Ascending Rays take aim at Twins in series opener

Coming off a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays, the Tampa Bay Rays now stand at .500 for the first time in a month.

Their reward for that is a three-game series at home against the Minnesota Twins, who are 16-5 in May, starting Monday.

The Rays finished their sweep of Toronto with one of their best overall games of the season, a 13-0 rout. With the win, the Rays now own the majors' current longest winning streak -- five games.

"We're seeing some results fall our way," said Sunday's starter Ryan Pepiot, who allowed just three hits and a walk over a season-long seven innings.

"We're just trusting the process that over the full course of 162 (games), the results will yield themselves, then we'll come out on top and be ready to play October baseball."

Minnesota fell 2-1 at home to the Kansas City Royals in 10 innings on Sunday. The Twins still captured the three-game series thanks to walk-off victories on both Friday and Saturday.

The Twins have had a successful May despite some of their top players missing time due to injuries.

A May 15 collision between center fielder Byron Buxton and shortstop Carlos Correa landed both on the seven-day concussion injured list. Correa returned for the series opener on friday, while Buxton is expected to make the trip with the team to Tampa.

Matt Wallner last played on April 15 due to a strained hamstring. However, the right fielder could return at some point during the upcoming three-city, 10-game road trip that also will take the Twins to Seattle and West Sacramento, Calif.

"The group of guys we have, the depth that we have, is super important and has shown over this time with them all down," catcher Ryan Jeffers told MLB.com. "We've played some of the best baseball we've played with some of our best players not in the lineup. Yeah, we're super excited to get our guys and be able to send our 'A' lineup out there more often, but health is part of the game and having depth keeps the good teams afloat."

A pair of right-handers are scheduled to start for both teams on Monday evening. Chris Paddack (2-4, 3.98 ERA) will take the mound for the Twins, while Zack Littell (3-5, 4.25) gets the call for Tampa Bay.

Paddack took the loss in his most recent start, pitching 5 1/3 innings and allowing two runs in a 5-1 setback on Wednesday to the Cleveland Guardians. He gave up seven hits while walking two and striking out two.

Paddack will be facing the Rays for the first time in his career.

Littell has won three straight decisions but received a no-decision last Tuesday against the Houston Astros. He gave up two runs and seven hits over five innings and struck out six without walking a batter in the 3-2 win.

Tampa's starter is 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA in five career appearances (three starts) against the Twins. He's allowed 19 hits, walked six and struck out 16 over 18 innings. Four of the hits he's surrendered have been home runs.

He last faced the Twins on Sept. 2 in St. Petersburg, Fla. He earned the loss after allowing four runs over four innings in a 5-4 loss.