Rays Stay Hot
A return home following the All-Star break appears to be what the Tampa
Bay Rays needed to bounce back from their longest losing streak of the
season.
The Rays hope to continue their surge Tuesday
night as they try to send the reeling Oakland Athletics to their
seventh consecutive loss.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global
have made Tampa Bay -160 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has
been set at 9 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 87% of bets for this game have been placed on Tampa Bay -160 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
Tampa Bay (58-40) beat Oakland 4-0 in
Monday’s series opener – its third win and four games since entering
the All-Star break with seven straight losses.
The Rays, who took
two of three from Toronto over the weekend to open this six-game
homestand, are back in the AL East lead after sitting one-half game
back of Boston at the break.
Evan Longoria went 2-for-5 with two
RBIs and homered for the third straight game, while Scott Kazmir and
two-relievers combined on a two-hitter Monday for the Rays, who have
won nine of 11 at home to improve to 39-15 there this season.
"I’m
just trying to keep on an even keel and keep that locked-in feeling
right now," Longoria, who is 6-for-17 with two homers and five RBIs in
four games versus Oakland this season, told the Rays’ official Web site.
Tampa
Bay’s Andy Sonnanstine (10-4, 4.58 ERA) looks to bounce back from his
first defeat since May 27. He allowed six runs and nine hits in 5 1-3
innings of a 13-2 loss at Cleveland on July 10.
"This one is real
frustrating for a number of reasons,” said Sonnanstine, who had been
4-0 with a 3.15 ERA over his previous seven starts. "To get beat up
like this in a blowout, it’s not a good feeling.”
The right-hander wasn’t much better at Oakland on May 21, giving up seven runs in six innings of a 9-1 loss.
Oakland
(51-48), meanwhile, is mired in its longest losing streak since
dropping nine straight from July 6-17, 2007. The A’s have been
outscored 25-9 during their six-game skid.
"A rough time right
now. We haven’t been able to do much,” said Oakland’s Jack Cust, who
had a hit Monday. "We’ve gone through it before. Hopefully, we can get
out of it.”
Ryan Sweeney also had a hit for the A’s, who have
managed only seven in their last two contests. Sweeney, who has three
of them, drove in the team’s lone run in a 2-1 loss to the New York
Yankees on Sunday. He is 8-for-18 with four RBIs in his last five games.
The
A’s hope Dallas Braden (1-0, 4.80) can help them end their skid in his
first start of the season. Braden, who’s made nine appearances out of
the bullpen, makes this start in place of Joe Blanton, who was traded
to Philadelphia last week.
Braden went 1-8 with a 7.31 ERA in 14
starts as a rookie last season for Oakland. The left-hander allowed
five runs in 4 1-3 innings of a 5-3 loss to Tampa Bay on April 29, 2007
– his only career start versus the Rays.
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