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Athletics-Rays Preview

Apr 26, 2010 - 6:20 PM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Oakland (12-8) at Tampa Bay (14-5), 7:10 p.m. EDT

Having made it to the World Series two seasons ago, it's not a big shock that the Tampa Bay Rays have the best record in the major leagues.

The Oakland Athletics leading the AL West is considerably more surprising.

The A's will try to secure their best start since 1992 in the opener of a two-game series at Tropicana Field on Tuesday night.

They will face a Rays club that is off to the best start in franchise history. Tampa Bay (14-5) has a chance to earn its 15th victory seven games earlier than the 2008 AL pennant-winning squad.

As with that season, the Rays are thriving in large part because of their pitching staff, second in the league with a 3.21 ERA.

The latest strong pitching performance came in a 6-0 victory over Toronto on Sunday. David Price threw his first career shutout and gave Tampa Bay a 2.40 ERA during an 11-2 stretch.

"We're playing well," Price told the team's website. "Everybody else knows that, too. We're going to get everybody else's best from here on out. It's going to make it tougher on us, but I think we can handle it."

What could make it tough on Tampa Bay is Oakland's pitching staff, which leads the AL with a 2.93 ERA. The A's (12-8) posted their second shutout in three games in an 11-0 win over Cleveland on Sunday.

The victory put the A's on the verge of winning 13 of their first 21 for the first time in 18 years. They started 12-8 in 2008, but lost their next game and finished 75-86.

Since reaching the ALCS in 2006, Oakland has not won more than 76 games in a season.

Gio Gonzalez's seven scoreless innings Sunday gave the team's starters a 1.45 ERA in the past five games. Tuesday's scheduled starter, Ben Sheets (1-1, 2.74 ERA), turned in one of those performances.

The right-hander gave up two runs over six innings against the New York Yankees on Wednesday, but suffered a 3-1 loss.

If Oakland can continue its hot hitting, Sheets might have better luck in his first career start against the Rays. The A's were batting .240 heading into the Indians series but hit .318 and scored 22 runs over the three games.

"It's fun when everyone contributes and is getting on base," third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff told Oakland's official website.

Scoring runs might not be as easy against right-hander Wade Davis (1-1, 2.65), who posted a 0.82 ERA over his past two starts.

Davis allowed two hits in each of those outings, the most recent a six-inning effort in 12-0 win at Chicago on Wednesday. He opposed All-Stars Mark Buehrle and Josh Beckett in those starts and has managed to overcome some slight control problems.

Davis, who squared off with CC Sabathia in his season debut April 10, has walked 11 on the season.

The A's took the 2009 season series 6-4 and went 4-3 at Tropicana Field.