THREE-GAME SERIES AT TROPICANA FIELD

Tuesday 6:10 p.m. • FSN, 96.3-FM

RHP Ervin Santana (2-4, 5.53 ERA) vs. RHP Nathan Karns (7-5, 3.44)

Wednesday 6:10 p.m. • FSN, 96.3-FM

RHP Tyler Duffey (2-1, 4.60) vs. RHP Chris Archer (11-9, 2.77)

Thursday 6:10 p.m. • FSN, 96.3-FM

LHP Tommy Milone (6-3, 3.69) vs. LHP Drew Smyly (1-2, 3.42)

TWINS UPDATE

The Twins took two of three from the Rays at Target Field May 15-17 and won two of three at Tropicana Field last season. … Santana went 7⅔ innings against the Yankees in his last start Wednesday but gave up a pair of two-run homers to Greg Bird and is 0-4 with a 8.46 ERA over his last five outings. … Tropicana Field is 1B Joe Mauer's favorite place to hit, based on stats. Mauer is batting .406 with a .508 on-base percentage there, his highest batting average at any park he's played at least 25 games in. But Mauer is only 2-for-13 vs. Smyly. … Scouts from the Rays and White Sox, Duffey's next two opponents, scouted his outing Thursday against Baltimore. Both tried to get a handle on his sharp curveball. … The Twins are 19-17 in one-run games after winning three one-run games against the Orioles. … LHP Brian Duensing has a 1.48 ERA over his past 22 outings. … RHP Kevin Jepsen, facing the team that traded him to the Twins on July 31, hasn't given up a run in his past 10⅓ innings.

RAYS UPDATE

Karns is 3-0 in six starts since the All-Star break. He has had 18 starts in which he has given up two or fewer runs, the most in the American League. … Archer tossed a one-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts at Houston on Thursday. His game score of 95 is the highest in franchise history. … C Curt Casali has eight home runs since the All-Star break. … The Rays are waiting to hear from the league office about 1B James Loney's ejection on Saturday. Paul Nauert tossed Loney after he reacted to a called third strike. Loney came in contact with Nauert during the argument. … Who is Kevin Kiermaier? He's the Rays center fielder and one of the best defensive players in the game. According to baseball-reference.com, Kiermaier leads all AL players in defensive WAR at 4.0. Kiermaier is still learning how to hit but leads the league with 11 triples, two more than the Twins' Eddie Rosario. … Valuable LHP Jake McGee could miss the rest of the season following knee surgery last week.

La VELLE E. NEAL III