X-Rays Spex

A Below Average Rays Fan Blog

LBWMF: Rays power past the Angels, 11-4

By Leave a Comment

  • Willy Adames hit his 18th homer of the season last night. He is one shy of tying a club record for home runs hit by a Rays shortstop. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The Tampa Bay Rays snapped their two-game mini skid Friday night, powered by four home runs and a quality start by Charlie Morton. With the 11-4 win over the Angels, Tampa Bay (88-61) maintained its hold on the final AL Wildcard spot.

The Rays enter play a half-game behind the Athletics for the top Wildcard spot; Oakland defeated Texas last night, 14-9. Cleveland was rained out, so the Rays regained a half-game margin with 13 games left to play.

As they’ve been wont to do all season, the Rays found themselves with an excellent opportunity to strike first in the opening frame against Andrew Heaney. Austin Meadows, Travis d’Arnaud, and Jesus Aguilar hit back-to-back-to-back two-out singles, yet Kole Calhoun gunned down Meadows at the plate as he tried to score, leaving Tampa Bay empty-handed. in the first

It was Los Angeles that scored first in the second inning against Morton. Albert Pujols led off the frame on a double down the right-field line, then moved up to third on a groundout. The future Hall of Famer came home on Luis Rengifo’s base hit to left-center.

Down by a run in the third inning, Tampa Bay muscled its way into the lead against Heaney. Willy Adames tied the game at one apiece when he crushed a leadoff homer 450 feet into left field. Then with one out, Tommy Pham singled to center before Meadows blasted his 30th homer of the season, putting the Rays up by a pair. And with two outs, Jesus Aguilar hit the third long ball of the frame, making it 4-1.

Yet Morton, who didn’t have his best stuff early on, allowed the Angels to answer in the bottom of the inning. After David Fletcher hit a two-out single to right, Calhoun launched a two-run homer. The right fielder worked himself into a 3-1 count, which forced the right-hander to throw a predictable fastball.

Seeing Los Angeles chip away at the lead, Tampa Bay started to pull away in the fourth inning, consequently chasing Heaney. The left-hander was lifted after back-to-back one-out singles by Daniel Robertson, Adames, and Avisail Garcia which extended the lead to two. Luke Bard, who came on in relief of Heaney, uncorked a wild pitch before Adames scored on Pham’s grounder through the left side for a 6-3 lead.

Morton calmed down in the bottom of a pretty intense inning, which began with an Andrelton Simmons bloop single to left, and a Jared Walsh double off the top of the left-field wall. But, Morton fanned Rengifo for the first out before Travis Ward lined out to second, putting a damageless frame within reach. Finally, Kevan Smith grounded out to Morton, ending the threat and beginning a stretch nine consecutive outs by the right-hander.

After a quiet fifth inning, Tampa Bay added to the lead in the sixth when Guillermo Heredia homered to left off Bard, making it 7-3.

They weren’t done scoring. In the seventh inning, Pham walked against Taylor Cole then swiped second. Travis d’Arnaud singled him home, extending the advantage to five runs. Then in the eighth inning, Matt Duffy doubled to lead off the frame, Adames walked with two outs, and Garcia hit a two-RBI double to left-center for a 10-3 lead.

Meanwhile, Morton and Andrew Kittredge retired 14 consecutive batters before Calhoun homered in the eighth inning, capping the Angels scoring.

But the Rays answered one last time in the ninth when Johnny Davis, in his first big-league at-bat, tripled to left off reliever Jake Jewell.

Aguilar drove him home on a sacrifice fly to center.

All told, Tampa Bay collected 15 hits — seven for extra bases. All nine starters had at least one hit.

The New What Next

Tyler Glasnow (6-1, 2.15 ERA) will make his second start since returning from the IL, pitching opposite of Jaime Barria (4-8, 6.14 ERA).

Tyler Glasnow allowed two runs on one hit and two walks while striking out five across two innings against the Blue Jays on Sunday. Glasnow hit 99 and 100 mph in his return to the mound and only expected to pitch a couple of innings since returning from the IL Glasnow fanned the first three batters he faced before walking two and allowing a two-run home run in the second inning. On the positive side, the 26-year-old generated six swinging strikes. Glasnow has a 2.15 ERA and 60 strikeouts through nine starts this season.

