Guardians visit the Rays to begin 3-game series

Audio By Carbonatix

Cleveland Guardians (54-50, second in the AL Central) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (59-43, first in the AL East)

St. Petersburg, Florida; Friday, 7:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Guardians: Joey Cantillo (8-5, 3.74 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 112 strikeouts); Rays: Shane McClanahan (8-6, 3.16 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 85 strikeouts)

LINE: Rays -141, Guardians +116; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Rays host the Cleveland Guardians to open a three-game series.

Tampa Bay has a 59-43 record overall and a 35-15 record at home. The Rays have gone 23-5 in games when they hit at least two home runs.

Cleveland has a 27-24 record on the road and a 54-50 record overall. The Guardians have the eighth-best team ERA in MLB play at 3.71.

The teams play Friday for the fourth time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Junior Caminero has 16 doubles and 29 home runs while hitting .287 for the Rays. Victor Mesa Jr. is 11 for 31 with a double and five home runs over the last 10 games.

Jose Ramirez has 18 doubles, 10 home runs and 35 RBIs for the Guardians. Rhys Hoskins is 5 for 30 with four home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 4-6, .259 batting average, 4.24 ERA, outscored by three runs

Guardians: 6-4, .273 batting average, 3.10 ERA, outscored opponents by three runs

INJURIES: Rays: Taylor Walls: day-to-day (finger), Gavin Lux: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jake Fraley: 10-Day IL (groin), Steven Wilson: 60-Day IL (back), Manuel Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Steven Matz: 15-Day IL (ankle), Jon Heasley: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ryan Pepiot: 60-Day IL (hip), Edwin Uceta: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

Guardians: Angel Martinez: 10-Day IL (foot), Tim Herrin: 15-Day IL (elbow)

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.