Rays return home looking for first victory at Trop

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The Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays are both struggling on offense in the early going this season and match-up for a three-game series starting today

At the time of this writing, the following Match Odds/Moneyline were available: Minnesota Twins (2.2, +120) and Tampa Bay Rays (1.74, -135)

Minnesota was unable to capture a two-game sweep from the Kansas City Royals in dropping a 10-5 home contest Wednesday. It's too early for the Twins to panic, but yesterday's starting pitcher Francisco Liriano fell to 0-3 with a 9.42 ERA after the loss. "It's the third game of the season," he commented. "Everything's good. I don't want to get frustrated." The offense is slowly starting to turn things around after averaging 2.6 runs per game while starting 3-5 on the season, as it has combined for 23 hits and plating seven runs on Sunday and Tuesday. Minnesota is 14-15 the last three years after allowing 10 runs or more.

Twins starting pitcher Carl Pavano is coming off a bounceback win against the Athletics and is currently 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA in two starts. Last year, the right-hander went 0-1 with a 4.38 ERA in two outings against Tampa Bay. Pavano has tallied a winning 5-4 record and 3.84 ERA in 12 career starts against the Rays, allowing hitters to hit for a combined .265 average. The veteran starter is 24-23 with a 4.24 ERA in 68 career appearances (63 starts) indoors.

Continued: Baseball Picks