Houston @ Tampa Bay preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 20, 2014 ) Houston 3, Tampa Bay 1

Jose Altuve continues to build his All-Star resume with a major league-leading 101 hits and a gaudy .336 average after going 11-for-18 the last four games. The diminutive second baseman looks to stay hot as his Houston Astros visit the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday afternoon in the third contest of a four-game series. The 5-5, 174-pound Altuve had three hits and rookie George Springer belted a two-run homer as Houston evened the series and snapped a four-game slide with a 3-1 victory Friday.

The Rays continue to struggle with the bats, managing only one victory in the last three games while their starting pitchers combined to allow three runs in 21 2/3 innings. “You have to figure out a way to score a couple of runs,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon told reporters. The Rays are 5-4 in their last nine games, but own the worst record in baseball – a spot the Astros were in at the end of the last three seasons.

TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, CSN Houston, Sun Sports (Tampa Bay)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Jake Buchanan (NR) vs. Rays RH Jake Odorizzi (2-7, 4.73 ERA)

Buchanan was recalled to make his major-league debut after scheduled starter Brad Peacock needed a few more days to fully recover from a bout with food poisoning. The Charlotte, N.C., native was 6-4 with 3.54 ERA in 14 appearances (13 starts) with Triple-A Oklahoma City. Buchanan, an eighth-round pick by the Astros in 2010, has given up 79 hits in 76 1/3 innings this season.

Odorizzi has gone winless in his last six starts, but surrendered three runs or fewer in four of them and two or fewer in three. The 24-year-old Illinois native boasts 81 strikeouts over 70 1/3 innings, but opponents are batting .256 against him. Odorizzi, who will face Houston for the first time, owns a 3.16 ERA in eight starts at home as opposed to a 7.16 mark in six road contests.

WALK-OFFS

1. The Rays have been shut out six times in June, tied with August 2012 for the most in any month in club history.

2. Houston stands third in the American League in homers (79) this season after finishing tied for 12th in 2013 with 148.

3. Tampa Bay SS Yunel Escobar has collected six RBIs in his last six games, including one each in the first two of the series.

PREDICTION: Rays 7, Astros 3