Texas Rangers (45-36, second in the AL West) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (46-35, second in the AL East)
St. Petersburg, Florida; Friday, 7 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Rangers: Lance Lynn (9-4, 4.32 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 108 strikeouts) Rays: Yonny Chirinos (7-3, 3.00 ERA, .95 WHIP, 71 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE:
The Rays are 20-18 on their home turf. Tampa Bay is averaging 4.4 RBIs per game this season. Brandon Lowe leads the team with 47 total runs batted in.
The Rangers are 17-21 in road games. Texas has slugged .452, good for fifth in the majors. Joey Gallo leads the club with a .676 slugging percentage, including 32 extra-base hits and 19 home runs. This is the first meeting of the season for these two teams.
TOP PERFORMERS: Lowe leads the Rays with 47 RBIs and is batting .274. Willy Adames is 11-for-36 with a double, three home runs and five RBIs over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay.
Shin-Soo Choo leads the Rangers with 34 extra base hits and is batting .285. Danny Santana is 9-for-29 with a double, five home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games for Texas.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 3-7, .201 batting average, 4.76 ERA, outscored by 16 runs
Rangers: 7-3, .269 batting average, 3.66 ERA, outscored opponents by four runs
Rays Injuries: Tyler Glasnow: 60-day IL (forearm), Jose De Leon: 60-day IL (elbow), Diego Castillo: 10-day IL (shoulder), Anthony Banda: 60-day IL (elbow), Kevin Kiermaier: day-to-day (leg), Daniel Robertson: 10-day IL (knee), Matt Duffy: 60-day IL (back), Christian Arroyo: 10-day IL (forearm), Anthony Bemboom: 60-day IL (knee).
Rangers Injuries: Edinson Volquez: 60-day IL (elbow), Jeffrey Springs: 10-day IL (biceps), Yohander Mendez: 60-day IL (elbow), Taylor Hearn: 60-day IL (elbow), Luke Farrell: 60-day IL (jaw), Kyle Dowdy: 10-day IL (elbow), Hunter Pence: 10-day IL (groin), Scott Heineman: 60-day IL (shoulder), Isiah Kiner-Falefa: 10-day IL (finger).
