Rays @ Rangers

Who will WIN this matchup?

Tampa Bay Rays (87-59)

@ Texas Rangers (72-74)

Starting Pitchers:

Kittredge (TB): 1-0; 4.17 ERA (opener)

Jurado (TEX) 7-10; 5.40 ERA

Last 10 Games Played:

Tampa Bay Rays: 9-1

Texas Rangers: 6-4

Current odds:

Tampa Bay Rays: (-145)

Texas Rangers: (+135)

• The Tampa Bay Rays are not giving pursuers in the race for American League wild-card spots much help with 11 victories in 12 contests and can extend their winning streak to a season-high seven games when they visit the Texas Rangers on Wednesday. The Rays rallied to tie it in the eighth inning on red-hot Austin Meadows’ two-run homer and scored twice in the 11th for a 5-3 victory in Tuesday’s series opener. Meadows is 16-for-31 with five of his 29 homers and 11 RBIs during his nine-game hitting streak for Tampa Bay, which leads Oakland by 1 1/2 games for the top wild-card spot and improved to 44-27 on the road this season with Tuesday’s triumph. The Rays will go with reliever Andrew Kittredge as the opener in the middle game of the series while Texas counters with the 23-year-old Ariel Jurado, who has won just once in his last seven outings.

• The Rangers saw their four-game winning streak come to an end with the setback after committing two errors in the 11th inning. Former Rays farmhand Nick Solak launched a two-run homer on Tuesday and is 6-for-13 with six RBIs in his last three games while Willie Calhoun has hit safely in four straight contests (7-for-20, five RBIs) for Texas.

• Kittredge will be the opener for the seventh time in 2019 and has permitted seven runs – six earned – and 14 hits with 20 strikeouts over 11 2/3 innings in the role. The 29-year-old native of Washington will give way to either right-hander Austin Pruitt (2-0, 4.43 ERA) or lefty Jalen Beeks (6-3, 4.32), who are primed for a bulk of the pitching load. Beeks worked five scoreless innings over his last two outings while Pruitt yielded one run over 10 1/3 frames in his last two appearances.

• Jurado tossed six scoreless innings while allowing two hits and one walk to beat the Los Angeles Angels in his final outing of August but struggled in his first appearance this month. The Panamanian gave up five runs and seven hits (two homers) over four innings of relief against the New York Yankees last Tuesday. Mike Zunino is 2-for-5 with a double versus Jurado, who will face Tampa Bay for the first time in his young career.

• Rays CF Kevin Kiermaier (neck) and LF Tommy Pham (elbow/forearm) sat out Tuesday’s game and are day-to-day.

• Texas 1B Ronald Guzman, who was rested on Tuesday, is 7-for-16 with a homer during his four-game hitting streak.

• Tampa Bay OF Avisail Garcia saw his five-game hitting streak come to an end Tuesday after leaving the contest due to tightness in his right hip.