Cleveland @ Tampa Bay preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 10, 2018 ) Cleveland 5, Tampa Bay 6

The Tampa Bay Rays may have too steep a climb to reach the postseason, but they are making things awfully interesting as they prepare to host the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night after another inspiring victory. Ji-Man Choi’s two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Rays a 6-5 victory in the series opener Monday, and broke the franchise record for consecutive home wins with their 12 straight.

Tommy Pham extended his hitting streak to 14 games (24-for-59) with two singles, including one in the ninth that set up Choi’s blast, as Tampa Bay won its fourth straight (38 runs combined) and 17th in the last 20 contests. Tyler Glasnow will try to rebound from his worst performance with the Rays and match his last effort against the Indians (one run, two hits, seven innings), while Cleveland counters with rookie Shane Bieber. While Tampa Bay is 7 1/2 games out of the American League’s second wild card spot, the Indians’ magic number to clinch the AL Central sits at four despite losing three of their last four. Former MVP third baseman Josh Donaldson, who was acquired in a trade from Toronto on Aug. 31, is ready to go after a rehab assignment and could make his Cleveland debut Tuesday.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, STO (Cleveland), FS Sun (Tampa Bay)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Indians RH Shane Bieber (9-3, 4.63 ERA) vs. Rays RH Tyler Glasnow (1-5, 4.64)

Bieber continues adding to his win total with consistent efforts and strong run support as the Indians scored 27 times in his last three victories. The 23-year-old Californian gave up 15 runs across 23 1/3 innings while going 3-1 in his past four starts, including last Thursday when he surrendered four across 6 1/3 frames at Toronto. Bieber pitched five scoreless innings before permitting four runs against the Rays on Sept. 1, allowing a pair of doubles to Choi in the contest.

Glasnow suffered through his worst outing since coming to the Rays, yielding seven runs over two-thirds of an inning at Toronto last Wednesday after the strong start at Cleveland. The 25-year-old Californian gave up one run in four of his seven starts since being acquired by Tampa Bay from Pittsburgh, but has yet to earn a victory. Edwin Encarnacion homered earlier this month against Glasnow, who owns a 3.75 ERA in three games at Tropicana Field this year.

WALK-OFFS

1. Cleveland LHP Andrew Miller (shoulder) struck out two in a scoreless inning Monday after being activated from a two-week stint on the disabled list.

2. Tampa Bay CF Kevin Kiermaier (illness) and 3B Matt Duffy (back tightness) both missed Monday’s game and are day-to-day.

3. Indians LF Michael Brantley is 6-for-12 with three walks over his last three games to raise his team-best batting average to .307.

PREDICTION: Rays 5, Indians 3