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Twins-Rays Preview

May 30, 2009 - 5:20 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Minnesota (24-25) at Tampa Bay (23-27), 4:10 p.m. EDT

After a disappointing road trip, the defending AL champion Tampa Bay Rays are happy to have returned home.

The Minnesota Twins may be looking forward to doing the same.

The Rays look to build off their first victory in nearly a week Saturday when they continue their series against the Twins, who try to avoid losing for the 11th time in 12 games away from Minnesota.

Following a 2-5 road trip that concluded with four straight losses at Cleveland - which entered the series with the worst record in the league - Tampa Bay (24-27) opened a six-game homestand Friday with a 5-3 victory over the Twins (24-26).

"We definitely needed a win. ... It's a good way to start a homestand," said James Shields, Friday's winning pitcher.

Evan Longoria hit a three-run homer - his 13th of the season - to raise his major league-leading RBI total as the Rays snapped a season-high five-game skid.

"This was a make-us-feel-good type of game," said Carl Crawford, who hit his second homer of the season. "We really needed it."

While Tampa Bay's confidence seems to be restored with its sixth victory in eight games at Tropicana Field, Minnesota's road woes continued.

The Twins, who entered Friday coming off a 5-2 homestand, have lost 10 of 11 away from the Metrodome and are a major league-worst 5-15 on the road.

"We've played good baseball on the road, but we're not winning games," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "You've got to find a way to win games."

Joe Mauer singled, doubled and tripled Friday but struck out with a runner on base to end the game. The two-time All-Star is batting .417 on the season and is 15 for 28 (.536) with three doubles, three triples and six RBIs in seven games versus the Rays since the start of last season.

The Twins look to break out of their road funk as they face David Price (0-0, 5.40 ERA), who is set to make his second start of the season.

Price is taking the starting spot of Scott Kazmir, who went on the disabled list May 22 with a strained right quadriceps, but had a rough season debut.

At Cleveland on Monday, Price was staked to a 10-0 lead but ran up his pitch count and lasted only 3 1-3 innings. The Rays went on to lose 11-10. The left-hander struggled with his control, giving up two runs, four hits and five walks with six strikeouts, throwing 57 of his 100 pitches for strikes.

"He had great stuff, but was all over the place," Rays manager Joe Maddon said.

Price, who excelled out of the bullpen in last year's playoffs, made his only career appearance against the Twins on Sept. 18, allowing one hit in two-thirds of an inning of relief.

Minnesota counters with Francisco Liriano (2-6, 6.42), who looks to avoid losing a third straight start.

After being tagged for seven runs and seven hits in four innings of a 7-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox on May 20, Liriano gave up five runs and a season-high 11 hits with seven strikeouts in four innings of Monday's 6-5 loss to Boston.

Against Tampa Bay on April 28, Liriano had one of his better outings, giving up two runs and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings of a 4-3 win, but wasn't a factor in the decision. He's 2-0 with a 1.21 ERA in three career starts versus the Rays.