Rays begin 3-game series against the Guardians

Updated Jul. 12, 2024 4:00 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Cleveland Guardians (57-35, first in the AL Central) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (46-47, fourth in the AL East)

St. Petersburg, Florida; Friday, 6:50 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Guardians: Carlos Carrasco (3-6, 5.22 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 65 strikeouts); Rays: Taj Bradley (3-4, 3.23 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 77 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Rays -136, Guardians +115; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Rays host the Cleveland Guardians on Friday to begin a three-game series.

Tampa Bay has gone 25-26 at home and 46-47 overall. Rays hitters are batting a collective .236, which ranks ninth in the AL.

Cleveland is 57-35 overall and 27-24 in road games. The Guardians have the ninth-best team ERA in MLB play at 3.79.

The teams meet Friday for the first time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Yandy Diaz leads the Rays with a .272 batting average, and has 19 doubles, a triple, eight home runs, 31 walks and 44 RBI. Brandon Lowe is 12-for-34 with three home runs and four RBI over the last 10 games.

Jose Ramirez leads the Guardians with 23 home runs while slugging .525. Steven Kwan is 13-for-41 with a double, two home runs and three RBI over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 5-5, .242 batting average, 3.98 ERA, outscored by four runs

Guardians: 5-5, .241 batting average, 5.32 ERA, outscored by 11 runs

INJURIES: Rays: Richard Lovelady: 15-Day IL (forearm), Jacob Waguespack: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jeffrey Springs: 60-Day IL (elbow), Drew Rasmussen: 60-Day IL (elbow), Shane McClanahan: 60-Day IL (forearm)

Guardians: Matthew Boyd: 15-Day IL (elbow), Shane Bieber: 60-Day IL (elbow), Trevor Stephan: 60-Day IL (elbow), James Karinchak: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.