Jaime Barria allowed two runs on four hits and a walk with two strikeouts across 4-1/3 innings against the White Sox on Sunday. Barria entered after an opener in the first inning and recorded the final out of that frame. He gave up two solo shots in the middle frames, but that’s about all over almost five innings. Barria owns a 6.14 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP with 66 strikeouts in 70-1/3 innings of work (16 appearances) including 10 starts this season. Barria relies primarily on an 84 mph slider and a 92 mph four-seam fastball with little natural movement, while also mixing in an 83 mph worm-killer changeup.

You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup and Noteworthiness are below.

TNWN: Rays vs. Angels — a series preview, part two

Rays 9/14/19 Starting Lineup

  1. Wendle 3B
  2. Meadows RF
  3. Pham LF
  4. Choi 1B
  5. d’Arnaud C
  6. Lowe DH
  7. Sogard 2B
  8. Kiermaier CF
  9. Adames SS

Noteworthiness

— After a scoreless second rehab outing from left-hander Blake Snell, the Tampa Bay Rays deemed the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner ready to return from the IL in the upcoming series against the Dodgers.

Overall I was happy with it. It was a huge stride forward compared to the last start. I felt a lot more comfortable than I did. … A lot more in control of the fastball. … Still making strides. Still getting there. I definitely feel a lot more confident where I’m at right now.

— Blake Snell

Snell will likely be on a similar program to RHP Tyler Glasnow, throwing around 40 pitches and building from there.

— Per Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) Kevin Kiermaier said before the game he was “getting closer” to returning to the lineup, potentially Saturday, but still troubled, despite a series of chiropractic adjustments, by the neck strain that has idled him since Sunday. “Obviously I want to be out there,’’ he said. “I want to try to make it go away enough where I’m not putting myself at risk of losing another week.’’ He said throwing is the biggest issue, hitting has been tough and running is fine. He played the final three innings on Friday and said he felt good.

— Eric Sogard (bruised right foot) is aiming to rejoin the lineup tonight.

— Brandon Lowe (quad strain, leg bruise) and pitcher Yonny Chirinos (finger inflammation) are ramping up their workouts at Tropicana Field and as part of the instructional league in Port Charlotte. Both remain possibilities to return before the September 29 end of the regular season.

Rays blank Jays, 5-0; injury updates

By Leave a Comment

I am the eye in the sky, looking at you. I can read your mind. (Photo Credit: X-Rays Spex)

Brendan McKay made his triumphant return to the mound on Friday, limiting the Blue Jays to just one hit, as the Tampa Bay Rays blanked Toronto, 5-0.

Tampa Bay enters play a season-best 25 games above .500 and winners of seven of the last eight contests. The Rays start the day a game ahead of Oakland for the top Wildcard spot (1-1/2 games in front of Cleveland) with a 79.1% chance of a playoff berth according to FanGraphs (an 88.2% chance according to Baseball Prospectus).

Brendan McKay struck out seven and allowed just one hit across 3-2/3 scoreless frames on 59 pitches (37 strikes, 63% strike rate). The 23-year-old didn’t pitch deeply enough to capture the win, yet he was impressive, fanning seven of the 12 batters he faced, and retiring nine consecutive batters before he exited the ballgame. The outing snaps a cold spell for the left-hander, although he is still 2-3 with a 5.03 ERA.

The only base runner McKay allowed was Randall Grichuk, who hit a two-out triple to right that Avisail Garcia overran near the wall. Yet Vladimir Guerrero Jr. grounded out to third to end the threat, beginning a stretch of 22 consecutive outs by the Blue Jays.

Meanwhile, the Rays took a lead in the opening inning against Clay Buchholz. Austin Meadows looped a one-out single to right, then scored on Avisail Garcia’s double to center field.

In the second inning, Willy Adames singled to right but was forced out on Kevin Kiermaier’s fielder’s choice. As they say, all is well that ends well — Mike Zunino followed with a 413-foot two-run blast to left, putting the Rays up by three.

https://twitter.com/RaysBaseball/status/1170129947031154689
https://twitter.com/DingerTracker/status/1170121658742562817

It was the ninth home run for Zunino, and the seventh straight inning in which Tampa Bay had scored.

