Detroit @ Tampa Bay preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 20, 2014 ) Detroit 6, Tampa Bay 0

Only three weeks after a blockbuster trade that sent him out of Tampa Bay, David Price returns to face his former team when the Detroit Tigers visit the Rays for the finale of a three-game series Wednesday afternoon. “Pitching against friends, it’s always the worst,” Price told reporters. “It’ll be different.” Price won 82 games with Tampa Bay after his major-league debut at the end of the 2008 season and is 1-0 in three starts with the Tigers, who won the first two contests of the series.

Price will face Alex Cobb, who has won a career-high six consecutive decisions and has not lost a game in almost two months. The Tigers have scored 14 runs in their last two outings to move one game ahead of Seattle for the American League’s second wild card and within one game of first-place Kansas City in the AL Central. Tampa Bay battled its way back to .500 after being 18 games below, but has lost four straight since.

TV: 1:10 p.m. ET; MLB Network, FSN Detroit, Sun Sports (Tampa Bay)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Tigers LH David Price (12-8, 3.12 ERA) vs. Rays RH Alex Cobb (8-6, 3.19)

Price has permitted eight runs over 22 2/3 innings since joining the Tigers after beating Seattle in his last start, giving up one run over eight frames. The Vanderbilt product leads the majors in strikeouts with 212, but is tied for the AL lead in home runs allowed (23). Rays shortstop Yunel Escobar owns a homer in his career against Price, who is 6 2/3 frames from his fourth 200-inning season in the last five.

Cobb boasts a 2.24 ERA during his nine-game unbeaten streak and has not surrendered a home run in five straight outings. The 26-year-old limited opponents to one run or less in four of his last five starts, including last Friday when he tossed 7 1/3 scoreless frames to beat the New York Yankees. Cobb yielded three runs over five innings to defeat the Tigers on July 4 and is 1-1 in four lifetime starts against them.

WALK-OFFS

1. Detroit 1B-DH Victor Martinez is 25-for-71 with three homers and 21 RBIs in August after belting a grand slam in Wednesday’s game.

2. Tampa Bay OF Wil Myers, the 2013 AL Rookie of the Year, returned to the lineup Wednesday after missing 70 games with a fractured right wrist and went 0-for-3.

3. Detroit RHP Justin Verlander (sore shoulder), the 2011 AL MVP, could be ready to pitch Saturday after missing one start.

PREDICTION: Rays 3, Tigers 2