The Tampa Bay Rays (18-22, 4th AL East) will open a four-game series on the road Thursday against the Los Angeles Angels (25-17, 2nd AL West).
The Rays have won two straight through Tuesday after defeating the Kansas City Royals Tuesday night 6-5. Joey Wendle knocked in a run with a single with two outs during the ninth inning to lead Tampa Bay over the Royals. The two will play the third and final game of this series on Wednesday. The Angels’ two-game winning streak was snapped on Tuesday when they lost to the Houston Astros 5-3. The Angels bullpen gave ups a three-run double during the eighth inning squandering a two run lead to fall one game behind the Astros in the AL West.
Matt Duffy leads Tampa Bay with a .322 batting average. C.J. Cron has the team leads in hits with 44, home runs with nine and RBIs with 25. Tampa Bay has a team batting average of .262 while opposing hitters are averaging .245 at the plate against Rays pitching. On Thursday, the Rays will send Chris Archer to the mound. The right-hander is 2-3 with an ERA of 5.64, 52 Ks and 15 BBs.
Andrelton Simmons leads the Angels with a .342 batting average and team high 51 hits. Mike Trout has the team lead in home runs with 12 and Justin Upton in RBIs with 34. Los Angeles has a team batting average of .258, while opposing hitters are averaging .241 at the plate against Angels pitching. The Angels have not yet announced their starting pitcher for Thursday’s game.
