Tampa Bay Rays (37-32, third in the AL East) vs. New York Mets (45-25, first in the NL East)
New York; Saturday, 4:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Rays: Drew Rasmussen (5-4, 2.22 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 59 strikeouts); Mets: Tylor Megill (5-4, 3.76 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 84 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Mets -138, Rays +117; over/under is 7 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Rays meet the New York Mets with a 1-0 series lead.
New York is 27-8 in home games and 45-25 overall. The Mets are 31-5 in games when they have more hits than their opponents.
Tampa Bay is 14-12 on the road and 37-32 overall. Rays hitters have a collective .391 slugging percentage to rank 10th in the AL.
Saturday's game is the second time these teams match up this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Pete Alonso has 22 doubles, a triple, 17 home runs and 63 RBIs for the Mets. Jeff McNeil is 12 for 37 with two doubles, four home runs and 10 RBIs over the last 10 games.
Jonathan Aranda has 12 doubles, eight home runs and 37 RBIs for the Rays. Yandy Diaz is 15 for 39 with a double and two home runs over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Mets: 7-3, .258 batting average, 3.10 ERA, outscored opponents by 25 runs
Rays: 7-3, .251 batting average, 3.56 ERA, outscored opponents by eight runs
INJURIES: Mets: Kodai Senga: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Brooks Raley: 60-Day IL (elbow), Mark Vientos: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Jesse Winker: 10-Day IL (side), Danny Young: 60-Day IL (elbow), A.J. Minter: 60-Day IL (lat), Frankie Montas: 60-Day IL (lat), Sean Manaea: 60-Day IL (oblique), Jose Siri: 10-Day IL (shin), Nick Madrigal: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Drew Smith: 60-Day IL (elbow), Christian Scott: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Rays: Manuel Rodriguez: 15-Day IL (forearm), Jonny Deluca: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Ha-Seong Kim: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Hunter Bigge: 15-Day IL (lat), Shane McClanahan: 60-Day IL (tricep), Richie Palacios: 10-Day IL (knee), Alex Faedo: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Nathan Lavender: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
