Baltimore @ Tampa Bay preview
Tropicana Field
Last Meeting ( Sep 5, 2010 ) Tampa Bay 7, Baltimore 8
The Tampa Bay Rays enter the final week of the season with everything seemingly going their way.
The Rays are in first place in the AL East, and while their lead is a mere half-game over the New York Yankees, the schedule is decidedly in their favor.
Tampa Bay hosts a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles starting Monday night and finishes the season with a four-game set in Kansas City.
That's seven games against two teams currently occupying the cellars in the AL East and AL Central, respectively. Meanwhile, the Yankees will wind up the season with six games on the road - three in Toronto and three in Boston.
The Rays have already clinched a tie for a playoff spot and can wrap up a berth with either a victory or a Red Sox loss on Monday.
Wade Davis (12-9) takes the mound on Monday against the Orioles looking to extend his winning streak to eight games.
It has been exactly three months since Davis last lost a game. The 25-year-old right-hander is 7-0 in his last 11 outings, allowing three runs or fewer in nine of them.
Davis surrendered to the elements in his last start, which was cut short by a two-hour rain delay after he had pitched 2 1/3 hitless innings against the Yankees on Wednesday.
Baltimore, which has dropped its last four games, has been one of Wade's favorite opponents in his brief pro career - he is 3-0 with a miserly 1.86 ERA in four career starts against the Orioles.
He struggled in his last outing at Baltimore, lasting only five innings and surrendering four runs on six hits on Sept. 5.
Of course, Davis also had the most memorable moment of his career against the Orioles, tossing a complete-game shutout and striking out 10 to chalk up his first major league win on Sept. 17, 2009. He faced Baltimore again 12 days later and allowed just one run on seven hits in seven innings.
The Orioles will counter with left-hander Brian Matusz (8-12), who carries a four-game winning streak into Monday's start.
Matusz had a nine-game losing streak earlier in the season but has turned his season around since Buck Showalter was named manager in early August, going 5-1 in nine starts.
He pitched five innings in his last start, allowing one run and three hits against the Red Sox on Sept. 20. In his previous start, Matusz was hit in the triceps by a line drive and forced to leave a game against Toronto after just one inning on Sept. 13.
Matusz was hit hard the last time he faced the Rays at Tropicana Field, giving up five runs on nine hits in four innings of a 7-3 loss on Aug. 14.
He won’t have to face Rays third baseman Evan Longoria, who missed the weekend series with a strained quad and isn’t expected to play until the middle of the week.