Rays at Padres
The road continues to be kind to the Tampa Bay Rays, who begin a three-game interleague series against the host San Diego Padres on Monday. The Rays have won seven straight away games, one shy of the team record set in July of 2014, and hold a 1 1/2-game lead over Oakland for the second American League wild-card spot.
Ryan Yarbrough pitched into the ninth inning and Eric Sogard homered in Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Seattle as Tampa Bay won for the 10th time in its last 12 contests. The Rays own the majors' best road record at 38-22 and continue to be impressed by Sogard, who was acquired from Toronto last month and has reached base in a career-high 23 straight games while batting .341 over that stretch. San Diego took three of four from Colorado over the weekend but remain 6 1/2 games back of the second National League wild card. Francisco Mejia and Josh Naylor homered in Sunday’s 8-3 loss, but rookie star Fernando Tatis Jr. went 0-for-4 and saw his career-high 14-game hitting streak come to an end.
TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), FS San Diego
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays RH Diego Castillo (2-6, 3.50 ERA) vs. Padres LH Joey Lucchesi (7-6, 4.19)
Castillo is expected to serve as the team’s opener Monday in his first appearance since Tuesday when he pitched a scoreless 10th inning against Toronto. The 25-year-old native of the Dominican Republic has posted a 6.05 ERA over his last 21 appearances with 10 walks against 16 strikeouts over that stretch. Castillo made a strong impression early in the season with a 1.37 ERA in his first 24 appearances.
Lucchesi received a no-decision after allowing two runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings Wednesday against Seattle. The 26-year-old native Californian struggled early in the season but has posted seven quality starts in his last 14 outings since May 17, going 4-4 with a 4.00 ERA over that stretch. Lucchesi is facing Tampa Bay for the first time and owns a 2-1 record and 3.99 ERA in six career interleague starts.
WALK-OFFS
1. Tampa Bay is 12-6 against San Diego and has won the last seven meetings.
2. The Padres recalled Carl Edwards Jr. from Triple-A El Paso and optioned fellow RHP Gerardo Reyes to the Chihuahuas.
3. Rays OF Tommy Pham returned to the lineup Sunday after missing one game due to an injured right hand and went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.