The Tampa Bay Rays (86-71, 77-79 RL, 71-74-11 O/U) battle the Houston Astros (102-55, 83-73 RL, 60-88-8 O/U) in the three-game series finale on Sunday afternoon. The Rays will have Corey Kluber on the hill, seeking his 11th victory. The Astros will counter with Luis Garcia. The Astros lead the season series 3-1.
The Rays will have Corey Kluber start this bout. Kluber didn’t have his best stuff last time out, conceding three runs on eight hits in four innings against the Guardians, leading to a no-decision in a game the Rays ended up winning. The veteran right-hander has posted a 5.18 ERA this month and his season ERA has plummeted to 4.36 along with a 1.21 WHIP and a 10-9 record in 159 innings pitched. Kluber held the Astros to only one run in seven innings in the lone meeting this season and is 6-3 with a 2.86 ERA in 73.1 career innings.
Tampa Bay has qualified for the playoffs again and it’s just a matter of determining the wildcard order. They have dipped to the 3rd spot. The Rays are at the end of a six-game road trip. They have cooled down recently and lost two of three games in Cleveland thi s week.
Harold Ramirez continues to produce, amassing eight hits and three RBIs in his last eight games. The 28-year-old DH features a stellar .310 average along with 58 RBIs and a .769 OPS. Ramirez is a stellar 6 for 17 against the Astros this season. The Rays are fully healthy as Tyler Glasnow made his return to action just in time for the postseason.
The Rays are scoring an average of 4.19 runs per game, ranking them 21st overall. The pitching staff has logged a 3.39 team ERA, good for fourth in the big leagues.