Scott Kazmir looks to help the Rays recover from the loss of Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria, who went on the disabled list yesterday. Tampa Bay starts a three-game set in Oakland tonight. The Athletics have been a debacle in the second half going 3-18. And the Rays come in winners of five of their previous six, which has swelled their lead in the AL East to four games over the Red Sox and nine over the plummeting Yankees.
Boston comes home after securing a split with the White Sox yesterday behind a dominating performance by Josh Beckett. The Red Sox will host the Rangers with knuckleballer Charlie Zink making his major league debut on the mound. Zink replaces Tim Wakefield, who is on the DL. It will be a challenge for Zink, 28, against a potent Rangers lineup that could feast on Fenway’s Green Monster.
The Marlins try to bounce back from a series-opening 6-2 loss to the Cardinals in Miami last night. Florida will send rookie Chris Volstad (3-2, 2.67 ERA) to the hill to take on St. Louis, who is staying in the wild-card hunt with the Brewers. The Marlins are in third place in the NL East a ½ game behind the Mets and 2 ½ back of the Phillies.
The Phillies had a golden opportunity to extend that NL East lead last night. With the Mets and Marlins losing earlier in the day, Philadelphia lost to the Dodgers 8-6 in Los Angeles. They will send ace Cole Hamels to the hill tonight to even the series and maintain or extend their lead on top of the division. The Dodgers will counter with rookie southpaw Clayton Kershaw to the mound as they look to draw even with the Diamondbacks who they trail by one game in the NL West.