The Tampa Bay Rays enjoyed their best offensive outburst of the season in their last outing, but they may find runs tough to come by on Thursday afternoon in the finale of the four-game series against the visiting Kansas City Royals. After allowing 12 runs and 16 hits in Wednesday's lopsided setback, Kansas City will counter with a pitcher (veteran right-hander Jason Vargas) who boasts a majors-best 1.19 ERA and is coming off his third scoreless outing of the young season.

The Boston Red Sox hardly are making the most of their first visit to Milwaukee in 14 years and will try to avoid a three-game sweep in the series finale against the heavy-hitting Brewers on Thursday afternoon. Milwaukee pounded out 13 hits for the second straight night and has scored 18 runs in winning the first two games of the set.

The Washington Nationals repeatedly have come up empty in the annual Beltway Series against the Baltimore Orioles, with their last season series victory coming in 2007. Washington has a chance to earn a split of this year's four-game, home-and-home set when they host the Orioles on Thursday night in the series finale.

The New York Yankees have been dominant at home, scoring nearly seven runs per game and building a 12-3 record. However, their big bats will be tested Thursday night when the Houston Astros start left-hander Dallas Keuchel in the opener of a four-game series at Yankee Stadium.

The Seattle Mariners' high-octane offense is masking some of the troubles of a starting pitching staff that is decimated by injury. Seattle has erupted for 53 runs en route to winning six of its last seven contests heading into Thursday's opener of a four-game series against the host Toronto Blue Jays.

Manager Andy Green is playing the percentages to help the San Diego Padres snap out of their funk, swapping his starting pitchers for the finale of their four-game, home-and-home series against the host Texas Rangers on Thursday. Jhoulys Chacin was scheduled to start for San Diego but was pushed back a day in favor of left-hander Clayton Richard.

The Minnesota Twins answered a disastrous weekend stretch in which they surrendered 28 runs over two games to once again keep the bats of the Chicago White Sox under wraps. Winners of eight of their last 12, the Twins vie for a sweep of a rain-shortened series on Thursday as they visit the White Sox for the finale of the set.

The Colorado Rockies, who are off to the best start through 35 games in franchise history at 22-13, look to continue their success with they host the Los Angeles Dodgers for the opener of a four-game series. The Rockies have relied on their starting pitching to win four straight sets but should be tested by a Dodgers team that has scored at least eight runs in four of their last seven games.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have matched their season-worst losing streak of four games and aim to halt the slide when they open a four-game series against the host Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday. Pittsburgh began its seven-game road trip by suffering a three-game sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers, including Wednesday's 5-2 setback.

Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout is expected back in the starting lineup when his club opens a four-game series against the visiting Detroit Tigers on Thursday. The center fielder has missed five consecutive contests with a tight left hamstring but is in the midst of a career-best 17-game hitting streak.

The San Francisco Giants try to begin turning around their 12-23 start to the season as they kick off a seven-game homestand Thursday with the first of four against the surging Cincinnati Reds. San Francisco snapped a five-game losing streak - three of the setbacks were by a combined 31-5 against Cincinnati last weekend - with a 6-5 victory over the New York Mets on Wednesday that concluded a 3-6 road trip and snapped a 133-game slide when trailing after eight innings.