(Sports Network) - The Tampa Rays return to the comfortable surroundings of Tropicana Field this evening, where the surprising club starts up a 10-game homestand with the first of three straight matchups with the Baltimore Orioles.

Tampa has compiled one of the best home records in baseball this season, an impressive 16-8 mark that has helped Joe Maddon's young squad vault into second place in the competitive American League East. The Rays enter tonight's tilt having won 12 of their last 13 games at Tropicana Field.

The Rays come in after splitting six games on a week-long road trip and had posted back-to-back victories over the Oakland Athletics before enduring a 9-1 loss on Wednesday.

Oakland roughed up Tampa starter Andy Sonnanstine (6-2) for seven runs on nine hits over the first six innings, with Jack Cust and Jack Hannahan each belting homers off the right-hander. Cust added a second two-run shot later in the day.

Jonny Gomes accounted for the Rays' lone run with a solo homer in the eighth inning, one of only three Tampa hits against A's starter Dana Eveland.

Matt Garza gets the starting assignment for Tampa Bay in tonight's opener and hopes to rebound off Saturday's rough outing at St. Louis. The well-regarded righty was tagged for seven runs (6 earned) and 10 hits while lasting just 4 1/3 innings. He did not factor in the decision, however, of the Rays' 9-8 defeat.

Prior to that start, Garza fired seven shutout innings to defeat the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field on May 12.

The 24-year-old owns a 4-0 record with a 3.54 earned run average over five career starts against Baltimore and beat the Orioles with six innings of two- run ball at Camden Yards earlier this month. Garza also faced Baltimore at Tropicana Field in his season debut back on April 2, recording a no-decision after yielding five runs on six hits -- including homers to Brian Roberts and Aubrey Huff -- in 5 1/3 innings of work.

The Orioles had ripped off eight victories in a nine-game stretch before dropping back-to-back contests to the Yankees in the Bronx. In Thursday's rubber match of a three-game series, Robinson Cano singled home Hideki Matsui with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift New York to a 2-1 triumph.

Matsui opened the ninth with a base hit off O's reliever Jim Johnson (0-2), who struck out the next two Yankees before issuing a walk to pinch-hitter Bobby Abreu that extended the inning. Cano then lashed a single to left field, with Matsui beating Jay Payton's throw to the plate.

Brian Burres pitched very well for Baltimore before giving way to Johnson. The left-hander limited New York to one run on six hits and struck out five without issuing a walk in his 7 2/3-inning stint. However, the Orioles offense mustered just five hits on the evening.

Baltimore's only run came via an RBI triple by Freddie Bynum in the top of the third inning.

The Orioles will hand the ball to hard-luck hurler Jeremy Guthrie tonight. The steady right-hander has posted a respectable 3.86 ERA over his 10 starts, yet has only a 2-4 record to show for his efforts.

Guthrie received some bad luck again in his last mound trip. He held Washington to one run on five hits through seven innings this past Sunday, but got no run support and wound up with the loss in his team's 2-1 setback.

This will be Guthrie's third showdown with the Rays this season and he is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA against Tampa so far in 2008. In an April 11 encounter at Tropicana Field, the 29-year-old allowed two runs in a 6 1/3-inning no decision.

For his career, Guthrie is 2-2 with a 4.97 ERA in seven appearances (5 starts) versus Tampa Bay.

These AL East foes have met eight times already this season, with the Rays winning five of those tests. Tampa Bay took two of three games from the Orioles in St. Petersburg from April 11-13.