Rays host the Twins in first of 3-game series

Minnesota Twins (12-13, third in the AL Central) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (13-11, second in the AL East)

St. Petersburg, Florida; Friday, 7:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Twins: Taj Bradley (3-0, 1.63 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 34 strikeouts); Rays: Drew Rasmussen (1-0, 2.75 ERA, 0.61 WHIP, 20 strikeouts)

LINE: Rays -124, Twins +104; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Rays host the Minnesota Twins to begin a three-game series.

Tampa Bay is 13-11 overall and 5-4 at home. The Rays are 3-1 in games when they did not allow a home run.

Minnesota has gone 5-7 on the road and 12-13 overall. The Twins have the 10th-best team on-base percentage in MLB play at .331.

Friday's game is the fourth time these teams meet this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Junior Caminero leads the Rays with nine extra base hits (three doubles and six home runs). Jonny Deluca is 9 for 32 with three doubles, a home run and nine RBIs over the last 10 games.

Josh Bell has five doubles, three home runs and 16 RBIs for the Twins. Byron Buxton is 13 for 46 with a double, five home runs and six RBIs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 6-4, .259 batting average, 4.79 ERA, outscored by one run

Twins: 4-6, .242 batting average, 3.84 ERA, outscored opponents by nine runs

INJURIES: Rays: Gavin Lux: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Garrett Cleavinger: 15-Day IL (calf), Edwin Uceta: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Jake Fraley: day-to-day (leg), Joe Boyle: 15-Day IL (elbow), Ryan Pepiot: 60-Day IL (hip), Steven Wilson: 60-Day IL (back), Manuel Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Mason Englert: 15-Day IL (forearm), Michael Grove: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

Twins: David Festa: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Cody Laweryson: 15-Day IL (forearm), Travis Adams: 15-Day IL (tricep), Mick Abel: 15-Day IL (elbow), Pablo Lopez: 60-Day IL (elbow)

___

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