Rays at Padres
While first place in the American League East seems unattainable, the Tampa Bay Rays won't be relinquishing the second wild-card spot without a good fight. The Rays attempt to strengthen their hold on the position and extend their road winning streak to nine games when they visit the San Diego Padres for the middle contest of their three-game interleague series.
Tampa Bay moved 20 games over .500 and increased its lead over Oakland for the second wild card to two games when it rolled to a series-opening 10-4 triumph on Monday. Avisail Garcia belted a two-run homer among his three hits while Matt Duffy went 4-for-4 with three RBIs as the Rays improved to 13-3 in their last 16 overall games. Ian Kinsler belted a two-run homer and pitched a scoreless inning for the Padres, who suffered their second straight loss following a three-game winning streak. Rookie Fernando Tatis Jr. struck out three times while going hitless in back-to-back games for just the fourth time this season
TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), FS San Diego
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays LH Brendan McKay (2-2, 4.55 ERA) vs. Padres LH Eric Lauer (6-8, 4.51)
McKay will make his seventh career start and also get the chance to bat for just the second time in the major leagues after going 0-for-4 as the designated hitter against Baltimore on July 1. The 23-year-old rookie from Pennsylvania batted .200 with five home runs and 19 RBIs in 43 games in the minors this season. McKay suffered the loss versus Toronto on Wednesday after giving up three runs and six hits over five innings.
After making his first relief appearance in the major leagues on July 28, Lauer ended his seven-start winless streak five days later with a road victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 24-year-old native of Ohio was unable to eclipse the win total from his 2018 rookie season in his next outing, however, as he did not factor in the decision against Colorado on Thursday after permitting three runs and 10 hits in four innings. Lauer never has faced Tampa Bay but has allowed four runs - three earned - and 10 hits over 16 1/3 frames while going 1-0 in three career interleague starts.
WALK-OFFS
1. Tatis, whose 14-game hitting streak ended on Sunday, has gone hitless in only three of his last 23 contests.
2. Duffy, who went 13-for-34 over his first eight games this season, recorded a total of four hits over his next six contests before Monday's outburst.
3. San Diego C Francisco Mejia went 0-for-4 on Monday after registering multiple hits in each of his previous five games - a stretch during which he went 13-for-20.