TAMPA, Fla. (Interstat) — The first-place Tampa Bay Rays face the Texas Rangers on Tuesday at George Steinbrenner Field, with right-hander Drew Rasmussen looking to build on a dazzling outing as Tampa Bay aims to extend its lead in the AL East.

Rasmussen (7-3, 3.47 ERA) is coming off a dominant performance Sunday, when he threw seven shutout innings in a 1-0 win over Cleveland, allowing one hit while striking out nine. The outing was a sharp reversal from a rough July in which he allowed 11 earned runs over 7⅓ innings across his previous two starts. Tampa Bay (62-43) has won six of its last seven and enters the series with baseball’s third-best record.

Texas (54-52) arrives having won two of its last three, including a 7-3 victory over Seattle on Monday. Designated hitter Joc Pederson powered the offense in that game, going 2 for 4 with two home runs and four RBIs. Pederson has been a consistent threat at the plate recently, with four homers and seven RBIs over his past five games. The Rangers sit two games above .500 and are trying to stay in the wild-card race.

Tuesday’s forecast calls for 83 degrees and cloudy skies at the Rays’ spring training home. The game is the first of a four-game series between the clubs, who meet again Wednesday and Thursday before Texas travels to Houston and Tampa Bay hosts Chicago.

Interstat’s game simulator projects a 6-5 Rays victory.