Rays Back Home
Even after the Tampa Bay Rays wrapped up a winning road trip, manager Joe Maddon still feels his team is at its best at home.
Maddon
and the Rays kick off a six-game stretch at Tropicana Field on Friday,
sending Scott Kazmir to the mound to open a three-game series against
the Detroit Tigers.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global
have made Tampa Bay -180 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has
been set at 8.5 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 56% of bets for this game have been placed on Tampa Bay -180 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
Tampa Bay (63-44) concluded a 4-3 road swing
with a 3-2 victory at Toronto on Wednesday, increasing its AL East lead
to three games over second-place Boston.
"At this time of the season, every win is an important one," starter Edwin Jackson said after earning the victory.
The
Rays also won for the eighth time in 13 games overall since enduring a
season-high seven-game losing streak before the All-Star break.
Victories,
though, have come easier for Tampa Bay at Tropicana Field, where the
club has won 13 of its last 14 series. The Rays are an AL-best 40-16 at
home, and are one shy of matching the franchise record for home
victories – a mark established in 2004 and equaled in 2006.
"Listen,
to the fans, believe me, the more they show up the better we’re going
to play, I know that," Maddon told the Rays’ official Web site. "It’s
been documented, and our guys are going to feed off that, and they have
fed off that. It’s great to go into our yard under those circumstances."
One of the biggest keys to the Rays’ dominance at home is the pitching staff’s AL-best 2.93 ERA there.
Similarly,Scott Kazmir (8-5, 2.84 ERA) has had little trouble rolling through visiting
teams. In eight home starts, the left-hander is 5-1 with a 1.68 ERA and
a .168 opponent batting average. He is 18-13 in 55 lifetime starts at
home – one away from tying Victor Zambrano’s franchise record for home
wins.
For Kazmir to equal that mark, he’ll have to change his
luck against Detroit (55-53). He’s faced the Tigers twice at Tropicana
Field and lost both times, allowing nine runs, nine hits and 10 walks
in eight innings. He’s 2-3 with a 4.40 ERA in six career games overall
versus Detroit.
However, Kazmir beat the Tigers when he last
faced them on Aug. 9, giving up three hits and striking out seven in
six shutout innings of an 8-1 victory.
On Saturday, Kazmir left
without a decision after allowing two runs and seven hits in five
innings of a 5-3 rain-interrupted win at Kansas City.
Detroit –
in the midst of a season-high 10-game road trip – earned a four-game
split at Cleveland after falling 9-4 in Thursday’s finale.
The
Tigers finished 3-4 versus the Rays last season, but hope for a better
start in this year’s series behind Zach Miner (5-3, 3.65).
The
right-hander has won back-to-back starts after coming out of the
bullpen for his first 32 appearances of 2008. He limited the Chicago
White Sox to two runs and five hits in six innings of a 6-4 home
victory on Sunday.
"I was just going to try to go out there and throw strikes and be efficient," Miner told the Tigers’ official Web site.
Miner
aims to win three straight starts for the first time since reeling off
six in a row June 10-July 8, 2006. He beat the Rays during that
stretch, holding them to two runs and three hits over seven innings of
a 6-2 home win on June 15, 2006.
He is 2-0 with a 2.60 ERA in six overall matchups – two starts – versus Tampa Bay.
On
Thursday, the Tigers placed reliever Todd Jones on the 15-day disabled
list due to shoulder inflammation. But the bullpen is expected to have
Kyle Farnsworth available on Friday after the right-hander was acquired
from the New York Yankees on Wednesday for All-Star catcher Ivan
Rodriguez.
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