Rays in Rubber Match
It’s been more than three months since the Tampa Bay Rays lost two in a row at home.
The
first-place Rays likely can’t afford for that to change when they face
the Oakland Athletics in the deciding game of their three-game series
Wednesday afternoon.
Tampa Bay (58-41) fell 8-1 to Oakland on
Tuesday for its second loss in three games after winning two in a row
against Toronto to open its six-game homestand.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global
have made Tampa Bay -170 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has
been set at 7.5 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 56% of bets for this game have been placed on Tampa Bay -170 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
The Rays, who
hold a slim lead over Boston in the AL East, are 39-16 at Tropicana
Field, where they’ve won their last three series and haven’t dropped
two straight games since losing three in a row from April 14-18.
On
Tuesday, Carlos Pena drove in the Rays’ lone run and Carl Crawford had
two hits for Tampa Bay, which has failed to score more than four runs
in 11 of its last 12 contests, totaling two or less in seven of those
games.
After being stymied by Oakland starter Dallas Braden on
Tuesday, the Rays face another left-hander in Greg Smith (5-8, 3.79
ERA). Tampa Bay is 16-15 when the opposition starts a left-hander.
"The
solution is that we just have to hit better against them," Rays manager
Joe Maddon said. "Just have to stay with it, hang with it and we’re
going to get better at it."
Smith tries to avoid losing his third
straight decision when he faces the Rays for the second time. He
allowed two runs in seven innings but lost 3-2 to Tampa Bay on May 20.
The
rookie is coming off the shortest outing of his career, giving up six
runs and eight hits in 3 2-3 innings of a 7-1 loss to the New York
Yankees on Friday.
"There was a little bit of rust, but I’m not
going to make excuses," Smith said of his first start since the
All-Star break. "I just didn’t have it."
Tampa Bay counters withJames Shields (8-6, 3.69), who will try for a second straight win. He
allowed a run and four hits in seven innings of a 2-1 victory over
Toronto on Friday.
The right-hander, who is 4-1 over his last six
starts, is 2-1 with a 4.55 ERA against Oakland. Shields allowed five
runs in 7 2-3 innings of a 7-6, 13-inning road win over the A’s on May
19.
Jack Hannahan went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer and four
RBIs, while Kurt Suzuki added three hits and an RBI on Tuesday for
Oakland (52-48), which snapped a season-high six-game losing streak.
The A’s totaled nine runs during that skid.
"We’re trying to keep
everybody positive," Oakland manager Bob Geren said. "We had a little
meeting about that and how to lead by example. We talked about it for
about a half hour. The mood, I think, was positive."
Suzuki is batting .300 (6-for-20) with three doubles against the Rays this season.
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