Rays at Athletics
The Tampa Bay Rays have struggled mightily thus far on their 10-game road trip, but they hope to begin a turnaround when they visit the Oakland Athletics on Friday for the second contest of their four-game series. Tampa Bay was outscored 21-4 during a three-game sweep by the New York Yankees that began its trek and squandered a three-run lead in the ninth inning of Thursday's series-opening 5-4 loss.
Avisail Garcia drove in one run and scored another as the Rays staged a three-run rally in the ninth to take a 4-1 lead, but Diego Castillo was ineffective in the bottom half as the team suffered its eighth setback in 10 overall games. Matt Chapman capped Oakland's four-run uprising in the ninth, belting a three-run homer with two outs to end his 15-game drought. The 26-year-old third baseman is in the midst of a seven-game hitting streak during which he has recorded four two-hit performances. Marcus Semien delivered an RBI single in the ninth inning on Thursday to extend his hitting streak to 17 games.
TV: 10:07 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), NBCS California (Oakland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays RH Andrew Kittredge (0-0, 5.40 ERA) vs. Athletics RH Tanner Anderson (0-1, 3.27)
Kittredge is expected to make his first start of the year and the fourth of his career on Friday. The 29-year-old native of Washington made his season debut on Tuesday, allowing one run on two hits and one walk in 1 2/3 innings of relief against the Yankees. Kittredge has made one start and 26 relief appearances for Triple-A Durham this campaign, going 2-1 with six saves and a 1.93 ERA.
Anderson will be making his third career start as he seeks his first major-league victory as a member of a rotation. The 26-year-old Floridian, who recorded his initial win last season with Pittsburgh, settled for a no-decision against Seattle on Sunday after permitting two runs and three hits in 5 1/3 innings. Anderson made his debut for Oakland on June 10 at Tampa Bay, where he gave up identical numbers of two runs and three hits over 5 2/3 frames in a loss.
WALK-OFFS
1. Athletics 2B Jurickson Profar belted a solo homer on Thursday to reach double digits in blasts for the second straight season.
2. Tampa Bay recalled RHP Austin Pruitt from Triple-A Durham and optioned LHP Adam Kolarek to the Bulls.
3. Oakland manager Bob Melvin is expected to return to the dugout Friday after missing the series opener in order to see a doctor about his neck/back pain.