Matchups

Many managers will give their catcher the day off when a day game follows a night game, but Atlanta Braves skipper Fredi Gonzalez might be tempted to pencil Evan Gattis on his lineup card Thursday. The Braves play at Philadelphia in the finale of a rain-shortened three-game set and Gattis will look to extend his four-game hitting streak, during which he is 10-for-16 with four homers. The Phillies have dropped the first two games of the series in excruciating – and completely opposite – fashion.

Offense was rarely an issue for the Detroit Tigers on their way to a third straight American League Central title a season ago, but scoring runs has been a bit more difficult in 2014. The Tigers, who look to salvage a split of a two-game home set with the Cleveland Indians on Thursday, finished second in the majors with 796 runs last season. However, Detroit’s offense has been mostly invisible recently, scoring two runs or fewer in every loss during a 2-5 stretch.

The Minnesota Twins will have two chances to end their long-time struggles against the Toronto Blue Jays as the teams face off in a split doubleheader Thursday at chilly Target Field. Temperatures in Minnesota are expected to be in the mid-30s just one day after flurries forced the postponement of the middle game of the three-game series. Toronto prevailed 9-3 in the series opener and has won 16 of the last 20 encounters between the teams.

Say this for the Texas Rangers: They make sure the home crowd sticks around until the end. The Rangers host the Seattle Mariners on Thursday afternoon, hours after recording their fourth walk-off victory in nine home games by scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth to shock the Mariners 3-2 and improve to 4-1 in one-run games.

Hanley Ramirez hopes to be in the starting lineup Thursday when the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers look to salvage the series finale against the San Francisco Giants, who have posted back-to-back one-run wins. Ramirez gave the Dodgers a scare in the seventh inning Wednesday when he was hit by a pitch from Ryan Vogelsong on the left hand, but X-rays were negative. The Giants have won four of five against the Dodgers and moved into first place in the National League West with Wednesday's 2-1 victory

The offensively challenged San Diego Padres are at least hitting when it matters lately and will try to win the series with the visiting Colorado Rockies on Thursday in the finale of their four-game set. San Diego, last in the National League with 44 runs, went 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position in Wednesday's 4-2 victory as Chris Denorfia had two of the hits while driving in a pair of runs. Colorado is 2-4 on its seven-game trip as life away from Coors Field continues to be difficult.

The Milwaukee Brewers have yet to lose on the road and will put that perfect record on the line when they visit the Pittsburgh Pirates for the opener of a four-game series on Thursday. The Brewers salvaged the finale of a three-game series at home with a win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday and have won 10 of their last 12 overall behind an improved pitching staff. The Pirates, who slugged seven home runs against Cincinnati, will put that to the test.

After enjoying terrific success against Washington last season, the St. Louis Cardinals' Adam Wainwright faces the host Nationals on Thursday in the opener of a three-game series. Wainwright went 2-0 with a 1.76 ERA in two starts versus Washington in 2013, limiting the Nationals to a .214 batting average and posting a 14-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Wainwright worked seven innings in all three of his starts this year, although he allowed a season-high four runs in Saturday's win over the Cubs.

CC Sabathia has a tough act to follow as he takes on host Tampa Bay on Thursday while aiming for the New York Yankees' third shutout in two days. The Yankees blanked the Chicago Cubs in both ends of a day-night doubleheader Wednesday. They might need another gem to beat the Rays and ace David Price, who has dominated head-to-head meetings with Sabathia throughout his career.

The Minnesota Twins will have two chances to end their long-time struggles against the Toronto Blue Jays as the teams face off in a split doubleheader Thursday at chilly Target Field. Temperatures in Minnesota are expected to be in the mid-30s just one day after flurries forced the postponement of the middle game of the three-game series. Toronto prevailed 9-3 in the series opener and has won 16 of the last 20 encounters between the teams.

A pair of ace left-handers square off Thursday in Chicago when Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox matches up against the White Sox's Chris Sale. Lester won his last start but remains desperate for run support after the Boston bats produced five total runs in his first three outings. However, it's not likely that the Red Sox offense will break through against Sale, who has won all three of his starts and has held current Boston players to three hits in 25 career at-bats.

The Houston Astros got a glimpse of their future with the beginning of the George Springer era and they hope to see more when they host the Kansas City Royals on Thursday in the finale of a three-game series. Springer, the 11th overall pick by Houston in the 2011 draft, made his major-league debut by batting second and playing right field in Kansas City's 6-4 victory in 11 innings Wednesday and went 1-for-5 with a walk and two strikeouts while also getting picked off first.