Tampa Bay continued to tack on runs in the fourth inning after Adames hit a one-out hustle double to left. The shortstop moved into third on a groundout then came home on a passed ball.

Peter Fairbanks, who was credited with his first big-league win, took over for McKay in the fourth inning and collected the next four outs on just 15 pitches with two punchouts. Andrew Kittredge followed with an efficient five-pitch (four strikes) sixth and a perfect seventh, collecting a pair of strikeouts.

Cole Sulser made his Major League debut in the eighth inning and threw a perfect frame on nine pitches (six strikes) — a three-pitch strikeout of Rowdy Tellez, a comebacker by Ian Drury on the very next pitch, and a pop-out to end the inning.

Tampa Bay was also able to tack on an insurance run in the bottom of the inning when Joey Wendle reached on an error, moved into third on Matt Duffy’s base hit, and came home on Meadows’ bullet of a base hit into center.

Sulser wasn’t nearly as dominant in the ninth inning though, walking Danny Jansen on four pitches, giving up a single to Anthony Alford, and walking Bo Bichette on a full count pitch to load the bases.

Seeing the potential for things to slip away, Kevin Cash called upon the services of Emilio Pagan, who quickly fell behind Teoscar Hernandez 2-0. Yet Pagan coaxed a popper to first, fanned Grichuk, and got Guerrero Jr. to pop out to left, ending the two-hit shutout.

Pagan collected his 19th save, while the team walked away with its 11th shutout of the season.

Noteworthiness

Game three of the four-game set will take place Saturday with Charlie Morton (14-6, 3.06 ERA) on the mound. He’ll pitch opposite of southpaw Anthony Kay, who will make his Major League debut.

Charlie Morton gave up one earned run on four hits and three walks with eight strikeouts across 5-1/3 innings against Cleveland on Sunday. Morton guided the Rays to a huge series sweep against Cleveland after he got blasted by the Astros in his previous outing. Morton yielded an RBI double in the second inning and found himself in a bit of a jam, although he was able to escape and finish the rest of his outing cleanly. He needed 108 pitches to get through just 5-1/3 innings, which isn’t the height of efficiency, yet the bullpen got the job done over the balance of the game. Morton now sports a 3.06 ERA and a 4.18 K/BB ratio over 170-1/3 innings. The right-hander is 0-1 with a 2.31 ERA in two starts against Toronto this season.

Anthony Kay boasts a low-90s fastball with sink and arm-side run. He can spot his heater to all four quadrants, working up and down to change the hitter’s eye level. He complements the fastball with an above-average low-to-mid-80s changeup with fade and tumble — although he has been known to telegraph the pitch, throwing it from a lower arm slot — and a curveball that sits in the upper-70s with slurvy 1-7 movement.

You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup and Noteworthiness are below.

TNWN: Rays vs Blue Jays — one last home series preview

Rays 9/7/19 Starting Lineup

  1. Garcia RF
  2. Pham DH
  3. Meadows LF
  4. Aguilar 1B
  5. Duffy 3B
  6. Kiermaier CF
  7. Adames SS
  8. Zunino C
  9. Robertson 2B

Noteworthiness

— Tyler Glasnow will take the hill, for the first time since May, in the series finale.

I’m excited. I’ve been preparing for this. I think I’ll feel well.

— Tyler Glasnow

The Rays, however, will be careful with Glasnow, who will continue to get built up over the next couple of weeks. The right-hander will be limited to just two or three innings in his return.

We are not in a position right now where we can just guarantee pitches for anybody, so we’ll monitor how he’s feeling, how the ball is coming out. Hopefully, he can kind of harness it and get some command early.

— Kevin Cash

Glasnow has thrown multiple bullpen sessions over the last few weeks and appeared in a couple of rehab games, including a 33-pitch outing for Triple-A Durham on Monday. He threw one last bullpen session in front of pitching coach Kyle Snyder on Thursday, when all of the parties involved decided that the right-hander was ready to return.

— Blake Snell is also getting closer to returning to the mound. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner has progressed well after undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies from his left elbow, and he is scheduled to make his first rehab outing for Durham on Saturday. If that goes well, the Rays could consider inserting Snell back into the rotation.

