Despite falling to the Cubs in extra innings Sunday afternoon, the Tampa Bay Rays will head to Arlington for a four game set against the Rangers with a series win under their belts. The Rangers, like the Cubs, are a team the Rays can — and should — beat.
Suffice it to say, though still dangerous, this Texas team is a far cry from the one who dominated the AL West in previous years. Owners of the worst home record at 21-33, the Rangers are coming off a series loss to the Astros, and are 6-9 over a 15 game span. Tampa Bay has played well on the road lately to boost its away mark to 30-28 and is three games below .500 overall after Sunday’s loss.
Colby Lewis: The fastball/slider/change up throwing Lewis (8-8, 5.50) has excelled against the Rays, going 4-0 with a 3.47 ERA in five career regular-season appearances (four starts). He is coming off his second career shutout as he blanked the Chicago White Sox on six hits Tuesday. Lewis has allowed two or fewer runs in five of his last seven turns. Key matchups: Yunel Escobar (3-12), Ben Zobrist (1-4, 2B, BB).
Nick Tepesch: Tepesch (4-7, 4.83 ERA) followed a string of losses by tossing 5-2/3 scoreless innings Wednesday against the White Sox. In his only outing against Tampa Bay last season, the 25 year-old RHP held the Rays to one run on four hits in 7-1/3 innings of work. In the Rays favor, Tepesch’s strikeout numbers are down over his career norms, while his walk rate is up slightly (and significantly over last season). Key matchups: Desmond Jennings (2-4, 2 2B), James Loney (1-3).
Miles Mikolas: RHP Miles Mikolas (1-4, 6.57 ERA) was called up from Triple-A Round Rock to replace Joe Saunders. Featuring above-average fastball velocity and a big curve, Mikolas has improved his command this season — though it has yet to translate in the bigs. He had 38 strikeouts to just three walks in 44 total innings in Round Rock, boasting a 5-1 record with a 3.22 ERA. Mikolas held hitters a .283 batting average.
Yu Darvish: Darvish (10-7, 3.06 ERA) has been incredibly tough against the Rays, posting a 3-0 record and a 1.33 ERA in 27 innings of work. The caveat for Darvish, he’s relinquished four or more runs in seven outings this season, including his most recent outing against the Astros when he gave up six runs — five earned — on nine hits over four innings. Many have questioned whether Darvish is hiding an injury. Whatever the case, his xBABIP (.321 BABIP, .320 xBABIP) is the second highest among all pitchers with over 100 IP. Even though both values are high, Darvish is still good otherwise. He is still striking out more than one batter per inning (11.2 K/9) and has dropped his walk rate to a career low (2.9 BB/9). Key matchups: Desmond Jennings (2-8, RBI, BB), James Loney (2-6, 2B, RBI).
Noteworthiness