X-Rays Spex

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The New What Next: Rays vs Rangers, part two — a series preview

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The Rays finished off their nine-game homestand with a 7-2 record, including four wins against two pretty good teams. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The Tampa Bay Rays finished off their penultimate homestand of the 2018 season in dramatic fashion, winning two out of three against the Oakland Athletics, who lead them in the AL Wildcard race with 14 left to play. Following the 5-4 win against Oakland on Sunday, the Rays hit the road for their final road trip of the season, kicking off with a three-game series against the Texas Rangers, in Arlington. The Rangers are coming off a two-game series win against the Padres, although they dropped their series finale in San Diego.

(Stats Credit: ESPN)

While improbable (yet not impossible), the Rays are still in the fight for a postseason berth. They start the series with the Rangers seven games behind the Athletics — although they did pick up a couple of games this weekend — and surprisingly 8-1/2 games behind the Yankees, whom they’ll face at home from September 24 – 27. Tampa Bay does have a tragic number of seven, so it will be incumbent on the kids to keep up their tepid spate of play in the hope that either the Athletics or the Yankees — who have lost five of their last 10 — will fall off the pace.

For what it’s worth, the A’s will face the Angels six more times this season, and the Mariners three more times. Thus far the Athletics are 6-7 vs. Anaheim and 7-9 vs. Seattle. Meanwhile, the Yankees open up a series against Red Sox on Monday, and they are 5-8 against Boston this season.

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

Even though Texas has gone 6-9 over the last 15 games, there really isn’t an opportunity for the Rays to take the Rangers for granted. Tampa Bay beat Texas two games to one back in April, although with just a +1 run differential. If the previous two series against Cleveland and Oakland were must wins in order to gain ground in the postseason chase, this set is equally as important as Tampa Bay attempts to keep pace with the Athletics and now the Yankees.

Pitching Probables

Over the next three days, Kevin Cash will lean on Tyler Glasnow (1-6, 4.48 ERA), AL Cy Young Award candidate Blake Snell (19-5, 2.03 ERA), and a pitcher to be named before Thursday’s ballgame. Jeff Banister will counter with Adrian Sampson (0-1, 1.80 ERA), Yovani Gallardo (8-5. 5.94 ERA), and Yohander Méndez (1-1, 5.54 ERA).

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

Tyler Glasnow tossed a solid bounce-back performance last Tuesday, after giving up seven runs in his previous outing against Toronto. With the game tied at zero in the fifth inning, Yan Gomes launched a 0-1 breaking ball over the centerfield wall, his 14th home run of the season. An inning later, Edwin Encarnacion crushed a first-pitch fastball into the left-field seats, his 30th. Those were the only runs Glasnow would allow across seven innings as he limited Cleveland to six hits while striking out three. Glasnow has given up just three runs in 14 innings against Cleveland, yet he has not received any run support.

Adrian Sampson allowed one run on two hits and a walk while striking out two across five innings on Tuesday. Sampson was a hard-luck loser as Texas was shut down by a parade of Angels relievers. The right-hander doesn’t have overpowering stuff and threw mostly sinkers, mixing in a changeup or a slider from time to time in what became his second career big league start. The right-hander made his first start back in 2016, but suffered a flexor tendon injury in his right arm while warming up for his second and has spent two years trying to get back to the bigs.

Blake Snell picked up his 19th win of the season on Wednesday, allowing one run on just one hit and two walks while striking out nine across seven innings. Snell was dominant, carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning before serving up a leadoff solo homer to Jose Ramirez on a hanging curveball. The southpaw has now won seven consecutive games, while his 19 wins are the most in the majors. Snell also owns an impressive 2.03 ERA, a 0.98 WHIP, and a 10.7 K/9 across 28 starts this season, putting him firmly in the AL Cy Young discussion.

