Two teams in nearly identical situations in their respective playoff chases and desperate for wins go head-to-head Friday night when the Tampa Bay Rays and San Francisco Giants open a three-game interleague series in California.
Despite two wins in three games up the road in West Sacramento earlier in the week, the Rays (59-63) enter the series in fourth place in the American League East, 12 games out of the lead, and 5 1/2 games out of the league's third and final playoff spot. Tampa Bay has won just seven of its last 23 games.
Meanwhile, the Giants (59-62) have lost five in a row - all at home - and walked off the field Wednesday 10 games back in the National League West, tied for third in the West, and 5 ½ games out in the wild-card race.
Neither team made the playoffs last season, when both went 80-82.
Having fallen a season-worst three games under .500 and having been thumped by the Washington Nationals (two games) and San Diego Padres (three games) by a total score 32-5 since last Saturday, the Giants open the series at a low point.
"It just looks bad. The way we've been playing, it looks horrible," Giants manager Bob Melvin assured reporters after Wednesday's 11-1 drubbing at the hands of the Padres. "The way we've been feeling, it's just a miserable feeling."
If there's good news for the Giants, it's that their best pitcher in July, right-hander Landen Roupp (7-6, 3.11 ERA), is set to return from an injured-list stint prompted by a sore elbow. He hasn't pitched since July 22 in Atlanta, where he threw five innings of shutout ball in a 9-0 win.
When last seen, the 26-year-old ranked among baseball's best pitchers in his last six starts, going 3-1 with a 1.15 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 31 1/3 innings. He has not allowed more than two runs in any start during the stretch.
Roupp has just two innings of lifetime experience against the Rays, having retired all six batters he faced in a relief stint last April in Florida.
The Rays also had Thursday off, and actually had multiple reasons to celebrate.
First off, their 8-2 win over the Athletics on Wednesday gave them a 2-1 series win after they'd lost three straight in Seattle.
And secondly, it was right-hander Joe Boyle's 26th birthday.
Boyle (1-2, 3.82) has not fared well in his last two road starts, bombed for 12 runs (10 earned) in 6 2/3 innings in losses to the New York Yankees and Mariners.
The third-year major-leaguer has never faced the Giants despite having played his first two seasons across the bay in Oakland.
If recent form is an indication, Boyle's performance might have less of an impact on the game than a home run by teammate Brandon Lowe.
The two-time All-Star has homered in four of the Rays' last six games. And on each occasion, teammate Junior Caminero responded with a homer later in the contest, including completing a back-to-back sequence against the A's on Monday. Both Tampa Bay wins in West Sacramento came in games when each went deep.
"That's a game that we have between both of us," Caminero noted to reporters after Wednesday's win. "If he hits a home run, I hit one, so he needs to tighten up."
Caminero has gone deep six times in the past seven games.
--Field Level Media
