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Rangers-Rays Preview

Aug 21, 2009 - 4:46 AM By JON PALMIERI STATS Editor

Texas (67-52) at Tampa Bay (65-54), 7:38 p.m. EDT

The main objective for the Tampa Bay Rays over the season's final six weeks is catching the Boston Red Sox in the AL wild-card race. The only way they can achieve that is to first surpass the Texas Rangers.

Tampa Bay looks to make up ground on the team directly ahead of it starting Friday night in the opener of a key three-game series against the Rangers at Tropicana Field.

A recent five-game losing streak didn't help the Rays (65-55) make any progress toward the playoffs, but that skid proved to be only a temporary setback. They rebounded with four straight wins heading into Thursday's game against Baltimore.

Despite a homer and four RBIs from Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay's comeback fell short in an 8-7 loss that ended their win streak.

"It's a tough loss," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "We just have to put it aside and come back tomorrow night."

The defeat dropped the Rays four games behind wild card-leading Boston, which completed a sweep of Toronto. Texas (68-52), meanwhile, avoided a sweep to Minnesota with an 11-1 victory Thursday and remained one game back of the Red Sox.

Although the Rays were outscored 20-7 in three straight losses at Texas in July, they have won eight of 10 at home against the Rangers.

Nelson Cruz homered in his return to the lineup, Marlon Byrd connected twice and Julio Borbon hit the first home run of his career Thursday. Derek Holland served as the stopper for a Rangers pitching staff that had allowed 14 runs in the previous two games.

Borbon went 3 for 5 with three RBIs, and is hitting .536 (15 for 28) in seven starts since being recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City while Cruz was out with a sprained left ankle.

Friday is the first of nine straight road games for Texas, which plays 15 of its next 19 away from home. The Rangers are 27-28 away from home compared with a 41-24 mark in Arlington.

"I can't say how hungry I am to win. It's great to be in the race. We want to win," said third baseman Michael Young. "We have a bunch of young guys and we're feeding off their energy. This gives us some momentum heading into the trip."

Scott Kazmir (7-7, 6.36 ERA) seeks his fourth win in five starts for Tampa Bay. This has been a difficult season for the left-hander, who has spent time on the disabled list and has an ERA nearly three runs higher than his career average. Kazmir, though, has won three of his last four starts overall, and is 3-0 with a 3.26 ERA in his last three home outings.

He limited Toronto to three runs and five hits with seven strikeouts in 6 1-3 innings of an 8-3 victory Saturday.

Kazmir is 4-1 with a 2.06 ERA in eight starts against the Rangers, limiting them to two earned runs or fewer in each appearance.

Dustin Nippert (4-1, 3.52) looks to continue his run of impressive outings for Texas. The right-hander has provided a huge boost for the Rangers, going 4-1 with a 2.61 ERA in eight games - four starts - since the All-Star break. He was in control again Sunday in a 4-3 win over Boston, allowing two runs and six hits in six innings.

Nippert was hit hard in his only career appearance against Tampa Bay, yielding seven runs over four innings in a 7-4 loss Aug. 17, 2008.