Morton scheduled to start for Tampa Bay against Los Angeles
Los Angeles Angels (34-36, fourth in the AL West) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (42-27, first in the AL East)
St. Petersburg, Florida; Saturday, 1 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Angels: Jose Suarez (1-1, 4.36 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 10 strikeouts) Rays: Charlie Morton (8-0, 2.10 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 98 strikeouts)
LINE: Rays favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Tampa Bay and Los Angeles will meet at Tropicana Field Saturday.
The Rays are 19-17 in home games. The Tampa Bay offense has compiled a .263 batting average as a team this season, good for fifth in the MLB. Austin Meadows leads the team with an average of .322.
The Angels are 15-18 on the road. The Los Angeles pitching staff as a whole has an ERA of 5.05. The Rays won the last meeting 9-4. Emilio Pagan earned his second victory and Ji-Man Choi went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs for Tampa Bay. Ty Buttrey registered his third loss for Los Angeles.
TOP PERFORMERS: Brandon Lowe leads the Rays with 14 home runs and has 43 RBIs. Travis d'Arnaud is 7-for-20 with two doubles, three home runs and nine RBIs over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay.
David Fletcher leads the Angels with 69 hits and has 23 RBIs. Shohei Ohtani is 15-for-36 with two doubles, a triple, five home runs and 13 RBIs over the last 10 games for Los Angeles.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 6-4, .291 batting average, 2.73 ERA, outscored opponents by 19 runs
Angels: 5-5, .246 batting average, 5.56 ERA, outscored by four runs
Rays Injuries: Tyler Glasnow: 60-day IL (forearm), Jose De Leon: 60-day IL (elbow), Anthony Banda: 60-day IL (elbow), Guillermo Heredia: day-to-day (hand), Matt Duffy: 60-day IL (back), Christian Arroyo: 10-day IL (forearm), Anthony Bemboom: 10-day IL (knee).
Angels Injuries: JC Ramirez: 60-day IL (elbow), Keynan Middleton: 60-day IL (elbow), Matt Harvey: 10-day IL (back), Trevor Cahill: 10-day IL (elbow), Justin Upton: 60-day IL (toe), Andrelton Simmons: 10-day IL (ankle), Tommy La Stella: day-to-day (forearm), Zack Cozart: 10-day IL (shoulder).
