Salvage mode. The Tampa Bay Rays look to take a game from the New York Yankees before heading back to the Sunshine State. They’ve dropped the first two games 6-3 and 8-4, allowing 14 runs in 16 innings, and seven home runs along the way.
Since the final game of the Toronto series, Blake Snell, Chris Archer, and Matt Andriese have combined for just 12-2/3 innings, and have surrendered 13 earned runs. All this after leading the AL in ERA since the All-Star Break.
The New What Next
Jake Odorizzi Jake Odorizzi (6-5, 3.69 ERA) will get the start for Tampa Bay, opposite of Luis Severino (1-7, 6.42 ERA). Odorizzi gave up four runs (two earned) over 5-1/3 innings in a no-decision on Monday against Toronto. He relinquished eight hits, walked three, and fanned four. That start broke a stretch of three consecutive shutout starts for Odorizzi. Still, the righty has allowed just six runs in five starts since the All-Star Break. Against the Yankees, Odorizzi has allowed just two runs in two starts (13-2/3 innings) this season.
Severino allowed five runs in 4-1/3 innings his last start against the Red Sox. The righty has only faced the Rays once this season — as a reliever — throwing two scoreless frames in that appearance.
Rays 8/14/16 Starting Lineup
Forsythe 2B
Kiermaier CF
Longoria 3B
Miller 1B
Duffy SS
Franklin LF
Dickerson DH
Souza RF
Wilson C
Odorizzi RHP
Noteworthiness
— SSDD. Evan Longoria has four hits, including a homer, over the first two games of the series. Brad Miller had his first multi-homer game Saturday, while newcomer Matt Duffy collected hits in each of his first two games with Tampa Bay. The rest of the lineup, however, has been fairly quiet. Steven Souza Jr. and Corey Dickerson have been pushed down in the order because of it, while Nick Franklin will handle the LF duties this afternoon, hitting fifth.
— Miller’s 16 homers since June 17 rank second in Major League Baseball.
— Both OF Oswaldo Arcia (right elbow strain) and DH Logan Morrison (right forearm strain) went 0-3 in their rehab games with the Class-A Stone Crabs on Saturday.
— After being taken yard in the Bronx on Saturday, RHP Erasmo Ramirez has given up an MLB reliever-most 12 homers over 71 innings.