Rangers at Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays couldn't muster the energy on Friday after a 10-game road trip ended in an 18-inning win at Minnesota on Thursday, but they were back in form on Saturday. The Rays will try to get a decent effort from their ace and pull off the series win when they host the Texas Rangers in the rubber match of a three-game set on Sunday.
Tampa Bay fell 5-0 in Friday's opener but got a youth infusion on Saturday from two-way prospect Brendan McKay and a strong effort from the bottom part of the order on bounce back with a 5-2 triumph. The Nos. 1-4 hitters on the Rays went 0-for-14 with 10 strikeouts on Saturday but the bottom five hitters combined to go 7-for-17 while getting home runs from the last three slots - Avisail Garcia, Willy Adames and Travis d'Arnaud. The Rangers had a six-game winning streak come to an end with Saturday's setback while the pitching staff matched its total runs allowed from the first four games of the road trip. The Texas staff will try to bounce back behind veteran right-hander Jesse Chavez on Sunday while Tampa Bay hopes for a return to form from ace lefty Blake Snell.
TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (Texas), FS Sun (Tampa Bay)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers RH Jesse Chavez (3-2, 2.79 ERA) vs. Rays LH Blake Snell (4-7, 5.01)
Chavez is stretching out and settling into the rotation after serving as a reliever and an opener, and worked a season-high 6 1/3 innings at Detroit on Tuesday, yielding an unearned run and five hits to earn the win. The California native worked up to 79 pitches in that outing after throwing 59 pitches across five frames against Cleveland on June 19. Chavez is looking for his first career win against Tampa Bay after compiling a 0-1 record with a 2.79 ERA in nine previous games - one start.
Snell is still trying to rediscover the form that helped him earn the 2018 American League Cy Young Award and did not get out of the fourth inning in any of his last three outings. The 26-year-old was lit up for six runs while recording one out at the New York Yankees on June 19 and followed that by yielding seven runs on 11 hits over 3 1/3 innings at Minnesota on Tuesday. Snell went 2-0 in a pair of starts against Texas last season, allowing a total of one run and six hits while striking out 14 over 11 1/3 innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Rangers 2B Rougned Odor (hamstring) sat out Saturday and is day-to-day.
2. Adames has homered in three of the last five games, bringing his season total to 10.
3. Texas RF Nomar Mazara is 0-for-14 with six strikeouts in the last four contests.