— Yonny Chirinos threw a bullpen session (his first since being placed on the IL) on Thursday, and everything went well. Chirinos is scheduled for a second bullpen session on Sunday and is expected to throw live batting practice over the next week against hitters.

— Eric Sogard exited Friday’s game with a right foot contusion after he fouled a ball off the top of his foot. Sogard underwent tests on the foot, and X-Rays came back negative.

— Tommy Pham, who left Thursday’s game with right forearm tightness, was checked out by a doctor, and a mild flexor strain was revealed. The hope is that Pham can return to the lineup on Saturday against Toronto, albeit in a DH role.

Tommy Pham, Rays get revenge against Baltimore on Sunday, winning 5-4 in extra innings

By Leave a Comment

The shadow play, from passing clouds, on the roof of Tropicana Field is pretty cool to look at. (Photo Credit: X-Rays Spex)

After a 5-4 extra-inning win over Baltimore on Monday, the Tampa Bay Rays will play a doubleheader this afternoon to wrap up the season series against the Orioles. The Rays have won five straight games, and lead Cleveland by a half-game for the top AL Wildcard spot; they are in front of the Athletics by 1.5 games for the final AL Wildcard spot.

Because of the win, the Rays increased their chances of a postseason berth by 3.8%, and enter play with a 77.1% chance of reaching the postseason for the first time since 2013 (per FanGraphs). Baseball Prospectus gives Tampa Bay a more favorable 82.5% chance.

Ryan Yarbrough got the start on Monday and battled over six innings, allowing four runs on nine hits while fanning four against Baltimore. Yarbrough cruised through the first five frames, but the Orioles dinged him up for four runs in the sixth inning on a homer, three singles, and a double. Still, the 27-year-old has put together a solid 2019 campaign, posting a 3.49 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP, with a 7.29 K/BB across 121-1/3 innings.

Tommy Pham (3-4, 3 RBI) walked it off in the 10th inning on a hard-hit grounder to left field, scoring Joey Wendle from second base.

That particular at-bat started with pitches by Dillon Tate that buzzed Pham up and in. Those pitches were accompanied by chirping from the Orioles bench, which Pham was none too pleased about.

I’m more frustrated with their dugout hollering after the pitches that were thrown. … Kind of like they were cheering him on that he was buzzing me up and in. But success is revenge and I got the game-winning hit for us.

— Tommy Pham

Yet Pham got the last laugh. When asked about his plate approach, the outfielder did not mince words about his dissatisfaction with the Orioles hurler.

First pitch he threw it at my head, and after that I wanted to just kill him … I’m glad we won.

— Tommy Pham
https://twitter.com/FOXSportsFL/status/1168626703964360704

According to Neil Solondz (Rays Radio), Tampa Bay now has seven walk-off wins this season, including five in the team’s last 12 home games. The Rays are also 19-15 in one-run games and 18-8 after a 1-7 start in those close contests.

The New What Next

Both teams have decided on a game one starter and will determine who begins game two after the first contest is complete. Trevor Richards (4-12, 4.29 ERA) will make his fourth appearance for Tampa Bay, pitching opposite of Ty Blach (0-2, 12.81 ERA).

Trevor Richards exited Thursday’s contest against Houston after hurling just 2-1/3 innings. He allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits and two walks while striking out four. Richards entered with two Astros on base in the second inning and served up an RBI double to allow an inherited run to score. He also served up a leadoff homer in the third inning to George Springer and got himself into trouble with a pair of walks and a throwing error in the fourth before being pulled from the game. Although Richards has allowed just three earned runs while striking out 15 hitters in 11-2/3 innings since joining the Rays, Kevin Cash appears determined to keep his pitch count low; he has averaged a mere 72.3 pitches in his three outings. Richards blanked Baltimore on five scattered hits and a walk across six innings on August 23.

Ty Blach will make his sixth appearance and fourth start for Baltimore after being promoted from Norfolk. Blach faced the Rays on August 23rd and allowed seven runs (four came on Austin Meadows’ grand slam) over four innings in a 7-1 Tampa Bay victory. Key Matchups: Jesus Aguilar (7-14, 3 2B, 2 RBI, BB), Travis d’Arnaud (1-2, 2B, RBI), Kevin Kiermaier (1-2, 2B, RBI), Austin Meadows (1-3, HR, 4 RBI), Tommy Pham (3-4, RBI), Mike Zunino (1-2, RBI)

You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineups and Noteworthiness are below.

