Wacha expected to start as Tampa Bay hosts Seattle

Updated Aug. 2, 2021 3:20 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Seattle Mariners (56-50, third in the AL West) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (64-42, first in the AL East)

St. Petersburg, Florida; Monday, 7:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Mariners: Chris Flexen (9-5, 3.81 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 69 strikeouts) Rays: Michael Wacha (2-2, 4.79 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 66 strikeouts)

LINE: Rays -162, Mariners +142; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Tampa Bay and Seattle will meet on Monday.

The Rays are 34-20 in home games in 2020. Tampa Bay has slugged .406 this season. Tommy Hunter leads the team with a mark of 1.000.

The Mariners are 23-27 in road games. Seattle is hitting a collective .220 this season, led by Ty France with an average of .272.

The Mariners won the last meeting 6-2. Rafael Montero earned his fifth victory and Shed Long went 1-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs for Seattle. Diego Castillo registered his fourth loss for Tampa Bay.

TOP PERFORMERS: Austin Meadows leads the Rays with 45 extra base hits and is batting .242.

Mitch Haniger leads the Mariners with 25 home runs and is slugging .495.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 7-3, .262 batting average, 2.77 ERA, outscored opponents by 31 runs

Mariners: 5-5, .239 batting average, 5.36 ERA, outscored by four runs

INJURIES: Rays: Ryan Thompson: (shoulder), Jeffrey Springs: (knee), Chaz Roe: (shoulder), Cody Reed: (thumb), Colin Poche: (elbow), Collin McHugh: (arm), Tyler Glasnow: (elbow), J.P. Feyereisen: (shoulder), Pete Fairbanks: (shoulder), Oliver Drake: (forearm), Yonny Chirinos: (elbow), Jalen Beeks: (elbow), Chris Archer: (forearm), Nick Anderson: (elbow).

Mariners: Justus Sheffield: (undisclosed), James Paxton: (left forearm), Ljay Newsome: (elbow), Andres Munoz: (elbow), Nick Margevicius: (shoulder), Ken Giles: (elbow), Justin Dunn: (shoulder), Kyle Lewis: (knee), Sam Haggerty: (shoulder), Jake Fraley: (illness), Evan White: (hip).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.