Rays Visit Miami For Interleague Series
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MIAMI GARDENS (CBSMiami) - The Tampa Bay Rays visit the Miami Marlins on Monday for the 100th meeting between the Sunshine State rivals since interleague play began. Both teams have experienced see-saw starts to the season while straddling the .500 mark as Miami (22-21) has lost four of its last five games while Tampa Bay (20-21) has dropped two straight after winning four in a row.
The Marlins, who trail in the all-time series 51-48 after losing five of six last year, have produced only nine runs in their last five games after suffering an 8-2 loss to Washington on Sunday.
Marcell Ozuna is riding a 13-game hitting streak at home for Miami while slugger Giancarlo Stanton (11 homers) is in a major slump, going 5-for-52 with 28 strikeouts over his last 15 contests. Evan Longoria looks to extend his hitting streak to 11 games for the Rays and is 11-for-37 with a pair of homers against Miami's scheduled starter Wei-Yin Chen.
Tampa Bay's Matt Moore hopes to get support from his offense, which is averaging 7.3 runs over the last eight contests.
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays Matt Moore (1-3, 5.09 ERA) vs. Marlins Wei-Yin Chen (3-2, 4.22)
Moore was moved back a few days in the rotation after completing just 14 innings in his last three starts and allowing 13 runs in that span. The 26-year-old is 0-3 in his last five outings while yielding six homers after posting a 2.95 ERA over his first three turns this campaign. Ichiro Suzuki has recorded six hits in his last two games and is 8-for-21 versus Moore, who is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in three career starts against Miami.
Chen knows the Rays well from his days in the American League East with Baltimore and is 5-6 with a 3.55 ERA in 19 career starts against them. The 30-year-old Taiwan native lost his last outing at Philadelphia but is 3-1 over his last four decisions and has allowed three or fewer runs in six of his last seven starts. Hank Conger is 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and a homer against Chen.
WALK-OFFS
1. Tampa Bay's Mikie Mahtook, who hit .353 with six homers over the final month of last season, was recalled before Sunday's contest to replace fellow OF Kevin Kiermaier (broken hand).
2. Miami LF Christian Yelich, who is batting .320, has missed the last two games with back spasms and is considered day-to-day.
3. The Rays optioned the struggling Steve Geltz to Triple-A Durham and recalled fellow RHP Tyler Sturdevant after Sunday's contest.
PREDICTION: Marlins 5, Rays 4
By SportsDirect Inc.