Yovani Gallardo allowed six runs on six hits and one walk while fanning four over three innings of a loss to the Angels on Wednesday. Four of the six hits allowed went for extra bases, including a two-run homer by Jose Fernandez, which essentially knocked Gallardo out of the game. Gallardo’s results have gone in the opposite direction since he started the season 7-1 thanks to unsustainable run support. He has lost four of his last five decisions and resembles a pitcher with a 6.67 ERA/5.91 FIP. Key Matchups: Carlos Gomez (3-8, 2B, HR, 4 RBI), Kevin Kiermaier (6-15, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 4 BB)

TBA

Yohander Méndez pitched well on Friday, tossing five scoreless innings of relief while allowing three hits and three walks with five strikeouts. He was called upon after “opener” Connor Sadzeck tossed one scoreless inning. Mendez has managed to drop his ERA from 14.73 to 3.86 over his last 15 innings, giving up just two runs and seven hits over that span. This season, he has relied primarily on a 93 mph four-seam fastball with natural sinking action but little natural movement, while also mixing in a firm 84 mph changeup with slight cutting action, a 91 mph sinker, and 85 mph slider, and an 80 mph curveball. Key Matchups: Jesus Sucre (1-1)

Rays bounce back to defeat Athletics, 7-5; TV deal rumblings

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It had the feeling of a postseason ballgame at the Trop on Saturday night, as the Rays bounced back to beat the Athletics, 7-5. (Photo Credit: X-Rays Spex)

With the game tied late at four runs apiece, Jake Bauers hit a go-ahead three-run home run to right off Jeurys Familia, as the Tampa Bay Rays evened the series against the Oakland Athletics with a 7-5 victory Saturday night.

The Rays needed a win in order to stay relevant, and that’s exactly what they got. As Orestes Destrade once said of the improbable run by the 2011 Rays, “Probable no, possible yes” — a mantra we at X-Rays Spex have staked ourselves to until the tragic number, etc tells us otherwise.

It would appear that Kevin Cash feels the same, although he also noted an added benefit of playing in games that matter, saying:

We want to be playing baseball games in these types of series for many years to come. We have a bunch of guys here who are gonna be here for many years to come and it’s a core group. Any lesson, any win, any tough loss that they can pull something positive from it will benefit us in the long run.

Tampa Bay took leads of 2-0 and 4-2 in the second and sixth innings, yet Oakland battled back to tie each time.

Familia entered the game in the bottom of the eighth and walked both Joey Wendle and Brandon Lowe to set up Bauers for the dramatic three-run, go-ahead blast — his 11th homer of the season.

Familia’s sequence of pitches which set up the homer was questionable at best, starting Bauers off with two off-speed pitches which had the rookie expanding his zone early as he got down in the count 0-2. Yet Familia tried to sneak a thigh-high 96 mph fastball over the inner third of the plate, past Bauers, and well … the rest is history.

It feels pretty damn good, excuse my language, Bauers said. It’s been a pretty long month for me personally, to contribute to a win like that and let emotions out in a positive way, it feels pretty good. … I think (the bat flip) might have felt better. It’s nothing to do with disrespect or showing people up, it’s just purely letting out a lot of pent up emotions out. Hitting a game-winning home run is a big thing, whether you’re 100-for-100 or 0-for-100. … The homer felt great; the bat flip felt better.

Brandon Lowe initially put the Rays ahead, 2-0, with a two-run homer off of Dean Kiekehefer, his fifth of the season.

Yet Oakland ground away at Yonny Chirinos, cutting the lead to 2-1 on a Jed Lowrie RBI single in the third, and tying the game on a Matt Olson solo homer in the sixth. Chirinos, however, settled down in the fourth inning and, at one point, retired 10 in a row and kept Tampa Bay in it.

The Rays responded in the bottom of the sixth when Wendle drew a leadoff walk and scored on Kevin Kiermaier’s RBI triple into the right-field corner.

Bauers followed with a sac-fly to right, scoring Kiermaier and putting the Rays up by two. Nevertheless, Oakland bounced right back in the top of the seventh to even the score again. Mark Canha doubled off reliever Adam Kolarek to score Marcus Semien and cut the lead to one. Canha later scored from third on a passed ball with two outs.

Oakland threatened once more in the top of the eighth inning, loading the bases with one out against Vidal Nuno, yet the southpaw caught Marcus Semien looking at strike three, and Andrew Kittredge coaxed a ground out from Canha to end the threat.

