Seattle at Tampa Bay

Sticking with the Champa-Bay theme, the Rays have taken over first place in the tough AL East off an impressive sweep over the Boston Red Sox. Tampa Bay has now won four in a row and climbed to fourth in the majors with a 5.01 scoring average. Seattle has the look of a quitter after getting the rug pulled out from under them by management. Since having their closer, Kendall Graveman, traded to division rival Houston prior to last week's deadline, Seattle is 1-4 and they've allowed 33 runs in those five games. The Mariners swept Tampa during a four-game set when these clubs met back in June, but things have changed dramatically since then. Tonight,  Chris Flexen (9-5, 3.81 ERA) will look for redemption after his poor start vs. that tough Astros team, and this sets up a great opportunity for Flexen to notch his 10th win. Flexen went just 4.0 innings vs. Houston on July 27 and home teams with a hot bullpen like Tampa are 60-26 (70%) in the starter's bounceback bid. Seattle is floundering. Take the Rays on the moneyline.