Game 52 Preview: Tampa Bay Rays vs Minnesota Twins

The impossible has happened.

The Rays have somehow been swept by the Kansas City Royals of all teams, and now the Rays have lost four in a row, and ten of their last 12. The winning drought has dropped the Rays to a record of 22-29, in last place in the American League East, nine games behind the Red Sox.

Hoping to reverse their fortunes, the Rays travel to Minnesota to take on the team with the worst record in the majors. The Twins currently stand with a record of 15-37, ten games behind the fourth place team in the American League Central and 15 games back of the division leading Royals.

TODAY'S STARTING PITCHERS:

Moore provided a quality start his last time out, coming an out away from pitching a complete seven innings against the Yankees on the 28th. Moore allowed three runs on eight hits -- one homer -- while he did walk three, but also racked up seven strikeouts.

Phil Hughes Scouting Report:

Kyle Gibson was slated to be the Twins starting pitcher tonight, until around noon eastern, the Twins decided they'd hold off on activating him and instead will use Phil Hughes. So far this year, Hughes has struggled to remain consistent, as he has notched a couple of decent performance, but has also recorded some dreadful ones.  HIs last time out was on 28th against the Mariners where he was pulled after recording two outs in the fifth inning, as he had allowed four runs nine hits -- one home run -- and also walked and struck out three.

His Arsenal:

His Splits:

TODAY'S STARTING LINEUPS