Tampa Bay ended their most recent road trip on a huge high note, sweeping the Angels in four games. The Rays will return home for a pair of three game series against the Royals and Athletics. Returning with an 8-2 record, this was easily the best Rays road trip in recent history. The Royals are 54-66, yet they still stand as a formidable speed bump the way of the Rays. Mind you, Kansas City is 13-6 since July 31st, with the AL’s second-best mark in that span. More on the last series and the next after a quick look at the Rays and Royals pitching and hitting statistics. (below)

Rays and Royals starters over the last 14 days.
Rays and Royals hitting at home and away, (respectively) and over the last 14 days.
  • Tampa Bay holds the AL’s top wild-card spot after winning 11 of 13, including the four-game road sweep of the Angels.
  • Tampa Bay homered nine times and scored 37 runs , a franchise record for a four-game set.
  • The Rays are now 84-45 in the month of August since the 2008 season. That’s a .651 winning percentage, and a league best.
  • Interesting fact: following another stolen base, Jose Molina now has as many steals (3) as Robinson Cano, Jeff Francoeur, Yunel Escobar, Mike Moustakas, and Gordan Beckham.
  • This was Tampa Bay’s first four-game road sweep since April 2010 at Boston, and their first-ever four-game sweep of the Angels.
  • How do the Rays fare against the Royals’ starters?
  1. Will Smith (4-4, 5.09 ERA): This will be the first start against Tampa Bay for the rookie LHP
  2. Luke Hochevar (5-5, 5.24 ERA): The Rays have posted a .257 BA/.308 OBP/.397 SLG/.705 OPS line against Hochevar, with seven doubles, four home runs, 21 RBI, and eight walks in 136 at-bats. Sam Fuld (1-2), Elliot Johnson (2-3), Evan Longoria (6-13, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, BB), Carlos Pena (6-15, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB), BJ Upton (7-20, 2 2B, 2 RBI), and Ben Zobrist (4-15, 2B, 2 RBI, BB) have all had success against the rightie.
  3. Luis Mendoza (7-8, 4.26 ERA): A handful of Rays have faced Mendoza, with even a fewer number having a level of success against the Royals rightie. The Rays have posted a .600 BA/.600 OBP/1.000 SLG/1.600 OPS line in five at-bats. Of the four Rays that have faced Mendoza, both Matt Joyce and Sean Rodriguez have hit doubles.
  • Tampa Bay were averaging 4.22 runs per game when they last faced the Royals prior to the All-Star break. The Royals swept the Rays in that series. Though the Rays are averaging approximately the same amount of runs per game since the All-Star break, they’ve upped the ante of late, averaging just under five runs per game in the month of August.
  • The upcoming RNC is responsible for an upcoming wonky schedule for Tampa Bay, including moving things up a day, forcing the Rays to play 19 consecutive games without a day off. Joe Maddon has been forced to be creative, figuring out a way to get the Rays regulars time off without a drop-off in output. Ben Zobrist and Jeff Keppinger were off Sunday, and Evan Longoria will reportedly get the day off today. They will also have a reduced pre-game workload, having the players report later where they just show up and play.
  • Luke Scott is expected to be reactivated from the DL Tuesday after going 8-26 in an extended rehab assignment with the Stone Crabs. He’s projected to take on some of the first base duties so Tampa Bay can get both Scott and Longoria in the lineup on a fairly consistent basis.

We’ll post more in this thread shortly. It’s late, and I’m tired!

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