Reds vs. Rays Preview
TAMPA (AP) – The Tampa Bay Rays have given their starters plenty of run support during their current surge. Lately, Jeremy Hellickson has not been a beneficiary of that type of production.
The rookie right-hander tries to get back into the win column Monday night when the host Rays try to record their fifth straight victory as they open a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds – a team they’ve never defeated.
According to MLB odds and oddsmakers from online sports book Bodog have made the Rays -107 money line favorites for Monday’s game against the Reds. Current MLB Public Betting Information shows that 82% of more than 150 bets for this game have been placed on the Rays -107.
Tampa Bay (44-34) is averaging 6.1 runs during an 8-1 run, and improved to a season-best 10 games above .500 after tying a season high with 19 hits in Sunday’s 14-10 victory at Houston.
The Rays’ only defeat in the last nine contests was a 5-1 loss at Milwaukee on Tuesday, when Hellickson (7-6, 3.09 ERA) threw six innings of two-run ball but they backed him with a single run.
It was the first time in his last three outings – all losses – that Tampa Bay scored. Hellickson had one of the top run-support averages in the majors through his first 11 starts at 7.53.
The Rays are averaging 3.2 runs at Tropicana Field compared to 5.2 on the road, but Hellickson, who last won June 4, has to feel good about how B.J. Upton and Evan Longoria are hitting as the club opens a six-game homestand.
The pair went 13 for 26 with six homers and 17 RBIs in a three-game sweep of the Astros over the weekend.
“The home runs are pretty, but it’s the other kind of at-bats that get us going,” said Rays manager Joe Maddon, whose team is 9-3 in interleague play.
First baseman Casey Kotchman is batting .394 with six RBIs during an eight-game hitting streak. He is a .325 hitter in 12 career games against Cincinnati.
The Reds have won all six of their previous games against the Rays, but those all occurred prior to 2008, when the Tampa Bay franchise became a perennial contender. Cincinnati swept three games at Tropicana Field in 2003.
The Reds (40-39), though, have dropped five of six in AL parks after losing two of three to Baltimore this past weekend.
“We’ve got to get it going,” outfielder Chris Heisey said following Sunday’s 7-5 defeat. “We’ve got to pitch when we hit and hit when we pitch.”
Monday’s scheduled starter Mike Leake (6-4, 4.19) would like that. The Reds have scored four total runs in his last two starts – both losses. Cincinnati scored 18 times while he won his previous two outings.
“You’ve just got to keep battling, and eventually they’ll score some runs for you,” Leake said after yielding four runs in six innings of Wednesday’s 4-2 loss to the New York Yankees.
Leake, 3-2 with a 2.85 ERA in six starts since a brief demotion to Triple-A Louisville last month, has never faced the Rays.
First baseman Joey Votto will also get his first look at Tampa Bay. The reigning NL MVP is batting .304 with three homers and nine RBIs in six interleague road games.
Jay Bruce, who has no homers in his last 77 at-bats, could be back in right field for Cincinnati after missing Sunday’s game due to illness.
Jonny Gomes will likely be the Reds’ designated hitter as he plays at Tropicana Field for the first time since leaving the Rays via free agency. He hit .235 with 66 homers and 184 RBIs for Tampa Bay from 2003-08.
Rays designated hitter Johnny Damon is four hits from passing Ted Williams for 71st all-time with 2,655.
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