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Struggling Rays seek to get on track against Marlins

Jun 2, 2014 - 2:29 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The struggling Tampa Bay Rays hope to put an end to their losing streak when they renew their rivalry with the Miami Marlins Monday at Marlins Park.

The Citrus Series will begin with two games in Miami before shifting to Tampa's Tropicana Field in the middle of the week.

Tampa Bay has lost six in a row after back-to-back sweeps at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox. The losing ways continued for the Rays with Sunday's 4-0 loss at Fenway Park, as Erik Bedard suffered the loss for giving up three runs in 4 2/3 innings to fall to 2-4.

Evan Longoria had two of the five hits for the Rays, who are 11 games under .500, the most games under that mark since finishing the 2007 season at 66-96 in their final season as the Devil Rays.

Tampa Bay has lost eight straight on the road and have been outscored by a 48-18 margin in that span.

"We haven't made good, hard contact on a consistent basis," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "It's a confidence issue more than anything."

The six-game losing streak comes on the heels of winning four in a row.

Hoping to pitch the Rays out of their funk Monday will be Alex Cobb. Cobb, who recently broke a club record for most consecutive scoreless innings pitched at 24 2/3 innings, was roughed up in last Tuesday's 9-6 loss at Toronto, where he surrendered six runs and nine hits, including two homers, in five innings.

Cobb is 1-2 with a 2.93 earned run average and has won both of his career starts against the Marlins. Rays starters have gone 14 straight starts without a win, their longest streak since a 14-game stretch over 2010-11.

Miami was just swept in three games versus the Atlanta Braves and sits three games behind them for the NL East lead.

In Sunday's 4-2 loss at Marlins Park, the Braves broke a 2-2 tie on Evan Gattis' two-run homer in the top of the ninth off Steve Cishek. The Marlins got two hits in the bottom half, but couldn't avoid the sweep.

Marcell Ozuna hit a two-run homer and Giancarlo Stanton went 0-for-3. Stanton has 10 homers, 29 runs scored and 37 RBI at home. Marlins starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi pitched well in the no-decision, allowing two runs in eight innings of work.

"I felt like this is the best I've located my fastball all season," Eovaldi said. "I was just trying to attack and get quick outs."

Miami, which has lost four in a row at home and is 20-11 as the host, finished 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. The club placed catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia on the seven-day concussion list on Sunday.

Set to take the mound for the Marlins Monday will be veteran left-hander Randy Wolf. Wolf will make his second start of the season and was reached for six runs -- four earned -- and nine hits in five innings of a 7-1 loss to Milwaukee on May 25.

Wolf has a 1-2 record and a 6.43 ERA in three career games (2 starts) against the Rays.

Miami lost all four meetings with Tampa Bay last season. The Marlins have dropped five straight and 13 of the last 14 meetings with the Rays. Tampa Bay is unbeaten in the last six as the visitor in this series.