Even though Sergio Romo allowed a solo homer to Chapman in the ninth, he got the final three outs of the ballgame to preserve the victory.

The New What Next

The Rays will look for the series win on Sunday afternoon with Diego Castillo (3-2, 3.31 ERA) taking the mound as the opener. Jalen Beeks (4-1, 5.57 ERA) should see some mound time as well. There is also the possibility that Tyler Glasnow could pitch on regular rest. They’ll be opposed by Mike Fiers (12-6, 3.29 ERA).

Beeks boasted neither fastball command or control Monday night. After escaping a pair of threatening situations in his first two innings of work, Francisco Lindor hit a one-out single to right, and Michael Brantley doubled to right-center. Jose Ramirez followed by looping a ball into shallow centerfield that fell beyond Brandon Lowe and in front of Smith for a double, chasing Beeks after 2-1/3 innings (51 pitches, 33 strikes, 65% strike rate, 8/13 first-pitch strikes) and making it 4-2. That made for the third consecutive short outing by the right-hander after he built up his arm back in August.

Fiers allowed one run on four hits and one walk while striking out seven in six innings on Tuesday. He picked up the win. His remarkable run since getting traded to Oakland continued, as the right-handed Fiers is now 5-0 with 42 strikeouts across 39.2 innings (seven starts) in an Athletics uniform. He has won six straight decisions overall, and only needed 84 pitches (56 strikes, 66% strike rate, 18/22 first-pitch strikes) to cruise to this quality start. Fiers is 1-1 with a 5.14 ERA in four starts against the Rays, and 1-1 with a 7.31 ERA in three career starts at Tropicana Field. Key Matchups: Ji-Man Choi (1-3, 2B), Matt Duffy (2-7), Mallex Smith (1-3), Jesus Sucre (2-5)

Rays 9/16/18 Starting Lineup

Smith RF
Duffy 3B
Choi DH
Cron 1B
Lowe 2B
Kiermaier CF
Adames SS
Bauers LF
Sucre C
Castillo LHP

You can read about the series in our preview.

The New What Next: Rays vs. Athletics, part two — a series preview

Noteworthiness

— Ahhh, September baseball games that matter… Tampa Bay has used 16 pitchers over the past 18 innings, allowing seven runs over that stretch while striking out 20.

— In “No shit, Marc Topkin” news, on Sunday the Rays’ beat writer (for the Tampa Bay Times, one of the area’s biggest cheerleaders for the fleecing of taxpayers out of almost a billion dollars) iterated something that both Noah Pransky (WTSP News) and X-Rays Spex discussed months ago, when news of the team’s new TV deal with SunSports initially leaked to the public.

As Topkin writes:

As quiet as it’s been about the rich new TV deal that’s long been under discussion, might the Rays might feel getting it done — and news leaking of how much they’re getting — could hurt their negotiating position over their share of costs for the new stadium?

Back toward the start of the season we wrote:

It has been widely speculated that a new TV contract could be a significant step toward the team being able to afford a new stadium, while also giving the Rays an opportunity to increase the payroll. However, there is reason to pump the brakes on that point of view.

As Noah Pransky (Shadow of the Stadium, WTSP News) writes, they always knew that money was coming. That is, while the Rays will have a ton of new revenue pouring in, it’s plausible that the “new” money will have been budgeted already.

“Its likely not “new” revenue that the team is all of a sudden going to commit to payroll or a new stadium; they are revenues the team was already budgeting.”

Pransky also noted (Twitter link) that the TV deal probably will not change much on the stadium front. The Rays did not want the financial numbers to go public for a reason: it would reduce the team’s leverage by making the case for public subsidies even harder.

It’s easy for payroll hawks and stadium proponents — on either side of the bay — to get excited about the news, although it’s probably wiser to be cautiously optimistic.

If anything, Topkin’s 46-word prognosis lends an air of legitimate media credibility to what we, and others, have been saying (even if it was months after the fact).

