
San Diego Padres (72-62, second in the NL West) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (79-54, first in the AL East)
St. Petersburg, Florida; Friday, 7:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Padres: Casey Mize (5-7, 3.44 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 95 strikeouts); Rays: Shane McClanahan (9-6, 3.10 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 99 strikeouts)
LINE: Rays -135, Padres +110; over/under is 7 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Rays begin a three-game series at home against the San Diego Padres on Friday.
Tampa Bay has gone 43-23 at home and 79-54 overall. The Rays have a 31-6 record in games when they did not give up a home run.
San Diego is 72-62 overall and 31-34 on the road. Padres hitters have a collective .315 on-base percentage, the 10th-ranked percentage in the NL.
Friday's game is the first time these teams square off this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Chandler Simpson leads the Rays with a .308 batting average, and has 13 doubles, six triples, 23 walks and 29 RBI. Junior Caminero is 14 for 39 with five RBI over the past 10 games.
Manny Machado has 20 doubles, 24 home runs and 72 RBI while hitting .214 for the Padres. Fernando Tatis Jr. is 15 for 43 with three doubles and four home runs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 5-5, .250 batting average, 3.99 ERA, outscored by five runs
Padres: 6-4, .240 batting average, 1.78 ERA, outscored opponents by 19 runs
INJURIES: Rays: Cole Sulser: 15-Day IL (back), Jon Heasley: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ben Williamson: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Griffin Jax: 15-Day IL (elbow), Victor Mesa Jr.: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Edwin Uceta: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Gavin Lux: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jake Fraley: 60-Day IL (groin), Ryan Pepiot: 60-Day IL (hip)
Padres: Jeremiah Estrada: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Samad Taylor: 10-Day IL (oblique), Lucas Giolito: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jason Adam: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Joe Musgrove: 60-Day IL (elbow), Miguel Andujar: 10-Day IL (wrist), Nick Pivetta: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ramon Laureano: 60-Day IL (hip), Bryan Hoeing: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.