Road warriors? Rays will need to be entering opener vs. Angels

The Tampa Bay Rays will begin a pivotal two-week West Coast trip on Monday night when they open a three-game series with the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif.

Tampa Bay, which is just 8-22 over its last 30 games, enters the series five games behind the Seattle Mariners for the final wild-card spot in the American League.

The Rays then will play three games at Seattle followed by a trip back down the coast to West Sacramento, Calif., for a three-game set with the Athletics. The trek will end with three games in San Francisco against the Giants.

After dropping two of three games at home to the Los Angeles Dodgers, including 3-0 on Sunday afternoon, the Rays could get a reset with the lengthy trip.

"It's an opportunity for us to turn the page," pitcher Drew Rasmussen said. "It's a sprint ahead of us, and if we show up to win one game every single day, we will have a good opportunity to play meaningful games down the stretch."

"There are a lot of positives to take from the series," infielder Brandon Lowe added. "Focus on those and get rid of any negative thoughts we have and get ready and go play good baseball on the west coast."

Los Angeles, which is 7-9 since the All-Star break, is 5 1/2 games behind the Mariners.

Right-hander Adrian Houser (6-2, 2.10 ERA), picked up at the trade deadline last week from the Chicago White Sox, will make his Rays debut in Monday's series opener against All-Star left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (4-7, 3.30).

Houser has yet to face the Angels in his career. He won his last four decisions with the White Sox, including 12-5 over the Chicago Cubs on July 25, when he allowed three runs on five hits over 6 2/3 innings.

Kikuchi, meanwhile, has faced the Rays 13 times (12 starts) and has a 6-3 record and 3.70 ERA against them. He took the loss the last time he faced them, April 9 in Tampa, allowing four runs on six hits and four walks in six innings in a 5-4 setback.

The Angels have gone just 5-5 on a 13-game homestand and needed a dramatic comeback from a five-run deficit on Sunday to avoid being swept by the White Sox.

Taylor Ward hit a three-run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth, and Zach Neto homered, doubled and drove in three runs in Los Angeles' 8-5 win.

It was biggest comeback win of the season for the Angels, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Ward hit a 3-2 sweeper from reliever Tyler Alexander into the bullpen in left field for his team-leading 26th home run.

"Huge (win)," Ward said. "Getting down early like that, and the fight with the boys, it's what we've been doing all year. It's awesome."

Ward was asked how much momentum the comeback win would give the Angels heading into the series with Tampa Bay.

"A lot," he said. "We've just got to keep going out there and doing our thing, play good fundamental baseball, and good things will happen."

--Field Level Media