Rays and Cubs meet with series tied 1-1

Chicago Cubs (33-35, second in the NL Central) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (32-36, fifth in the AL East)

St. Petersburg, Florida; Thursday, 6:50 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Justin Steele (0-3, 3.65 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 43 strikeouts); Rays: Taj Bradley (1-4, 5.17 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 39 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Cubs -115, Rays -104; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago Cubs meet on Thursday with the winner claiming the three-game series.

Tampa Bay has an 18-23 record at home and a 32-36 record overall. Rays hitters have a collective .305 on-base percentage, the 10th-ranked percentage in the AL.

Chicago has gone 15-22 on the road and 33-35 overall. The Cubs rank sixth in the NL with 67 total home runs, averaging 1.0 per game.

The teams play Thursday for the third time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jose Caballero has 10 doubles, a triple and four home runs for the Rays. Brandon Lowe is 8-for-38 with a double and two home runs over the last 10 games.

Christopher Morel has four doubles, a triple and 13 home runs while hitting .209 for the Cubs. Seiya Suzuki is 12-for-39 with three doubles, a triple and three home runs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 4-6, .234 batting average, 5.06 ERA, outscored by 13 runs

Cubs: 5-5, .240 batting average, 3.86 ERA, outscored by five runs

INJURIES: Rays: Richard Lovelady: 15-Day IL (forearm), Jacob Waguespack: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jeffrey Springs: 60-Day IL (elbow), Drew Rasmussen: 60-Day IL (elbow), Shane McClanahan: 60-Day IL (forearm)

Cubs: Ben Brown: 15-Day IL (neck), Adbert Alzolay: 60-Day IL (forearm), Yency Almonte: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Daniel Palencia: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Julian Merryweather: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Caleb Kilian: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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