LBWMF: Rays drop critical game to the Athletics in extras, 2-1

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Tommy Pham scored the Rays only run Friday night. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The Rays dropped a tight extra inning contest to open the critical three-game set against the Athletics on Friday, as Oakland defeated Tampa Bay, 2-1. Tampa Bay starts the day nine-games back in the AL Wildcard race with 16 left to play, with the loss diminishing their already slim hopes of playing relevant baseball in October.

We understood where we were, where we stood, third baseman Matt Duffy said after the game. I guess still mathematically there’s hope. We understood how big each one of these games was. A little discouraging.

But we still have two more games. And there’s a lot to play for, for everybody in this room really other than chasing down these guys, so we’re still going to go out there with the same mindset.

Diego Castillo opened the game and delivered two perfect innings, striking out four. Ryan Stanek worked around a walk for a scoreless third, setting up Ryan Yarbrough to pitch the bulk of the innings.

Yet Oakland opened the scoring against Yarbrough in the top of the fourth, when Matt Chapman doubled with one out and scored on a two-out infield single from Matt Olson, that squirted just beneath the glove of a diving Willy Adames. Nevertheless, the Rays answered in the bottom of the inning when Tommy Pham reached on a two-out to out bloop double to center and Joey Wendle singled to left, scoring Pham and tying the game.

Former Ray Edwin Jackson worked five strong innings for Oakland before Shawn Kelly tightroped his way through a scoreless sixth when Tampa Bay had a golden opportunity to break the tie.

Mallex Smith led off the inning with an infield single before Matt Duffy laid down a bunt which the Athletics struggled to field, putting runners on first and second. The right-handed reliever wild pitched both runners into scoring position, but Ji-Man Choi struck out and Pham popped out leaving the Rays with one out to play with against Oakland’s mighty ‘pen. After Wendle was intentionally walked, Willy Adames struck out looking to end the frame.

The at-bat of the game, Adames said, and I didn’t get the job done.

Chaz Roe, Adam Kolarek, and Andrew Kittredge got key outs in the middle innings to keep the Rays within striking distance, and Jose Alvarado struck out the side in a perfect eighth.

For the Athletics, Ryan Buchter and Lou Trivino kept Tampa Bay off the board in the seventh and eighth innings.

Sergio Romo followed with his first appearance since September 4th, retiring Oakland in order in the ninth on 12 pitches. Meanwhile, Blake Treinen took the mound in the ninth for Oakland and hit Brandon Lowe with one out. Lowe advanced to second when Kiermaier grounded out to first, and the Rays got a second chance when Chad Pinder tripped over the left-field bullpen mound after chasing down Jake Bauers’ popper in foul territory. But Bauers popped out to send the game into extra innings.

Instead of leaning on Romo in the top of the tenth, Rays skipper Kevin Cash called on Jaime Schultz who surrendered the go-ahead homer to Davis to open the inning.

I definitely didn’t execute, Schultz said after the game. My plan is to go up in the, and I let it leak out over the plate right to his strength. He is a threat anytime. You’ve got to be cautious. The guy has 41 home runs, now 42.

All told, the Rays used nine pitchers and allowed only three hits, although the third hit proved costly.

Everything bullpen-wise worked really well; we didn’t get any points for them, Cash said.

Treinen returned to the mound for the tenth and retired the Rays in order to end the game.

The New What Next

The Rays and Athletics will continue this important series Saturday evening at Tropicana Field. Ryne Stanek (2-3, 2.58 ERA) is slated to open the game for Tampa Bay while Yonny Chirinos (4-5, 3.81 ERA) will likely throw the bulk of the innings. Like the Rays, Bob Melvin will utilize the opener strategy with Liam Hendriks (0-1, 5.94 ERA) taking the mound for Oakland.

Stanek will make his 52nd appearance of the season (his 26th start). The right-hander threw one scoreless inning with a walk on Friday night.

Chirinos allowed three earned runs on seven hits across 6-1/3 quality innings in a win over Baltimore on Sunday. He struck out six. Chirinos turned in the equivalent of a quality start, getting through his six-plus frames on an efficient 94 pitches (59 strikes, 63% strike rate, 16/25 first-pitch strikes). The right-hander has generated mixed results since assuming his current role, but he’s been sharper of late — considering Sunday’s line, Chirinos has allowed four earned runs over 13-1/3 innings while generating a 3.67 K/BB over his last two turns on the mound.

