Rays and Cubs play, winner claims 3-game series

Chicago Cubs (5-6, fifth in the NL Central) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (5-6, third in the AL East)

St. Petersburg, Florida; Wednesday, 6:40 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Colin Rea (0-0, 4.26 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, eight strikeouts); Rays: Joe Boyle (0-0, 3.18 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 13 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago Cubs meet on Wednesday with the winner claiming the three-game series.

Tampa Bay is 1-1 in home games and 5-6 overall. The Rays have the fifth-best team batting average in MLB play at .260.

Chicago has a 5-6 record overall and a 2-3 record on the road. The Cubs are 4-1 in games when they scored five or more runs.

The matchup Wednesday is the third time these teams match up this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jonathan Aranda leads the Rays with three home runs while slugging .511. Yandy Diaz is 14 for 39 with two home runs and 10 RBIs over the last 10 games.

Pete Crow-Armstrong has a double, a home run and four RBIs for the Cubs. Ian Happ is 8 for 40 with two doubles and four home runs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 5-5, .243 batting average, 4.49 ERA, outscored by eight runs

Cubs: 5-5, .219 batting average, 3.10 ERA, outscored opponents by 14 runs

INJURIES: Rays: Drew Rasmussen: day-to-day (personal), Garrett Cleavinger: 15-Day IL (calf), Steven Wilson: 60-Day IL (back), Edwin Uceta: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Gavin Lux: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Ryan Pepiot: 15-Day IL (hip), Manuel Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Cubs: Matthew Boyd: 15-Day IL (biceps), Cade Horton: 15-Day IL (forearm), Porter Hodge: 15-Day IL (elbow), Seiya Suzuki: 10-Day IL (knee), Justin Steele: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jordan Wicks: 15-Day IL (forearm), Shelby Miller: 60-Day IL (elbow), Christopher Austin: 60-Day IL (knee)

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