• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Rays-Twins Preview

Apr 29, 2009 - 5:33 AM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Tampa Bay (8-12) at Minnesota (9-11), 8:10 p.m. EDT

It's been a frustrating road trip for the Tampa Bay Rays.

They'll try to avoid losing all three series on the trip when they play the finale of a three-game set Wednesday night against the Minnesota Twins.

Tampa Bay (8-13) is 3-5 on this nine-game road swing, dropping two of three in Seattle and Oakland before splitting the first two games in Minnesota (10-11). Its problems are due mostly to a struggling lineup that managed three runs or fewer in the five losses.

"We just have to get beyond that. It will start balancing out," manager Joe Maddon said.

Part of the problem for the Rays is that leadoff batter B.J. Upton is barely hitting. He's 3-for-30 with three runs on the trip and his average has sunk to .151.

Tampa Bay has been susceptible to left-handed starters, losing eight of nine games in which it's faced one. The most recent came Tuesday night, a 4-3 defeat in which Justin Morneau beat out a potential double play grounder in the ninth to score Jose Morales with the winning run.

"I had confidence he was going to get me in, no matter what," Morales said.

The Rays went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight. Upton and Carl Crawford went 0-for-6, although they combined for four walks and three stolen bases.

Tampa Bay is 7-5 against right-handed starters, and will face one in Nick Blackburn on Wednesday.

The Rays also should have Pat Burrell back in the lineup after he missed a second straight game with a stiff neck. Burrell has started 18 games at designated hitter.

One of the Rays' victories on this trip was recorded by Scott Kazmir (3-1, 3.97), who's won both road outings this year. The left-hander yielded two hits over six scoreless innings of an 8-2 win over Oakland on Friday.

Kazmir lost his first three career starts against Minnesota, posting a 4.50 ERA in those outings. He's bounced back to win the last two with a 1.29 ERA.

Twins right fielder Michael Cuddyer is 0-for-10 with five strikeouts and a walk versus Kazmir.

Blackburn (1-1, 4.44) will be trying for a second straight victory. He allowed one run over seven innings of a 5-1 win at Cleveland on Friday.

"He got a nice groove going," manager Ron Gardenhire told the Twins' official Web site. "A nice performance by him, and that always gives you an opportunity to win a game."

This will be Blackburn's second career start versus Tampa Bay. He gave up six runs over 1 1-3 innings of an 11-1 loss Sept. 18.