The Tampa Bay Rays snapped a three-game losing streak on Sunday.
The American League East-leading Rays will try to build off that victory on Monday night in the opener of a three-game road series against the struggling Detroit Tigers.
Tampa Bay won 3-1 on Sunday to salvage the finale of a three-game series in Baltimore. Even with that victory, the Rays have dropped seven of their last 10 games but still hold a three-game advantage over the second-place New York Yankees in the division.
“I don’t think we’re firing on all cylinders right now, but you’ll take it however you can get it,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said.
The Rays scored all of their runs Sunday in the sixth inning. Nick Martinez and three relievers combined to hold the Orioles to two hits.
“At this time of year, and looking at our schedule, we’re facing a lot of guys whose backs are up against the wall, right?” Martinez told MLB.com. “They have to win every game for them to make it to the playoffs, so we’ve just got to match the energy, bring the energy and keep playing to win ballgames.
“Keep doing what the game’s asking us to do and playing our style, and things will turn around. Obviously you want to be winning every game you can, but the most important games are still in front of us.”
Tampa Bay right-hander Drew Rasmussen (13-5, 3.01 ERA) will start the series opener against Detroit.
Rasmussen has recorded the victory in each of his last six starts, though the offense bailed him out in his last outing against Toronto on Wednesday. He gave up five runs in five innings, but the Rays won 7-6.
The two-time All-Star hasn’t faced the Tigers this season. In four career outings (two starts) against them, he’s 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA.
He’ll oppose left-hander Framber Valdez (8-8, 4.35 ERA), who also picked up the victory in his last outing despite a tough start. He gave up five runs (four earned) in 5 2/3 innings against Pittsburgh in an 8-5 Detroit win on Monday.
That was the lone win in Detroit’s last nine games. The Tigers were swept by last-place Kansas City over the weekend, including an 11-7 loss on Sunday, to complete a 1-5 road trip. They were swept in a three-game series by the first-place Chicago White Sox prior to the trip.
“We’ve got to pick ourselves up,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “This was a miserable road trip, and the results make that pretty obvious. We show up every day ready to play. The environment is good. The want-to is there. We haven’t executed perfectly, but we don’t have to be perfect to win games. But at the end of the day, you either take a step forward or a step backward. We took a couple of steps backward on this trip, and we are wearing it.”
The Tigers’ current homestand will include a three-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“I understand the tough path we’ve created for ourselves,” Hinch said of the Tigers, who are 3 1/2 games out of the AL’s final wild-card spot. “But I don’t care how bleak it looks. We need to show up ready to play against the Rays because they’re pretty good.”
Valdez is 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA in three career appearances (all starts) against Tampa Bay.
–Field Level Media
