Texas @ Tampa Bay preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 6, 2010 ) Tampa Bay 9, Texas 5

The Tampa Bay Rays have drawn more walks than any team in Major League Baseball.

They likely won't be padding their lead Monday night.

Cliff Lee looks to keep the speedy Rays off the basepaths as he leads the Texas Rangers into the opener of a three-game series at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. It's the first of a seven-game road trip that takes the Rangers through Tampa and Baltimore as they look to build upon a 12-18 mark against American League East opponents.

The Rays enter the series having won two of three over the weekend against the Orioles. Jeremy Hellickson tossed six strong innings to earn his third straight victory Sunday as Tampa held on for a 3-2 victory over Baltimore.

Tampa drew 14 walks in the three-game set, bringing its league-leading total to 488. The free passes are a major reason why the Rays lead the majors in stolen bases (140) and sit near the top of the majors in on-base percentage (.337) despite batting just .251 as a team.

Rays hitters shouldn't expect many pitches out of the strike zone from Lee (10-5). The crafty left-hander has been a strike-throwing machine this season, issuing just nine walks in 161 1/3 innings so far this season.

How accurate has Lee been this season? He hasn't walked more than two hitters in any start, and went through a stretch of four straight outings in June when he didn't issue a single free pass. His strikeout-to-walk ratio of more than 15-to-1 is easily the best in major-league history among starting pitchers.

Lee has pitched well since coming to the Rangers in a deadline deal with the Seattle Mariners, though his record doesn't show it. The 31-year-old is just 2-2 in a Texas uniform despite posting a 2.97 ERA in seven starts, including two complete games. He's allowed just three walks in 57 2/3 innings with the Rangers.

Lee was rocked in his last outing, surrendering four runs on eight hits over 6 1/3 innings in a 7-6 loss to the New York Yankees. Lee struck out 10 batters, but failed to pitch at least eight innings for the first time since June 12 – an astounding stretch of pitching in which Lee went the distance six times.

Lee has a 6-4 career mark against Tampa with a 2.51 ERA over 89 2/3 innings. Two of those losses came in May, when he dropped a pair of decisions to the Rays within an 11-day span.

The Rangers are coming off a decent five-game homestand that saw them go 3-2 against the Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

They'll face Rays ace David Price (15-5) in Monday's opener. Price will look to become the American League's first 16-game winner, after earning No. 15 his last time out. He allowed two runs over five innings as the Rays held off the Detroit Tigers 6-3.

Texas has proven to be one of Price's toughest opponents. He's just 0-2 against the Rangers lifetime with a 9.45 ERA over 13 1/3 innings.