, who came into the game with an 8.03 ERA, gave up only three hits and two of them were erased by double plays.The Rays, in current possession of the American League's second wild-card spot, opened a six-game homestand after returning from a 5-1 road trip with a major league-best 40-23 record away from home. They are 31-29 at home.Only three runners reached second base for the Rays, who have lost 10 of their last 17 at Tropicana Field.Dawel Lugo scored the Tigers' first run on a passed ball after a double by Niko Goodrum off Morton in the fourth.Doubles by Travis Demeritte and Jordy Mercer off reliever Pete Fairbanks made it 2-0 in the eighth.Morton (13-5) gave up one unearned run on three hits in seven innings. It was the 19th time in 26 starts he has given up two runs or less, and the 20th time he has given up five hits or less.Norris gave up one hit and two walks, striking out three.Miguel Cabrera struck out in all four of his at-bats for the Tigers, three of them against Morton.Matt Duffy had three of Tampa Bay's five hits.SIXTH STOP FOR FAIRBANKSFairbanks, recalled from Triple-A Durham on Friday, showed up in his sixth different clubhouse of the season. Fairbanks, 25 and coming off his second Tommy John surgery, pitched at all three minor levels and in eight games for the Texas Rangers, who traded him to the Rays for infield prospect Nick Solak on July 13.TRAINER'S ROOMTigers: OF Christin Stewart (concussion) will play a couple more games in the field for Triple-A Toledo before the Tigers determine when to activate him.Rays: RHP Tyler Glasnow, out since May 11 with a strained right forearm, will throw fastballs off a mound Monday. ... IF Brandon Lowe (bruised right shin) and IF Joe Wendle (right wrist inflammation) will alternate between DH and the infield for two games at Class A Charlotte before moving up to Triple-A Durham for more rehab games.UP NEXTRHP Jordan Zimmermann (right cervical spasm) will return from the 10-day injured list Saturday and pitch the second game of the series for the Tigers against LHP Ryan Yarbrough, who came within one out of the Rays' first complete game in three years Sunday at Seattle.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
After day off, Rays seek bounce-back vs. TigersFLMThe Tampa Bay Rays had their road winning streak snapped on Wednesday. They'll get a gift upon returning home -- a weekend series against the floundering Detroit Tigers.The Rays had won nine straight outside of Tropicana Field before falling to San Diego 7-2 on Wednesday. Tampa captured the first five games of a West Coast swing."Five and one, you can't be mad at that," outfielder Tommy Pham said of his team's record in the six-game trip, per MLB.com. "We've been playing great. Now we have to take it home and play great there." They'll be without the services of outfielder Avisail Garcia, who was placed on the 10-day injured list with an oblique strain. The Rays are hopeful he won't be out much longer than that. Garcia was removed for a pinch hitter in the seventh inning on Tuesday after feeling some discomfort."We cannot have Avi go down for a significant amount of time," Rays manager Kevin Cash said, per MLB.com. "I'm optimistic that we got it early enough. We didn't send him back out there, obviously we pinch-hit for him. He felt a little tweak in there. (We) shut him down, and keep our fingers crossed that it's close to a minimum stay." Tampa Bay took two of three from Detroit in early June with the aid of a dominant performance by Charlie Morton, who will start Friday's game. The veteran right-hander held the Tigers to five hits in seven innings and struck out eight in a 4-0 victory on June 5. In three career starts, he's 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA against Detroit.Morton (13-4, 2.90 ERA) gave up four runs in six innings while striking out 10 at Seattle on Saturday. He's racked up 32 strikeouts while walking just two in his last four starts.He'll be opposed by left-hander Daniel Norris, who's struggled in his last two starts, allowing a combined eight earned runs -- including five homers -- in 8 2/3 innings.Norris lasted just three innings while throwing 80 pitches in a 10-2 loss to Kansas City on Sunday. The Royals took him deep three times as Norris couldn't command his changeup."I tried to change my grip just to see if I could find a comfortable way to throw it, but I couldn't find it," Norris told MLB.com. "They just eliminated the pitch and crushed the fastball. I couldn't get them off it." Norris (3-10, 4.94 ERA) has made five career starts against Tampa Bay, posting a 1-2 record and 4.13 ERA, including 01 with a 4.76 ERA in one start this year.The Tigers are beginning a 10-game road trip, making stops against three playoff contenders. Following the three-game weekend series, they'll play four games at Houston and three at Minnesota. They have a 19-39 road record, including a 3-14 mark since the All-Star break."We're getting into a hot box here," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "The teams we're playing are pretty good. Tampa, really good pitching, and Houston for four with one of the best teams in the game if not the best, and then up to Minnesota. They're right there in the race, too."This should be fun baseball for (us). These games mean a lot to those teams, and they should mean a lot to us as well. We're going to see where we need to get to and hopefully, we'll figure out a way to win some of them." --Field Level Media
Looking for More Picks?
You can browse all the individual handicapper picks below.
Detroit Tigers
Tampa Bay Rays
Pick Center
MLB
FINAL (8/16/2019)
TomBartonSports
