. The Orioles (13-28) are still in a distant fifth place in the American League East, but have won five of their last six games.

"There's really no explanation for why April went the way it did," Orioles third baseman Danny Valencia told MLB.com after the 17-1 victory over the Rays. "There's a lot of great hitters in here and we've done a great job of relieving each other, and I can't imagine our offense doing what it did in April the rest of the season. It was only a matter of time before it turned."

Pivetta will have to deal with that offense Wednesday.

Pivetta (2-2, 4.15 ERA) threw five shutout innings during his last outing against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday. Pivetta, a second-year major-leaguer who has never faced the Orioles, bounced back after allowing a combined 10 runs in six innings during his two starts before his last outing.

Cashner (1-4, 4.84), meanwhile, enters Wednesday with a 6.97 ERA and 1.79 WHIP over his last four starts. The 31-year-old righty surrendered three runs on six hits in six innings against the Kansas City Royals last Wednesday.

Cashner is 4-1 with a 2.55 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 13 career games (seven starts) against the Phillies.

The Orioles took three of four from the Phillies during their last series in 2015, also at Camden Yards. It took the Phillies until June 18 to win their 23rd game that season (a victory that came against the Orioles). They enter Wednesday with a 23-16 record in 2018.

Phillies general manager Matt Klentak praised the Phillies strong start through the first quarter of the season Tuesday.

"This team's starting pitching has really been impressive through the first quarter of the season in their ability to throw strikes, in their ability to miss bats and in their ability to induce weak contact," Klentak told MLB.com. "On top of that, I think, in the bullpen there is a lot of depth on this team.

"The way this team is evolving, whether we are winning a close game or losing a close game or it's a blowout game, we're able to put a good arm on the mound that's delivered good results for us. And I think our offense is really starting to click now, too."

Tuesday's postponement will be made up July 12.