TNWN: Rays vs Orioles — one last series preview

Rays 9/3/19 Game 1 Starting Lineup

  1. Heredia CF
  2. Pham LF
  3. d’Arnaud DH
  4. Garcia RF
  5. Aguilar 1B
  6. Duffy 3B
  7. Adames SS
  8. Robertson 2B
  9. Zunino C

Rays 9/3/19 Game 2 Starting Lineup

  1. Sogard 2B
  2. Pham DH
  3. Meadows LF
  4. d’Arnaud C
  5. Choi 1B
  6. Garcia RF
  7. Kiermaier CF
  8. Adames SS
  9. Wendle 3B

Noteworthiness

— Tampa Bay currently carries 34 players on the active roster, as they have promoted OF Guillermo Heredia and LHP Brendan McKay. Baltimore will add Blach and are expected to add pitchers David Hess and Chandler Shepherd now that Triple-A Norfolk’s season is done.

— Tyler Glasnow threw 1-1/3 scoreless innings for Triple-A Durham yesterday, allowing two hits and two walks while fanning three. He threw 20 of 33 pitches for strikes (61% strike rate). It isn’t yet clear if he’ll make another appearance for Durham or rejoin the team for the Toronto series.

— #NeverForget:

https://twitter.com/TriciaWhitaker/status/1168644606881349633

Rays look for a series sweep against Cleveland on Sunday

By Leave a Comment

  • The Rays hit four homers last night, including a solo shot by Ji-Man Choi, en route to a 9-6 win over Cleveland. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

After a 9-6 win over Cleveland last night, the Tampa Bay Rays will go for a three-game sweep on Sunday with Charlie Morton on the mound. The Rays can move in front of Cleveland for the top Wildcard spot with a win.

The Rays enter play tied with Oakland, a half-game behind Cleveland entering the day. Because of Tampa Bay’s win, and the Athletics’ loss, the Rays improved their chances of a playoff berth by 11.9% per FanGraphs, which has them at 64.2%. Baseball Prospectus has Tampa Bay at a less favorable 62.9% chance, although that’s still better than a coin flip.

Ji-Man Choi, Tommy Pham, Avisail Garcia, and Travis d’Arnaud all went yard en route to the 9-6 win over Cleveland, which ended up being much closer than it should have been.

Tampa Bay maintained a 9-2 score until the eighth inning when relative newcomer Ricardo Pinto relinquished a pair of runs on Francisco Lindor’s two-run homer to right. Then in the ninth inning, Pinto gave up a two-run, one-out double to Greg Allen, chasing the right-hander and forcing Kevin Cash to call upon the services of Emilio Pagan for the final two outs of the ballgame.

Tampa Bay’s defense also flashed some run-saving leather with Jalen Beeks on the mound.

While Beeks scattered four hits over three scoreless frames, striking out one and walking none, Cleveland hit the left-hander hard yet, thankfully, within the range of Tampa Bay’s defenders.

The New What Next

Charlie Morton (13-6, 3.11 ERA) will get a shot at redemption in the series finale, pitching opposite of Adam Plutko (6-3, 4.34 ERA).

Charlie Morton was ambushed by his former team, coughing up six runs on seven hits and two walks across four innings. He struck out four. Uncle Charlie got through the first two frames unscathed before Houston’s offense erupted; five of the seven hits Morton allowed went for extra bases. On a more positive note, Morton reached 200 strikeouts for the second consecutive season. Still, in his one start this year against Cleveland, Morton fanned 10 across six innings, allowing just one run. The right-hander carries a respectable 3.11 ERA and a 4.28 K/BB through 165 innings on the season.