Hendriks will make his fifth start of the season in the opener role. The right-hander has allowed just one hit and no runs in his last three outings in that capacity, but Hendriks is 0-1 with a 3.72 ERA in 19-1/3 innings in his career against Tampa Bay.

Rays 9/15/18 Starting Lineup

Smith RF
Duffy 3B
Choi DH
Pham LF
Wendle SS
Kiermaier CF
Lowe 2B
Bauers 1B
Ciuffo C
Stanek RHP

You can read about the series in our preview.

The New What Next: Rays vs. Athletics, part two — a series preview

The New What Next: Rays vs. Athletics, part two — a series preview

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Ji-Man Choi clearly is excited for the weekend series against the Athletics. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

After 5-1/2 months and 146 games, the Tampa Bay Rays are on the precipice of their most important series of the season. Enter the Oakland Athletics. A series win would allow the Rays to gain anywhere from one and three games on the Athletics, who sit eight games ahead of Tampa Bay in the American League Wildcard race. Then again, a series loss would all but wipe the slate clean on Tampa Bay’s postseason hopes in 2018. Expect the high drama and excitement of postseason baseball this weekend … this writer happens to be stoked, as does the Rays skipper:

I’m excited to see how the guys come in and perform, Rays manager Kevin Cash said. It’s being talked about. I kind of like the fact that it’s being talked about. Let’s see. Put some added emphasis on it and see how we respond. I’m going to guess that we’ll handle it well because they’ve handled all the challenges really well to this point.

(Stats Credit: ESPN)

The Rays are coming off a series win against the AL Central-leading squad out of Cleveland. They continued their hot run of play having beaten two of the best pitchers in baseball, Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco. The key to the Rays success was the pitching staff, which limited Edwin Encarnacion and company to just seven total runs. Cleveland hoped to clinch the division title at the Trop, but that was not to be thanks to solid pitching and advantageous run scoring.

Since the start of September, Tampa Bay’s pitching staff has performed to a combined 3.12 ERA/3.12 FIP (starters 3.82 ERA/3.88 FIP, relievers 2.77 ERA/2.89 FIP).

Meanwhile, the Athletics are coming off three consecutive series wins (vs. the Yankees, Rangers, and Orioles), although they did drop the series finale against Baltimore on Thursday, 5-3, which allowed Tampa Bay to pick up a half game in the AL Wildcard race. Like the Rays, Oakland’s hurlers have been very good, yet unlike Tampa Bay — which has a more well-rounded pitching staff — the Athletics success comes mainly from the relievers.

Decimated by injuries, the starting rotation has performed to a 4.05 ERA/4.99 FIP in the month of September (33-1/3 combined innings). Compare that the bullpen, which has performed to a 2.86 ERA/3.10 FIP in 56-2/3 September innings. If you’re counting, that’s an average of 3.33 innings per start over the last 11 games. And while the Rays’ starters maintain a similar innings per start figure in the month of September, that’s because of Kevin Cash’s use of openers three out of every five games.

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

Oakland has edged out Tampa Bay with a marginally better .695 winning percentage since the All-Star Break (as compared to a .633 WP%), although one could argue that the Rays are the more exciting team due in part to their nine walk-off wins. In order for the Rays to beat the Athletics this weekend, they will need to score runs early and often. It also will be incumbent on the pitching staff to preserve any leads the team may hold, and rein in the league-leading home run hitter Khris Davis, as well as rest of the team.

Tampa Bay beat Oakland three-games-to-one between May 28 to May 31, scoring 14 runs and limiting the Athletics to 10 along the way.

Pitching Probables

Considering when they last pitched, Kevin Cash will likely lean on Ryan Yarbrough (14-5, 3.78 ERA), Yonny Chirinos (4-5, 3.81 ERA), and Jalen Beeks (4-1, 5.57 ERA) to pitch the majority of innings over the next three days. Diego Castillo (3-2, 3.81 ERA) will open Friday, with the other two “openers” listed as TBD. There is also the possibility that Tyler Glasnow could pitch on regular rest. Bob Melvin will respond by throwing former Ray Edwin Jackson (5-3, 3.26 ERA), a pitcher to be announced before Saturday’s ballgame, and Mike Fiers (12-6, 3.29 ERA).

