Rays at Dodgers
Howie Kendrick boasts a 16-game hitting streak and faces a team he has punished in the past as his Los Angeles Dodgers host the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday for the first of two interleague contests. Kendrick is batting .359 in 52 games against the Rays and owns a .377 average in July -- 26-for-66 with three homers and nine RBIs during his streak.
Kendrick, who went 5-for-9 in a two-game split at Tampa Bay in early May, homered in Sunday’s 9-6 victory over St. Louis as the Dodgers crept closer to first-place San Francisco in the National League West. Los Angeles, which holds down the top wild-card spot, begins an eight-game stretch in which its takes on two last-place teams and another squad under .500. The Rays are one game ahead of Minnesota for the bottom spot in the American League after dropping the last three contests in Oakland over the weekend – all by one run. Corey Dickerson has heated up for Tampa Bay by going 11-for-25 with four RBIs during a six-game hitting streak.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FSN Sun (Tampa Bay), SportsNet LA (Los Angeles)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays RH Chris Archer (5-13, 4.60 ERA) vs. Dodgers RH Bud Norris (5-9, 4.56)
Archer snapped a six-game losing streak last time out when he struck out 11 over six innings while allowing two runs and four hits at Colorado on Wednesday. The 27-year-old leads the American League with 147 strikeouts in 123 1/3 innings. Archer, who faces the Dodgers for the first time, has a 6.37 ERA on the road (4-6) and a 2.95 mark at home (1-7).
Norris took the loss in relief Friday in the 16-inning affair at St. Louis, giving up a run on two hits in 1 1/3 innings, but is scheduled to keep his spot in the rotation. The 31-year-old threw six scoreless innings in his first outing with the Dodgers, but permitted 13 runs over 15 innings in his next three starts before the relief appearance. Norris is 1-2 with a 4.62 ERA in seven games (six starts) against the Rays.
WALK-OFFS
1. Tampa Bay 1B Logan Morrison (wrist) could return to the lineup after missing the last six games and is 4-for-7 with three RBIs against Norris.
2. Los Angeles SS Corey Seager is 16-for-40 during an eight-game hitting streak, raising his average to .306.
3. Rays 2B Logan Forsythe is 9-for-28 with a homer and six RBIs during a six-game hitting streak.