Adam Plutko gave up one run on three hits over 5-2/3 innings against Detroit on Tuesday. He struck out nine and walked two. Plutko recorded the first two outs of the sixth inning before he was pulled at 107 pitches after allowing a single. The 27-year-old maintains a 4.34 ERA, a 1.14 WHIP, and 4 K/BB across 83 innings. Plutko is 0-1 with an 11.81 ERA in one career start (5-1/3 innings) against the Rays. Key Matchups: Willy Adames (3-3, 2B, HR, RBI), Ji-Man Choi (1-3), Avisail Garcia (1-3, HR, RBI, BB), Kevin Kiermaier (2-3, HR, 3 RBI), Tommy Pham (1-2, HR, RBI)

You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup and Noteworthiness are below.

TNWN: Rays vs Cleveland — a series preview, part two

Rays 9/1/19 Starting Lineup

  1. Sogard 2B
  2. Meadows RF
  3. Pham LF
  4. Choi 1B
  5. Wendle 3B
  6. Adames SS
  7. Kiermaier CF
  8. N. Lowe DH
  9. Zunino C

Noteworthiness

— Rosters expand today. Pitchers Hoby Milner and Peter Fairbanks, and position players Nate Lowe, Michael Perez, and Daniel Robertson will be promoted from Triple-A Durham. That will give Tampa Bay a 30-play roster, with the ability to expand to as many as 40 this month. As Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) wrote, it’s the last year where your roster can go beyond 28 in the final month

Other farmhands are likely to be called up over the next week or so in what manager Kevin Cash called an “all hands on deck” approach to the final month of play, including pitchers Anthony Banda, Jose De Leon, Brendan McKay, and Aaron Slegers, as well as position players Mike Brosseau and Guillermo Heredia.

— Tyler Glasnow (forearm strain) could rejoin the Rays by the end of this week if his second rehab outing goes as well as his first did on Friday. Glasnow was clocked as high as 98 mph in his eight-pitch outing and threw 12 more pitches in the bullpen afterward. The Rays skipper said that Glasnow will throw two innings for Durham on Monday, then could pitch next for the big league squad if,

It looks good, he feels good, everybody is in agreement, then maybe slot him in four-five days later.

— Kevin Cash

— Brendan McKay, who is also in line to return soon, had a solid showing for Durham on Saturday, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out eight, with 39 of his 53 pitches going for strikes (74% strike rate).

Rays, Austin Pruitt blank Cleveland, 4-0

By Leave a Comment

A home run roof in the seventh inning. (Photo Credit: X-Rays Spex)

Austin Pruitt, yes…Austin Pruitt, stymied Cleveland’s offense across 5-1/3 innings, while Tampa Bay broke open a scoreless game in the seventh as the Rays cruised to a 4-0 win on Friday. After relinquishing seven or more runs in five consecutive games, the Rays threw a shutout at Tropicana Field to open a key series against Cleveland.

The Rays enter play Saturday one game behind Oakland for the final Wildcard spot and 1-1/2 back of Cleveland for the top Wildcard spot. After dropping to a 47.5% chance of a postseason berth (per FanGraphs) Tampa Bay has seen a 4.8% increase in its favor thanks to the two consecutive wins.

Austin Pruitt got the start because the Rays had used seven pitchers against Houston the day before. Contrary to his season numbers, “Cy” Pruitt set the tone with the best outing of his big league career. Pruitt surrendered four hits while striking out six across 5-1/3 scoreless frames. The right-hander threw 52 of 77 pitches for strikes (68% strike rate) as well as 14 of 20 first-pitch strikes while coaxing 11 swinging strikes. He lowered his ERA by almost a full point — from 5.57 to 4.78 — and now carries a 1.27 WHIP and a 3.67 K/BB over 37-2/3 on the season. Color me surprised … I’ll take it.

Meanwhile, Shane Bieber matched Pruitt pitch-for-pitch before the seventh inning — and no, I never thought I’d compare Pruitt to a Cy Young Award contender, yet here we are. I digress. Eric Sogard led off the game with a base hit against Bieber, however, the right-hander picked off Sogard to end the frame, starting a stretch of 12 consecutive outs before Ji-Man Choi singled to left in the fifth inning.

In that inning, Joey Wendle drove a ball to the opposite field corner, but Tyler Naquin made a tremendous catch to save a run and an extra-base hit.

Naquin left the game with a right knee sprain.

