Tampa Bay Rays (72-75, fourth in the AL East) vs. Cleveland Guardians (84-63, first in the AL Central)
Cleveland; Friday, 7:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Rays: Zack Littell (6-9, 3.89 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 122 strikeouts); Guardians: Tanner Bibee (11-7, 3.56 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 166 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Guardians -176, Rays +148; over/under is 7 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Rays bring a 1-0 lead into the next game of the series against the Cleveland Guardians.
Cleveland has gone 43-26 in home games and 84-63 overall. Guardians hitters have a collective .310 on-base percentage, the seventh-ranked percentage in the AL.
Tampa Bay has a 72-75 record overall and a 35-37 record on the road. The Rays are 29-11 in games when they did not allow a home run.
Friday's game is the fifth time these teams meet this season. The Rays have a 3-1 advantage in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Josh Naylor has 25 doubles, 29 home runs and 101 RBI while hitting .244 for the Guardians. Lane Thomas is 13-for-37 with five doubles and three home runs over the past 10 games.
Brandon Lowe has 19 doubles, three triples, 18 home runs and 51 RBI for the Rays. Yandy Diaz is 14-for-36 with two doubles and two home runs over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Guardians: 6-4, .234 batting average, 2.79 ERA, outscored opponents by four runs
Rays: 5-5, .241 batting average, 2.71 ERA, outscored opponents by seven runs
INJURIES: Guardians: Alex Cobb: 15-Day IL (finger), Ben Lively: day-to-day (thigh), Sam Hentges: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Carlos Carrasco: 15-Day IL (hip), Shane Bieber: 60-Day IL (elbow), Trevor Stephan: 60-Day IL (elbow), James Karinchak: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Rays: Jeffrey Springs: 15-Day IL (elbow), Colin Poche: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Peter Anderson Fairbanks: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Richard Palacios: 10-Day IL (knee), Jacob Waguespack: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Shane McClanahan: 60-Day IL (forearm)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
