Tampa Bay @ Florida preview

Tampa Bay at Florida

Last Meeting ( Jun 19, 2010 ) Tampa Bay 9, Florida 8

Runs figure to be in short supply Sunday at Sun Life Stadium when two of the best young pitchers in baseball square off.

David Price and Josh Johnson lock horns when the Tampa Bay Rays meet the Florida Marlins on Sunday in the rubber-game of a three-game interleague series.

Florida won the opener on Friday 7-4, and the two teams combined for seven runs in the 11th inning on Saturday as the Rays held on for a 9-8 victory.

The Marlins and Rays will need a lot more than one inning today to score seven runs and it's plausible that they won't score that many runs all day with Price and Johnson pitching.

Johnson has been dominant this season and has really picked up where he left off after going 15-5 in 33 starts last year. He is 5-1 at home with an ERA of 1.48. He will be making his fifth career start against the Marlins and is 1-0 with a 3.42 ERA against them for his career.

Johnson has been as dominant as any pitcher in baseball of late, allowing one or no runs in each of his last seven starts. He has a record of 4-1 with a 0.55 ERA over that span. He has gone at least six innings in each of his past 12 starts. In his 14 starts this season, he left the game with the Marlins trailing just twice.

Price (10-2, 2.31) has been almost as good for the Rays and his continued development is a big reason why they are tied for first in the rugged American League East.

The Rays are likely to find things a little tougher today than they usually do when Price starts. Tampa Bay is averaging a little over 7 1/2 runs per game when Price is on the mound, but Johnson has not allowed more than four runs this season and that came in his very first start of the campaign.

The first pick in the 2007 draft, Price has won his last three starts since a 4-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox on May 28. Price has not had to work all that hard on his current streak since the offense in more than pulling its own weight in his starts, averaging nine runs a game and outscoring the opposition 27-8.

Price allowed one run and two hits and picked up the win in his only other career start against the Marlins.