Rays at Royals
The Kansas City Royals put an end to their club-record scoreless streak along with a five-game slide and now can clinch a series victory when they host the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday. The Royals had not scored in 45 innings - three shy of the major-league record - before Whit Merrifield belted a homer in the third inning, and Eric Hosmer launched a key three-run shot in the seventh for a 6-2 victory on Tuesday.
Hosmer has hit safely in eight of his last nine games, going 13-for-31 during that stretch, and Lorenzo Cain continues to haunt the Rays as he is 9-for-19 in the season series after notching a pair of hits on Tuesday. Jason Vargas hopes to duplicate his first outing against Tampa Bay this season in which he tossed seven scoreless frames when he takes the mound in the rubber match of the series against Jake Odorizzi. The Royals hopped over the Rays in the American League wild-card standings, staying three games behind Minnesota, while Tampa Bay dropped 3 ½ back after suffering its third loss in nine contests. Logan Morrison recorded a run-scoring single Tuesday and is 7-for-17 with three homers and seven RBIs over his last four games for the Rays.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, FSN Sun (Tampa Bay), FSN Kansas City
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays RH Jake Odorizzi (6-7, 4.82 ERA) vs. Royals LH Jason Vargas (14-8, 3.72)
Odorizzi is winless in his last five starts - including all four since returning from the disabled list - and has worked more than four innings just once during that stretch. The 27-year-old, who started his major-league career with the Royals in 2012, gave up three runs, three hits and four walks over 3 2/3 frames of a no-decision at St. Louis on Friday. Hosmer is 5-for-15 with a homer versus Odorizzi, who is 1-4 with a 4.65 ERA against Kansas City.
Vargas is winless in his last two starts, permitting eight runs over 9 2/3 innings, and has not been the same pitcher since his All-Star Game appearance as he has gone 2-5 with a 6.69 ERA in eight turns. The 34-year-old has completed six innings once in his last five outings, yielding 20 runs across 25 1/3 frames while posting a 1-4 mark. Brad Miller is 4-for-8 against Vargas, who is 5-5 with a 2.80 ERA in 12 career games (11 starts) versus Tampa Bay.
WALK-OFFS
1. Miller has gone 5-for-13 with a pair of homers in his last four games to raise his batting average to .195.
2. Kansas City LHP Brian Flynn (groin) was placed on the disabled list Tuesday and LHP Eric Skoglund was recalled from Triple-A Omaha.
3. Tampa Bay LF-DH Corey Dickerson is 13-for-30 with three homers during his eight-game hitting streak.