Matchups

The Philadelphia Phillies will vie for a bit of payback on Wednesday afternoon as they attempt to claim a series victory versus the visiting Chicago Cubs. Philadelphia has won three of its last five on the heels of a season-high seven-game losing skid that began with an emphatic three-game sweep at Wrigley Field on May 27-29.

The Detroit Tigers pounded the Toronto Blue Jays in the opener of a three-game series and waited a little longer to break out the bats and earn a crushing win on Tuesday. The Tigers will try to polish off the three-game sweep when they host the Blue Jays in the finale on Wednesday.

The Tampa Bay Rays look to finish their 10-game road trip with a .500 record when they visit the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday for the rubber match of a three-game interleague set. The Rays were shut out by Zack Greinke on Tuesday in a 5-0 defeat after winning four consecutive contests and come into the finale at 4-5 on their trek.

The San Diego Padres kept their long home winning streak against Atlanta intact with a frantic rally and aim to complete a three-game sweep when they host the Braves in Wednesday's finale. The Padres pushed across two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 4-3 victory Tuesday to record their 12th consecutive win over the Braves at Petco Park.

The Kansas City Royals are beginning to show some frustration during a six-game slide, and the Baltimore Orioles are not backing down from the fight. The fighting Orioles will try to wrap up a three-game sweep when they host the Royals in the series finale on Wednesday.

Carlos Beltran and Starlin Castro have gone the extra mile to spoil the first half of the Los Angeles Angels' most recent visit to the Bronx. With homers in each of the last two games, Beltran and Castro look to slug the New York Yankees to their 14th win in their last 17 home contests versus the Angels when the clubs continue their four-game set on Wednesday.

The Pittsburgh Pirates were stuck in a 2-7 slump before a rainout on Monday and a doubleheader on Tuesday changed the momentum entirely. The Pirates have a chance to earn a sweep in the compressed three-game series when they give right-hander Jameson Taillon his major-league debut and welcome the New York Mets for the finale on Wednesday.

Joey Votto's heroics have the Cincinnati Reds in position to register a rare series win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Votto's walk-off blast in the bottom of the ninth inning, coming after the Reds squandered a five-run lead in the series opener, lifted Cincinnati to its fifth victory in six games entering Wednesday's contest against the visiting Cardinals.

The Texas Rangers seemingly can do no wrong against Houston this season and attempt to defeat the visiting Astros for the ninth consecutive time on Wednesday. Texas won each of the first two contests of the four-game series in its last at-bat to remain unbeaten against its in-state rival and stretch its overall winning streak to a season-high five games.

James Shields returns to the American League following an ill-fated stint with San Diego and makes his first start for the Chicago White Sox since he was acquired from the Padres over the weekend. Shields couldn't draw a much tougher assignment Wednesday as he opposes Max Scherzer and the visiting Washington Nationals in the middle contest of a three-game interleague series.

Ricky Nolasco's name is etched alongside many of the Miami Marlins' pitching records, most notably wins (81) and strikeouts (1,001). The veteran will make his first career start versus the team with which he spent parts of eight seasons when the host Minnesota Twins vie for an interleague series victory over the Marlins on Wednesday.

Chris Carter gave the Oakland Athletics a glimpse of his power potential in his third season in the majors, when he clubbed 16 home runs in only 67 games with the team. Now with Milwaukee, Carter looks to lead the Brewers to a sweep of their abbreviated two-game interleague series against the visiting Athletics on Wednesday.

Nelson Cruz is displaying signs of finding his power stroke and looks to follow up his first two-homer game of the season when the Seattle Mariners host the Cleveland Indians in Wednesday's third contest of a four-game set. Cruz has belted five of his 15 homers in the past six games after his two blasts Tuesday accounted for three of the runs in the 7-1 victory.

Youth is being served in Los Angeles, where 25-year-old Trayce Thompson is quickly becoming a fixture in the Dodgers outfield. Along with 22-year-old shortstop Corey Seager and 19-year-old pitcher Julio Urias, Thompson is part of a promising young core for the Dodgers, who host the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday in the rubber match of a three-game series.

The Boston Red Sox own the most prolific offense in baseball but will be put to a stern test Wednesday when they visit the first-place San Francisco Giants with red-hot Madison Bumgarner on the mound. Bumgarner is 6-0 with a 1.11 ERA in his last eight starts and opposes David Price, who makes his first appearance at AT&T Park in a battle of ace left-handers after Boston prevailed in the opener of the two-game series 5-3 in 10 innings Tuesday.