Rays at Mariners
The Tampa Bay Rays vie for their second straight three-game sweep on the road when they visit the Seattle Mariners for their finale on Sunday. Tampa Bay, which won three contests in Boston From July 30-Aug. 1, moved closer to duplicating the feat after Saturday's 5-4 triumph.
The Rays used the long ball for offense as Mike Zunino belted a three-run homer while Kevin Kiermaier and Avisail Garcia added solo shots in the victory, which was the team's ninth in 11 contests and moved it 1 1/2 games ahead of Oakland for the American League's second wild card. Garcia has hit safely in nine of his last 10 contests, recording three homers and nine RBIs in that span. Omar Narvaez went deep and Tim Lopes drove in a pair of runs on Saturday for the Mariners, who have lost seven of eight following a six-game winning streak. Austin Nola, who ended July by going 8-for-16 over his final four contests, notched one hit in 20 at-bats over his first six games this month before a 2-for-4 performance on Saturday.
TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), ROOT Northwest (Seattle)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays LH Ryan Yarbrough (10-3, 3.90 ERA) vs. Mariners LH Wade LeBlanc (6-5, 5.38)
Yarbrough, who has made five actual starts this season, has followed an opener in each of his last three appearances. The 27-year-old Floridian worked 4 2/3 innings against Toronto on Tuesday, permitting three runs - one earned - and four hits with one walk and five strikeouts. Yarbrough, who never has faced Seattle, is 8-1 with a 2.63 ERA in two starts and eight relief outings on the road this year.
LeBlanc will follow an opener for the 11th time in 13 appearances after making the start in his first six games of the season. The 35-year-old native of Louisiana has lost each of his last two contests, surrendering 11 runs and 15 hits over 9 1/3 innings. LeBlanc lost his only career meeting with the Rays on June 24, 2010, when he yielded four runs and 11 hits over 5 1/3 innings of a start for San Diego at Tampa Bay.
WALK-OFFS
1. Mariners OF Mallex Smith has recorded a pair of hits in two of his last three contests and scored a run in each of his last four games.
2. Tampa Bay OF Tommy Pham was kept out of Saturday's lineup due to a hand injury and is day-to-day.
3. Seattle activated INF Dee Gordon (quadriceps), who went 1-for-4 on Saturday, from the 10-day injured list and optioned 1B-OF Ryan Court to Triple-A Tacoma while trading OF Ian Miller to Minnesota for cash.