(Stats Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

Diego Castillo gave up the early lead on Monday when Michael Brantley walked with one out, was wild pitched into scoring position, and moved up to third on a groundout. Edwin Encarnacion followed with a single to left, putting Cleveland in front. Although that was the only hit Castillo would allow, as the right-hander gave up just one hit in the first two innings.

Yonny Chirinos allowed three earned runs on seven hits across 6-1/3 quality innings in a win over Baltimore on Sunday. He struck out six. Chirinos turned in the equivalent of a quality start, getting through his six-plus frames on an efficient 94 pitches (59 strikes, 63% strike rate, 16/25 first-pitch strikes). The right-hander has generated mixed results since assuming his current role, but he’s been sharper of late — considering Sunday’s line, Chirinos has allowed four earned runs over 13-1/3 innings while generating a 3.67 K/BB over his last two turns on the mound.

Edwin Jackson allowed four runs on five hits and a walk while striking out five across three innings. The right-hander struggled after firing a scoreless first inning, allowing four runs on three extra-base hits over the next two innings plus before being chased one batter into the fourth. The rough outing raised Jackson’s ERA from 2.91 to 3.26. The former Ray is 3-3 with a 3.98 ERA in six career starts against Tampa Bay, and 11-16 with a 5.35 ERA in 33 starts at the Trop. Key Matchups: Matt Duffy (2-2), Mallex Smith (1-1, RBI)

Ryan Yarbrough picked up the win Saturday against the Orioles, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks across 3-2/3 innings. He struck out three. Yarbrough handled the majority of Saturday’s game for the Rays, allowing a run-scoring single to Jonathan Villar in the third inning and a two-run homer to Renato Nunez in the fourth, but a healthy amount of run support propelled the southpaw to his 14th win of the season. Yarbrough now owns a 3.78 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 2.61 K/BB across 133-1/3 innings (34 appearances, six starts) this season.

TBA

Jalen Beeks boasted neither fastball command or control Monday night. After escaping a pair of threatening situations in his first two innings of work, Francisco Lindor hit a one-out single to right, and Michael Brantley doubled to right-center. Jose Ramirez followed by looping a ball into shallow centerfield that fell beyond Brandon Lowe and in front of Smith for a double, chasing Beeks after 2-1/3 innings (51 pitches, 33 strikes, 65% strike rate, 8/13 first-pitch strikes) and making it 4-2. That made for the third consecutive short outing by the right-hander after he built up his arm back in August.

Mike Fiers allowed one run on four hits and one walk while striking out seven in six innings on Tuesday. He picked up the win. His remarkable run since getting traded to Oakland continued, as the right-handed Fiers is now 5-0 with 42 strikeouts across 39.2 innings (seven starts) in an Athletics uniform. He has won six straight decisions overall, and only needed 84 pitches (56 strikes, 66% strike rate, 18/22 first-pitch strikes) to cruise to this quality start. Fiers is 1-1 with a 5.14 ERA in four starts against the Rays, and 1-1 with a 7.31 ERA in three career starts at Tropicana Field. Key Matchups: Ji-Man Choi (1-3, 2B), Matt Duffy (2-7), Mallex Smith (1-3), Jesus Sucre (2-5)

LBWMF: Tampa Bay Rays fall to Shane Bieber and Cleveland, 2-0

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(Photo Credit: X-Rays Spex)

Tyler Glasnow put together another quality start against Cleveland, yet Shane Bieber was just a bit better on Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays saw their 12-game home win streak come to an end with the 2-0 loss — their first home loss since August 8th.

With the game tied at zero in the fifth inning, Yan Gomes launched a 0-1 breaking ball over the centerfield wall, his 14th home run of the season. An inning later, Edwin Encarnacion crushed a first-pitch fastball into the left-field seats, his 30th.

