Texas @ Tampa Bay preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 16, 2010 ) Texas 4, Tampa Bay 6

A night after rallying against the Texas Rangers' best pitcher, the Tampa Bay Rays must face a guy who has been nearly as good.

Tommy Hunter looks for his career-best 10th victory of the season Tuesday as he leads the Rangers against Matt Garza and the Rays in the resumption of their three-game series at Tropicana Field. Tampa opened the series with a 6-4 win Monday night, and has won 11 of its past 14 meetings with Texas overall.

The Rays improved to 5-2 in their last seven games with Monday's victory, which was secured thanks to a four-run rally in the eighth inning off Texas ace Cliff Lee. Carlos Pena delivered the go-ahead RBI single in his first game back from the disabled list, and Rafael Soriano kept Texas at bay in the ninth inning for his American League-leading 34th save.

Lee was in control until coming apart in the eighth inning as he fell to 2-3 since being dealt to the Rangers in a deadline trade with the Seattle Mariners.

Tampa looks to have the same success against Hunter (9-1), who has been sensational against the Rays so far in his career. The 24-year-old owns a 2-0 record versus Tampa Bay with a 2.33 ERA over 19 1/3 innings. He tossed a gem against the Rays in his first start of the season June 5, going the distance on a five-hitter as Texas breezed to a 6-1 victory.

That was the start of a stretch that saw Hunter go 8-0 over his first ten starts, but he has just one victory in three outings since then. He earned a no-decision in his last appearance, charged with four runs on six hits over just three innings against Boston in a game Texas went on to win 10-9.

Hunter has allowed 12 runs over his past 12 1/3 innings spanning three starts, a slump that has raised his ERA more than a full point to 3.38.

While the Rays were given good news on the injury front with the return of Pena, the Rangers find themselves dealing with two potentially damaging absences. They placed outfielder Nelson Cruz on the 15-day DL prior to Monday's game with a strained hamstring, then lost third baseman Michael Young to a stiff neck during the series opener.

Though Texas still owns a comfortable eight-game lead in the American League West standings, the Rangers have scuffled of late, with losses in five of their last eight games. They'll try to turn things around against Garza (11-7), who has been ordinary since throwing a no-hitter July 26 against the Detroit Tigers.

The 26-year-old is 0-2 in three starts over that span, with the Rays losing each of those games by a run. He surrendered three runs over 5 2/3 innings in his previous outing, but was outdueled by Justin Verlander in a game won 3-2 by the Tigers.

Garza owns a 4-3 lifetime mark against Texas with a 4.53 ERA over 49 2/3 innings. He last faced the Rangers June 6, when he picked up his sixth victory of the season despite allowing four runs over 5 2/3 innings. Tampa went on to win 9-5.