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Rays host Rangers; Hamilton returns to Tropicana

May 26, 2008 - 1:32 PM Texas (26-26) at Tampa Bay (30-20) 7:10 pm EDT

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) - Scott Kazmir looks to keep the Tampa Bay Rays rolling at home when they open seven-game homestand against the Texas Rangers on Monday.

Kazmir (3-1, 1.57 ERA) goes in search of his fourth straight winning decision after yielding just one run and four hits over seven innings in a 3-2 victory at Oakland on Tuesday.

The hard-throwing lefthander has been almost lights out against the Rangers, holding them to five earned runs through four career starts in the series. Kazmir is 1-0 with a 2.05 ERA lifetime against Texas.

Tampa Bay has won 15 of its last 16 outings at Tropicana Field, including a three-game series sweep of the Baltimore Orioles over the weekend.

Sidney Ponson (3-0, 2.95) takes the ball for Texas, which is just 14-15 away from the "Lone Star" state this season. Ponson enters after his 29th career complete-game, limiting Minnesota to one run on Wednesday at the Metrodome.

The 6-1 righthander is 8-8 with a 4.14 ERA over 24 career games against the Rays. Ponson's six lifetime wins here is the most of his career at any major league ballpark.

Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton faces the former club that drafted him No. 1 overall in the 1999 draft. He also was left availible in the 2006 Rule 5 draft.

"I'll get to see a lot of people who were instrumental in getting me back into the game, and I'm grateful to them," Hamilton said. "I'll see a lot of players who I played with in the Minor Leagues. It will be good to see them, too. I'm glad I played with them. But now I play for a different team and we're going in there with the attitude that we need to win."

The 27-year-old slugger never played a game in Tropicana Field due to injuries and drug problems that stalled his career.