Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago Cubs meet in game 2 of series

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

Associated Press

Chicago Cubs (32-35, third in the NL Central) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (32-35, fifth in the AL East)

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

PITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Javier Assad (4-2, 2.74 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 68 strikeouts); Rays: Aaron Civale (2-5, 5.51 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 68 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Rays -119, Cubs +100; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Rays face the Chicago Cubs, leading the series 1-0.

Tampa Bay is 32-35 overall and 18-22 at home. The Rays have a 12-4 record in games decided by one run.

Chicago has gone 14-22 in road games and 32-35 overall. The Cubs have gone 21-6 in games when they scored five or more runs.

The matchup Wednesday is the second time these teams meet this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Isaac Paredes leads the Rays with a .287 batting average, and has 13 doubles, 10 home runs, 25 walks and 37 RBI. Yandy Diaz is 14-for-41 with four RBI over the past 10 games.

Christopher Morel has four doubles, a triple and 13 home runs for the Cubs. Dansby Swanson is 12-for-38 with five doubles and two home runs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 4-6, .231 batting average, 5.01 ERA, outscored by 14 runs

Cubs: 4-6, .239 batting average, 4.07 ERA, outscored by seven 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)

Cubs: Ben Brown: 15-Day IL (neck), Nico Hoerner: day-to-day (hand), Adbert Alzolay: 60-Day IL (forearm), Yency Almonte: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Daniel Palencia: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Julian Merryweather: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Caleb Kilian: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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