Indians at Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are on the upswing again after winning their last three contests and will send ace right-hander Charlie Morton to the mound seeking a three-game sweep of the visiting Cleveland Indians on Sunday afternoon. The Rays recorded a shutout in the series opener and got their bats in gear Saturday night by launching four homers on the way to a 9-6 triumph.
Ji-Man Choi belted one of those homers and is 8-for-15 over his last four games while teammate Travis d’Arnaud also went deep, hitting safely for the fifth straight contest, as Tampa Bay moved into a virtual tie with Oakland for the American League’s second wild card and a half-game behind Cleveland. Morton, who has managed just one victory in more than five weeks after a dazzling start to the season, will try to get back on track in the series finale and the Indians send righty Adam Plutko to the mound. Cleveland took an early 2-0 lead before losing for the fifth time in six games against the Rays this season, and will not have outfielder Tyler Naquin for the rest of the season as tests revealed an ACL after he ran into the left field wall in Friday’s contest. Carlos Santana launched a two-run homer in the first inning Saturday and went 35-for-100 in August with eight of his team-leading 31 blasts, 22 RBIs, 26 runs and 24 walks for the Indians.
TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, STO (Cleveland), FS Sun (Tampa Bay)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Indians RH Adam Plutko (6-3, 4.34 ERA) vs. Rays RH Charlie Morton (13-6, 3.11)
Plutko is unbeaten in his last three games after limiting Detroit to one run on three hits and a pair of walks with nine strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings last Tuesday. The 27-year-old UCLA product has served up 19 homers across 83 innings over 15 appearances, but has kept the ball in the park in each of his last two starts. Willy Adames is 3-for-3 with a homer and a double versus Plutko, who gave up a season-high seven runs over 5 1/3 innings of a loss against the Rays on May 23.
Morton is winless in his last three starts and comes in off his worst outing of the season Tuesday at Houston when he permitted six runs over four innings of a 15-1 defeat. The 35-year-old New Jersey native finished with a 4.66 ERA in five starts last month after opening August with a 2.78 mark overall. Santana is 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles against Morton, who beat the Indians with six innings of one-run ball and 10 strikeouts on May 25.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cleveland SS Francisco Lindor homered among two hits on Saturday and has hit safely in 28 of his last 30 road contests.
2. The Rays will recall 1B Nate Lowe, INF David Robertson, C Michael Perez, LHP Hoby Milner and RHP Pete Fairbanks as the rosters expand Sunday.
3. Indians 2B Jason Kipnis (16 homers, 62 RBIs) left Saturday’s game with right wrist discomfort.