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After a deflating loss late during Sunday's game, the Rays are well rested and they get set to take on a contingent of former Rays as they welcome the Dodgers to the Trop for a brief two game set, before another off-day and then they'll head to Los Angeles and take on the Angels.
Heading into play, the Rays have a 11-13 record and currently sit three and a half games behind the Boston Red Sox. Meanwhile over on the National league side, the Dodgers sit at .500 with a record of 13-13, just a half game behind the Giants for the NL West.
Today's Starting Pitchers:
| 2016 | W | L | IP | GS | ERA | FIP | K% | BB% | HR | AVG | BABIP | fWAR | GS |
| Scott Kazmir | 1 | 2 | 25 | 5 | 5.76 | 5.07 | 19.1% | 6.4% | 5 | .277 | .307 | 0 | 5 |
| Matt Moore | 1 | 2 | 32 | 5 | 3.66 | 3.35 | 27.1% | 5.4% | 4 | .217 | .272 | 0.6 | 5 |
Matt Moore continued his trend of solid starts last Wednesday as he went seven innings against the Orioles and picked up his second loss of the year in a tough luck decision as he only allowed three runs on three hits, with all three runs coming from a homer off the bat of Joey Rickard. Moore also walked two hitters and struck out nine over the outing.
Scott Kazmir Scouting Report:
Scott Kazmir will take on the Rays for just the third time at Tropicana Field, as he returns to the team he made his major league debut with and where he spent his prime years. Kazmir has gotten off to a rocky beginning of his Dodgers tenure as first smart went smoothly enough, but since then he has struggled to pitch deep into games. Over his past four outings, he is averaging under five innings a start, with his last one coming against the Marlins on Wednesday where he allowed two runs on six hits, while he walked one and struck out six in his best start since his Los Angeles debut.
His arsenal:
| PITCH | AVG. VELO. | FREQUENCY | vs LHB | vs RHB |
| Fastball | 91.7 MPH |
45.3% vs LHB *** 35.6% vs RHB |
Works middle-away, usually up in the zone | Down and away, or paints the outside the corner at the waist |
| Sinker | 90.8 MPH |
13.9% vs LHB *** 17.0% vs RHB |
Anywhere down in the zone | Low and away |
| Cutter | 86.4 MPH |
4.0% vs LHB *** 20.8% vs RHB |
Low and away from the zone | Paints the inside corner |
| Slider | 80.2 MPH |
28.9% vs LHB *** 1.7% vs RHB |
Low and away from the zone | Low and inside, off the plate |
| Change-up | 76.5 MPH |
5.5% vs LHB *** 21.7% vs RHB |
Sporadic | Either below the zone, or paints the outside corner |
| Curveball | 73.5 MPH |
2.0% vs LHB *** 3.3% vs RHB |
Sporadic | Sporadic |
| Slow Curve | 64.3 MPH |
0.5% vs LHB *** 0.0% vs RHB |
Non-existent | Has thrown only once |
His splits:
| 2016 | TBF | wOBA | AVG | OBP | SLG | HR | K% | BB% |
| vs LHB | 41 | .288 | .256 | .293 | .359 | 1 | 19.5% | 2.4% |
| vs RHB | 69 | .371 | .290 | .362 | .500 | 4 | 18.8% | 8.7% |
| HOME | 49 | .338 | .326 | .408 | .349 | 0 | 18.4% | 10.2% |
| AWAY | 61 | .341 | .241 | .279 | .517 | 5 | 19.7% | 3.3% |