ST. PETERSBURG Leon Draisaitl Jersey , Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays might be the surprise hottest team in baseball, and if anything can slow them down, it might be Washington Nationals starter Max Scherzer, who takes the mound against them Tuesday.

The Rays have been dominant of late, with seven wins holding opponents to one or zero runs in the last 13 games, and four wins in a row after a 11-0 drubbing of the Nationals on Monday. Tampa Bay didn’t hold an opponent under two runs once in its first 19 games and just once in its first 38, but their patchwork pitching has been a major impetus to their recent surge.

Then there’s Scherzer, who is 10-3 with a 2.09 ERA, this despite a near-mortal stretch where he has no wins in his last three outings, having allowed all of six earned runs in 20 innings during that stretch. The Rays remember him well from June 5, when he struck out 13 batters — matching his second-highest total of 2018 — while allowing two earned runs in eight innings. He’s had 16 starts this season, and he’s only allowed more than two runs once, and only four in that blemish.

For his career against the Rays, he’s 5-2 with a 2.82 ERA Youth Chicago Bears Jerseys , and even that is notable in that he went 0-2 as a rookie in 2010 and hasn’t lost since. For the season, just slightly less than half his outs have come by strikeout, with 161 strikeouts in 107 2/3 innings.

The Rays will counter with Nathan Eovaldi (1-3, 4.91 ERA), who has made five starts since returning from Tommy John surgery, with one dominant debut and then four starts since where he’s averaged four earned runs in less than six innings. More of a concern is the home runs he’s allowed — eight in 29 1/3 innings, including four in his last start, a 5-1 loss to Houston.

He’s faced the Nationals once this year, giving up four runs on four hits in five innings in the game against Scherzer on June 5. Eovaldi got his start in the National League, so he’s had 10 starts against Washington, going 2-5 with a 5.30 ERA.

An 11-run outburst like Monday’s win shows the Rays might be finding their bats as well, with Kevin Kiermaier, struggling at the plate since returning from the disabled list, getting a key grand slam as part of a six-run second inning.

“Baseball is hard. It’s really hard Youth Cincinnati Bengals Jerseys ,” Kiermaier said of his slow start. “Adjusting back to big-league pitching is not an easy thing. Trying to get acclimated up there at the plate again. I felt really good and it was a good momentum swing for our team to put us up early.”

The Nationals will at least be better rested on Tuesday — after a long rain delay that pushed back their Sunday night game against Philadelphia, they didn’t get to their hotel in St. Petersburg until 4:40 a.m. on game day.

“We’re a little tired, but we had all day to rest,” Nationals manager Davey Martinez said.

Herrera hit a tiebreaking, solo homer in the seventh inning, Cesar Hernandez hit a two-run homer and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 Wednesday to win their third straight series.

”What he’s doing is special,” manager Gabe Kapler said, adding that Herrera reminds him of Suzuki. ”It’s elite.”

Herrera is batting .419 (13 for 31) with two doubles, five homers and eight RBI in the last seven games.

”He’s a different breed,” starter Jake Arrieta said before mentioning Guerrero’s name with Herrera. ”When he gets hot, he’s fun to watch.”

Herrera had a tough stretch after an excellent start before finding his stroke again.

”It’s very satisfying to be compared to two legends,” he said.

Yadier Molina hit a pair of homers for the Cardinals, who lost starter Michael Wacha to injury.

Philadelphia’s beleaguered bullpen tossed three scoreless innings after Arrieta had another so-so outing Youth Dallas Cowboys Jerseys , giving up both of Molina’s homers. Edubray Ramos (2-0) got five outs and Adam Morgan retired the last two batters with the tying run on second for his first career save.

”It was cool to go out there and succeed,” Morgan said.

The Phillies took two of three to win a series against the Cardinals for the first time since August 2014.

Arrieta gave up three runs and four hits in six innings to remain winless in June after posting a 0.90 ERA in five starts in May. Arrieta, who is earning $30 million this season as part of a three-year, $75 million contract, has a 6.97 ERA in four starts this month.

Wacha left in the fourth with a left oblique strain. The right-hander allowed three runs – one earned – and six hits in 3 2/3 innings. He’ll have an MRI on Thursday.

”Feeling a little bit better,” Wacha said. ”I’m hoping for the best.”

Herrera ripped a 91 mph slider from Sam Tuivailala (1-3) off the scoreboard on the facing of the second deck in right field to give the Phillies a 4-3 lead. Herrera has a homer in four straight games.

Pinch hitter Jedd Gyorko hit a one-out double off Victor Arano in the ninth. Morgan entered to get Matt Carpenter on a foul pop and Tommy Pham on a grounder.

Molina drove a 3-2 pitch the opposite-way into the seats in right-center for his fifth career multihomer game in the sixth to tie it at 3.

A throwing error by Carpenter led to a pair of unearned runs in the fourth. Jorge Alfaro reached with one out when Carpenter’s throw pulled first baseman Jose Martinez off the bag. With two outs, Hernandez lined a 1-2 change-up to the seats in right for a 3-1 lead.

The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the first after Rhys Hoskins hit a single, advanced to third on Herrera’s double and scored on Carlos Santana’s sacrifice fly.

Molina crushed Arrieta’s first pitch in the second inning to left to tie it at 1.

Wacha worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the third by striking out Scott Kingery and retiring Nick Williams on a bouncer.

CLUTCH

Seven of Herrera’s 12 homers have given Philadelphia a lead.

TRAINER’S ROOM

PHILLIES: INF J.P. Crawford was placed on the 10-day disabled list after breaking his hand Tuesday night. INF Mitch Walding was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to replace him. … Williams returned to the lineup after he broke his nose in the field on Monday night.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (3-3, 2.73 ERA) takes the mound for the start of a four-game set at Milwaukee. He’s 6-4, 1.95 vs. the Brewers.

Phillies: After a day off, RHP Zach Eflin (4-2, 3.43 ERA) starts the opener of a three-game series at Washington on Friday night. Eflin has never faced the Nationals.

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