Those were the only runs Glasnow would allow across seven innings as he limited Cleveland to six hits while striking out three.

It was a solid bounce-back performance for the right-hander, who gave up seven runs in his previous outing against Toronto. Glasnow has given up just three runs in 14 innings against Cleveland, yet he has not received any run support.

Bieber, who gave up four runs across 5-1/3 innings on September 1, was dominant Tuesday night. In the first inning, Tommy Pham hit a single, which was the only hit allowed by the right-hander until Ji-Man Choi’s two-out base hit in the sixth. Even though Bieber issued a career-high three walks, the command of his four-seam fastball was masterful, which helped to set up a career-high 11 strikeouts.

That is not to say Tampa Bay didn’t have scoring opportunities.

In the fourth inning, Pham walked then swiped second to start the frame. However, Bieber struck out Choi and C.J. Cron before Joey Wendle lined out to second. Then in the seventh inning, Wendle hit a first-pitch double to left-center before  Bieber got Willy Adames to ground out to short and Brandon Lowe to fly out to shallow left. Things began to look up ahen Jake Bauers worked a four-pitch walk, which chased the right-hander in favor of southpaw Brad Hand. Matt Duffy (back strain), who hadn’t started for the second consecutive day, pinch-hit for Nick Ciuffo, and walked on four pitches to load the bases for Mallex Smith and his .365 batting average vs. left-handers. But as fate would have it, after Smith worked the count to 3-0, Hand came back on a 3-2 pitch to get Smith to pop out to shallow left to end the threat.

Meanwhile, Vidal Nuno and Andrew Kittredge combined to keep Cleveland off the board in the eighth, and Jaime Schultz did the same in the ninth, keeping Tampa Bay in the game.

Hand came back out an inning later and retired the side. Finally, Wendle singled to open the ninth against closer Cody Allen, but the Rays got nothing more.

The New What Next

Blake Snell (18-5, 2.06) will get the start in the final game of the series, pitching opposite of Carlos Carrasco (16-8, 3.41 ERA).

Snell threw five innings of scoreless ball on 90 pitches on Friday but was chased in the sixth after giving up a one-out infield hit to Cedric Mullins, then a two-run homer to Joey Rickard. It was Rickard’s fourth homer against Tampa Bay this season, giving him 17 of his 23 total runs batted in against the Rays. All told, Snell struck fanned nine and allowed five hits across 5-1/3 innings and 104 pitches (72 strikes, 69% strike rate, 15/20 first-pitch strikes).

I felt like I was around the zone, for the most part, Snell said. The offense did very well. Gave me a quick lead. All credit goes to them.

Carrasco allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits while striking out 14 across eight innings on Friday. Carrasco surrendered an unearned run in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly, followed by another run in the seventh. Despite fanning 10 or more batters for the fifth time this season, he left with the game tied at two apiece. The right-hander was sharp following an uncharacteristic outing his last turn through the rotation, allowing five runs across 6-1/3 innings against the Rays. The 31-year-old owns a solid 3.43 ERA/2.95 FIP with 199 strikeouts over 168 innings this season. Carrasco is 4-4 with a 3.21 ERA in nine career starts against the Rays, and 4-0 with a 1.11 ERA in four starts at the Trop. Key Matchups: Willy Adames (2-3), CJ Cron (2-3, 2B, HR, RBI), Brandon Lowe (1-3, HR, RBI), Tommy Pham (2-4, 3B, RBI), Mallex Smith (1-3), Joey Wendle (1-4, 2B, RBI)

Rays 9/12/18 Starting Lineup

Smith RF
Wendle 3B
Pham LF
Choi DH
Lowe 2B
Kiermaier CF
Bauers 1B
Sucre C
Velazquez SS
Snell LHP

You can read about the series in our preview.

The New What Next: Rays vs Cleveland, part two — a series preview

Noteworthiness

— Per Marc Topkin, Kevin Kiermaier didn’t want to provide details of what team called “general illness,” but said “It was a tough couple of days for me,” and that he had never felt that bad before, but “Time and rest have helped.” Eager to be playing today.