Tampa Bay hosts Detroit following Morton's strong showing

Posted August 17, 2019 7:00 am

By The Associated Press

Detroit Tigers (37-82, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (71-52, second in the AL East)

St. Petersburg, Florida; Saturday, 6 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Tigers: Jordan Zimmermann (1-8, 7.13 ERA) Rays: Ryan Yarbrough (11-3, 3.56 ERA)

LINE: Rays favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

Tampa Bay heads into the matchup after a strong showing by Charlie Morton. Morton threw seven innings, surrendering zero runs while striking out 10.

The Rays are 31-29 on their home turf. The Tampa Bay offense has compiled a .255 batting average as a team this season, Eric Sogard leads the team with a mark of .306.

The Tigers are 20-39 on the road. Detroit's team on-base percentage of .293 is last in the MLB. Miguel Cabrera leads the club with an OBP of .338. The Tigers won the last meeting 2-0. Drew VerHagen earned his third victory and Travis Demeritte went 2-for-3 with a double for Detroit. Charlie Morton registered his fifth loss for Tampa Bay.

TOP PERFORMERS: Austin Meadows leads the Rays with 45 extra base hits and is slugging .522. Avisail Garcia is 8-for-30 with a double, three home runs and six RBIs over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay.

Cabrera leads the Tigers with 48 RBIs and is batting .281. Jordy Mercer is 11-for-29 with two doubles, two home runs and seven RBIs over the last 10 games for Detroit.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 6-4, .239 batting average, 3.10 ERA, outscored opponents by three runs

Tigers: 5-5, .276 batting average, 5.70 ERA, outscored by 20 runs

Rays Injuries: Blake Snell: (elbow), Tyler Glasnow: (forearm), Yonny Chirinos: (finger), Anthony Banda: (elbow), Tommy Pham: (hand), Avisail Garcia: (right oblique), Joey Wendle: (wrist), Brandon Lowe: (leg), Yandy Diaz: (foot).

Tigers Injuries: Jordan Zimmermann: (neck), Tyson Ross: (nerve), Matt Moore: (knee), Blaine Hardy: (elbow), Michael Fulmer: (elbow), Christin Stewart: (concussion), JaCoby Jones: (wrist), Jeimer Candelario: (thumb), Grayson Greiner: (back).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Article Comments

Article Categories
Baseball Content Providers MLB Pro Sports Sports Sports Leagues Sports Types

Article Comments

Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.