San Diego Padres (72-63, second in the NL West) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (80-54, first in the AL East)

St. Petersburg, Florida; Saturday, 4:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Padres: Walker Buehler (8-6, 4.63 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 108 strikeouts); Rays: Nick Martinez (13-4, 2.93 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 87 strikeouts)

LINE: Rays -134, Padres +110; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Rays play the San Diego Padres, leading the series 1-0.

Tampa Bay has an 80-54 record overall and a 44-23 record at home. Rays hitters are batting a collective .260, the highest team batting average in MLB play.

San Diego is 31-35 on the road and 72-63 overall. The Padres have gone 34-12 in games when they did not allow a home run.

The matchup Saturday is the second time these teams square off this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Junior Caminero has 20 doubles, a triple and 35 home runs for the Rays. Chandler Simpson is 12 for 38 with a double over the past 10 games.

Jackson Merrill has 21 doubles, three triples, 22 home runs and 69 RBIs while hitting .241 for the Padres. Fernando Tatis Jr. is 14 for 42 with three doubles and four home runs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 5-5, .245 batting average, 3.68 ERA, outscored by one run

Padres: 5-5, .224 batting average, 2.20 ERA, outscored opponents by nine runs

INJURIES: Rays: Cole Sulser: 15-Day IL (back), Jon Heasley: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ben Williamson: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Griffin Jax: 15-Day IL (elbow), Victor Mesa Jr.: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Edwin Uceta: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Gavin Lux: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jake Fraley: 60-Day IL (groin), Ryan Pepiot: 60-Day IL (hip)

Padres: Jeremiah Estrada: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Samad Taylor: 10-Day IL (oblique), Lucas Giolito: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jason Adam: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Joe Musgrove: 60-Day IL (elbow), Miguel Andujar: 10-Day IL (wrist), Nick Pivetta: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ramon Laureano: 60-Day IL (hip), Bryan Hoeing: 60-Day IL (elbow)

___

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