8* Tampa Bay (4:05 ET): I said yesterday that I couldn’t see the Rays getting swept by the Mariners this weekend. Well, given that they lost Saturday’s game (6-5, in extra innings), I’m going to play the road team again as they look to avoid the sweep. The results of this series are certainly odd, given TB is one of the better teams in baseball (+77 run differential). But a season-high five-game losing skid has them now a half-game back of Boston in the AL East. It’s time for that streak to end.

Seattle now has a winning record (37-36), but that’s quite misleading when you consider their YTD run differential is -50. The gap between their number of actual wins vs. expected wins (based on run differential) is the largest in all of MLB. What’s made them such a clear overachiever is their MLB-leading 16 one-run wins. They are also now 6-1 in extra inning games after Saturday. They were fortunate yesterday to get a second inning grand slam from J.P. Crawford. For the Rays, it was their third one-run loss in the last four games.

It will be a battle of southpaws on the mound Sunday. Shane McClanahan goes for the Rays. He’s been a bit unfortunate this year in that 70 percent of the runs he’s allowed have come with two outs. The team was 5-1 in his first six starts before going 0-3 the L3. I think, like his team, McClanahan gets back on track today. Seattle has the lowest team batting average at home in all of MLB. Marco Gonzales is 0-2 for the Mariners since coming off the DL. He faces a Rays lineup averaging 5.7 rpg on the road. 8* Tampa Bay