Rays @ Twins

Who will WIN this matchup?

Tampa Bay Rays (34-23)

@ Minnesota Twins (33-26)

Starting Pitchers:

Rasmussen (TB): 5-2; 3.02 ERA

Smeltzer (MIN) 2-0; 1.93 ERA

Current odds:

Tampa Bay Rays: (+101)

Minnesota Twins: (-119)

• The starting line-up for the Rays is as follows:

• The starting line-up for the Twins is as follows:

• Fresh off an impressive three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, the Tampa Bay Rays will begin a nine-game trip with a three-game series against the American League Central-leading Minnesota Twins that starts Friday night in Minneapolis. The Rays will follow with a three-game series against the AL East-leading Yankees before finishing with a three-game set against an Orioles team that took two of three games from Tampa Bay last month in Baltimore.

• Right-hander Drew Rasmussen (5-2, 3.02 ERA), who is 0-0 with a 9.00 ERA in two career relief appearances vs. Minnesota, will make his first career start against the Twins on Friday. Left-hander Devin Smeltzer (2-0, 1.93) will make his first career start and appearance against the Rays.

• Tampa Bay is 13-10 on the road this season and comes in with momentum after sweeping the Cardinals. The Rays rebounded after dropping two of three to the Chicago White Sox last weekend.

• The Rays won the opener against St. Louis 4-2 in 10 innings Tuesday on a walk-off, three-run homer by Taylor Walls, then pounded out 18 hits in an 11-3 win. They finished the series with a 2-1 victory on Thursday as lefty Shane McClanahan (7-2) allowed just two hits over eight innings while striking out nine. Ji-Man Choi hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning.

• The Twins come in off a tough 10-7 loss to the Yankees in the rubber game of their three-game series on Thursday night, blowing an early 7-3 lead in the finale.

• Minnesota lost despite tying a major league record with back-to-back-to-back home runs by Luis Arraez, Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa to begin the game. The Twins hit five home runs, including a pair by Buxton, to chase Gerrit Cole after just 2 1/3 innings.

• However, Minnesota starter Dylan Bundy, who last won on April 23, left after allowing four runs in four-plus innings, and the normally reliable Twins bullpen imploded after that, giving up six runs on nine hits in five innings.

• Anthony Rizzo’s seventh-inning RBI single proved to be the game-winner. The Twins managed only one hit, a single, after Cole departed.

• Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli, whose team went 3-3 over a rough six-game stretch against the Toronto Blue Jays (2-1) and the Yankees (1-2) minus its two best starting pitchers, Joe Ryan and Sonny Gray, put a positive spin on the Thursday loss.

• Minnesota won two of three from the Rays from April 29-May 1 in St. Petersburg, Fla., including a 9-1 victory over McClanahan, who has won six consecutive decisions since.