Royals at Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays enjoyed their best offensive outburst of the season in their last outing, but they may find runs tough to come by on Thursday afternoon in the finale of the four-game series against the visiting Kansas City Royals. After allowing 12 runs and 16 hits in Wednesday's lopsided setback, Kansas City will counter with a pitcher (veteran right-hander Jason Vargas) who boasts a majors-best 1.19 ERA and is coming off his third scoreless outing of the young season.
Tampa Bay's Colby Rasmus capped his three-hit performance with a grand slam in a 12-1 rout on Wednesday, improving to 8-for-20 with three homers, eight RBIs and six runs scored during his five-game hitting streak. Kansas City native Logan Morrison has gone deep in back-to-back outings and upped his home run total to four in the past seven contests. While the Rays snapped a three-game skid in emphatic fashion, the Royals have dropped eight of their last 10 on the road to fall to 4-12 away from Kauffman Stadium. Lorenzo Cain has recorded multi-hit performances in four of his last eight games and will look to remain hot versus former Royal Jake Odorizzi, who is holding opponents to a .170 batting average this season.
TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FSN Kansas City, FSN Sun (Tampa Bay)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals LH Jason Vargas (4-1, 1.19 ERA) vs. Rays RH Jake Odorizzi (2-1, 2.88)
Vargas scattered four hits over six scoreless innings but was left with a no-decision Saturday in his team's 3-1 setback to Cleveland. The 34-year-old has yielded six runs and seven walks in 37 2/3 innings this season to post an 0.98 WHIP while limiting the opposition to a .217 batting average. Vargas owns a 4-5 mark with a 3.11 ERA in 11 career appearances versus Tampa Bay, with his last win at Tropicana Field coming in August 2013.
Odorizzi has permitted just one earned run and struck out six in back-to-back solid outings since coming off the disabled list. The 27-year-old received a no-decision after a five-inning performance at Miami on May 1 before picking up the win five days later after yielding one run on three hits in seven frames of a 6-1 rout over Toronto. Odorizzi entered the majors with Kansas City in 2012 but has struggled in his career against the Royals, posting a 1-3 mark with a 5.40 ERA in five outings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Kansas City C Salvador Perez, who is riding a six-game hitting streak, is 7-for-10 with a homer, three RBIs and two runs scored in the series.
2. Tampa Bay LF Corey Dickerson collected his third consecutive multi-hit performance on Wednesday to improve to 8-for-17 over his last four contests.
3. Royals LF Alex Gordon is mired in a 1-for-22 stretch with six strikeouts over his last seven games.