Tampa Bay @ Atlanta preview
Turner Field
Last Meeting ( Jun 15, 2010 ) Tampa Bay 10, Atlanta 4
The Tampa Bay Rays don't need a home-field advantage. They're loving life on the road.
The Rays ran their league-best road record to 23-8 with a 10-4 victory at Turner Field on Tuesday, and they'll look to make it two in a row against the Atlanta Braves when the series continues tonight.
The Rays needed Tuesday's win to keep pace with the Yankees atop the American League East, and the loss caused the Braves to lose ground to the surging Mets, who are within a half-game of their lead in the NL East.
Rays third baseman Evan Longoria went 2-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs Tuesday and is hitting .393 in his past seven games, but he isn't even Tampa Bay's hottest hitter.
That distinction belongs to second baseman Sean Rodriguez, who is batting .407 during a 15-game hitting streak. Rodriguez has three homers and 13 RBIs during the streak. Rodriguez has contributed to Tampa Bay's road success, hitting 15 points higher on the road.
The biggest difference for the Rays away from Tropicana Field, though, has been their pitching - the staff boasts a 2.98 in 31 road games, compared with a 3.89 ERA in 33 home games - but that trend hasn't carried over to tonight's starter.
Wade Davis (5-6, 4.91 ERA) is 2-2 with a 5.04 ERA in five road starts, including a June 4 start at Texas in which he was bombed for eight runs and didn't get out of the fourth inning.
After a promising start to the season, Davis has watched his ERA rise steadily. Over his past seven starts, Davis is 2-5 with a 6.57 ERA and opponents are hitting .309 against him during that span.
The 24-year-old right-hander has lost his last two starts. He gave up three runs on seven hits over seven innings Thursday at Toronto and was tagged for the loss in a 3-2 Blue Jays victory.
Davis faces a Braves lineup that continues to trend upward. After a dreadful April, the Braves hit .279 as a team in May and they've upped that to .285 so far this month.
Atlanta is averaging about a run less per game in June than it did in May, though, and nights like Tuesday are the reason why. The Braves left 14 men on base in the 10-4 defeat, and they've averaged 10 left on over their past nine games, during which they're 4-5.
Leadoff man Martin Prado continues to get on base at a healthy clip. He had his 30th multi-hit game of the season and his third in a row Tuesday.
The Braves have managed to push across plenty of runs for 23-year-old right-hander Tommy Hanson this year, averaging 6.1 runs in Hanson's 13 starts, so they hope that trend continues tonight.
The Braves are 10-3 when Hanson (6-3, 3.69 ERA) starts and they've won the last five times he has taken the mound.
Since suffering the worst outing of his brief career when he allowed eight runs and didn't get out of the second inning May 20 against the Reds, Hanson is 3-0 with a 2.63 ERA in his last four starts.
He didn't factor in the decision in the Braves' 11-7 win at Arizona on Thursday, but he pitched well, allowing two runs on four hits in 5 1/3 innings and matching his season high with 10 strikeouts.