• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Indians-Rays Preview

May 15, 2009 - 5:12 AM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

Cleveland (13-22) at Tampa Bay (16-19), 7:38 p.m. EDT

Tampa Bay Rays star Scott Kazmir has had trouble getting into a groove this year. He might want to consider pitching around Cleveland Indians slugger Victor Martinez.

With their pitchers struggling, the Rays hope Kazmir can find a way to shut down the Indians and their red-hot catcher as the teams continue a four-game series Friday night.

Tampa Bay (16-20) has posted a 6.53 ERA en route to losing four of its last six, including 11-7 on Thursday in the series' opener. The Rays managed to win Kazmir's last start as he showed some improvement.

Kazmir (4-3, 5.92 ERA) benefited from an offensive outburst in a 14-5 victory over Boston on Saturday. The left-hander gave up three runs and eight hits in five innings after having yielded six runs in each of his previous two outings.

But Kazmir has been particularly bad at home, going 1-2 with a 7.94 ERA. He's 1-2 with a 5.47 ERA in five starts versus the Indians.

Martinez will make it tough for Kazmir to continue his brief resurgence. He's batting .410 against left-handers and raised his overall average to .400 after a four-hit game Thursday, giving him seven hits in his last nine at-bats.

Martinez is hitting .391 in 31 games versus Tampa Bay, including three hits in eight trips to the plate against Kazmir.

Though the Indians (14-22) are last in the AL Central, they have won 20 of their last 25 against the Rays.

"We bring out the best in Cleveland, there's no question," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said.

Martinez likely will be behind the plate to catch Anthony Reyes (1-1, 7.20), who is 0-1 with a 10.38 ERA in his last three starts. The right-hander allowed five runs and seven hits while walking four in five innings in a 5-3 loss to Detroit on Sunday.

This will be Reyes' first appearance against Tampa Bay.

Cleveland has needed plenty of relief pitching in Reyes' starts. The Indians' bullpen, though, hasn't been much help this season, posting a 5.75 ERA in 112 2-3 innings.

To bolster the relief corps, Cleveland signed free agent Luis Vizcaino on Thursday. The 34-year-old right-hander, now with his eighth team, was released by the Chicago Cubs last month after allowing two hits over 3 2-3 scoreless innings in four appearances.

Indians pitchers will be facing a Tampa Bay lineup that's dealing with injuries to two key players.

Left fielder Carl Crawford (bruised right shoulder) and Pat Burrell (sore neck) were both available to pinch hit Thursday, but neither got into the game. Maddon said Burrell will receive a cortisone shot Friday and miss the next two games, but he's hopeful Crawford can return to the lineup.

Burrell, formerly with Philadelphia, is off to a slow start in his first year with Tampa Bay, batting .250 with one home run. Crawford, meanwhile, is hitting .329 and leads the majors with 22 stolen bases.

With Burrell out, Willy Aybar has taken his place as the Rays' designated hitter. If Crawford misses another game, Ben Zobrist will likely get his second straight start in left field.