The Tampa Bay Rays are in desperate need of a win to end a five game losing streak. They go into today’s matchup with the starting pitching edge in Ryan Pepiot, but when you are losing there are always curveballs to keep the slide going. Yesterday it was the Rays bullpen that faltered late. Look for the Angels to continue to capitalize on opportunities and hand the Rays their sixth straight loss.

Tuesday felt like the first really weird day of the MLB season but it certainly will not be the last. The Angels are much better than expected but blew out the bullpen a fair amount tonight in winning in Tampa. They are also 0-2 in the two starts of lefty Yusei Kikuchi (4.50 ERA). A fair amount of Rays have seen him Ryan Pepiot (2.45 ERA) has allowed two earned in each of his two starts and allowed one run and three hits over six last year in his only career start vs. the Halos.