Yet two innings later, Tampa Bay took advantage of its first true scoring chance to get all it needed. Austin Meadows lined a single to right off Bieber, and on a hit-and-run on the next pitch, Travis d’Arnaud hit a bloop single to center, moving Meadows up to third. After Choi went down swinging on a 2-2 pitch in the dirt, Avisail Garcia lined a bullet through the left side, scoring Meadows for the go-ahead lead and chasing Bieber.

Right-hander Adam Cimber came on in relief of Bieber and got Wendle to hit a slow comebacker, moving both runners into scoring position. Jesus Aguilar followed, working the count to 1-1 before he sent a hanging slider into the left-field seats for a four-run advantage.

It was Aguilar’s 10th homer of the season, and second with Tampa Bay.

That put Oliver Drake, who took over for Pruitt, on the winning side of the ledger. Drake entered the game one out in the sixth and got the next five outs, allowing just an infield hit to Franmil Reyes.

In the eighth inning, Colin Poche walked the leadoff batter — his sixth free pass in two days — before he got Francisco Lindor to ground into a 5-4-3 double play. The southpaw also coaxed a fly-ball out for a scoreless frame.

Finally, Andrew Kittredge walked leadoff batter Carlos Santana in the ninth inning, but Yasiel Puig hit into a 6-3 double play before Jason Kipnis flew out to center, ending the game.

The New What Next

Diego Castillo (2-8, 3.76 ERA) will open the ballgame and will be followed by Jalen Beeks (5-3, 4.55 ERA). They’ll be opposed by Zach Plesac (7-4, 3.40 ERA).

Diego Castillo allowed one run on three hits while striking out two over two innings on Sunday against the Orioles. Castillo gave up an RBI single in the first inning, and he’d ultimately was tagged with the loss in an 8-3 series finale. The right-hander owns a 3.48 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP with a 2.86 K/BB over 51-2/3 innings this season, although he’s surrendered three runs over his last two appearances (three innings).

Jalen Beeks allowed seven earned runs on 11 hits (including two homers) and two walks while striking out six across five innings against the Orioles on Monday. Beeks entered the game in the third inning and immediately found himself in trouble, allowing four two-out runs on a walk, three singles, and a double. Things didn’t get much better in the following frame, as Beeks allowed two more runs on a walk, a base hit, a double, and a homer. Baltimore tacked on one last run against the left-hander before Kevin Cash had seen enough. Beeks has faltered since the All-Star break, as his ERA has ballooned from 2.79 to 4.55 in eight appearances.

Zach Plesac allowed one run on four hits and two walks while striking out five over 5-2/3 innings on Friday against the Royals. Plesac pitched well, surrendering his lone run in the sixth inning on an RBI triple. He missed a quality start by an out. The right-hander owns a 3.40 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP with 66 punchouts across 87-1/3 innings this season. Plesac relies primarily on a 94 mph four-seam fastball and a firm 86 mph changeup, while also mixing in an 85 mph 12-6 slider and a 79 mph worm killer curveball with 12-6 movement.

You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup and Noteworthiness are below.

TNWN: Rays vs Cleveland — a series preview, part two

Rays 8/31/19 Starting Lineup

  1. Sogard 2B
  2. Pham LF
  3. Meadows DH
  4. d’Arnaud C
  5. Choi 1B
  6. Garcia RF
  7. Kiermaier CF
  8. Duffy 3B
  9. Adames SS

Noteworthiness

— Regardless of the outcome in tonight’s ballgame, the Rays will finish the month of August with a plus .500 record.

— Great news on the Tyler Glasnow rehab front:

Glasnow is likely to pitch two innings for Durham on Monday and then could pitch for Tampa Bay four or five days later.

— The Rays have added Pete Fairbanks, Hoby Milner, Nate Lowe, Michael Perez, and Daniel Robertson to the taxi squad in advance of September call ups tomorrow.

— The Rays are offering free tickets to Sunday’s ballgame for Floridians displaced from the east coast due to Hurricane Dorian. Their sister team, the Rowdies, are doing the same tonight. Details can be found in the link below:

— The team is still considering schedule options for the series against Baltimore, currently slated for Monday-through-Wednesday, based on the hurricane forecast. They could play a doubleheader on Tuesday (and have Wednesday off).

— Wednesday’s home game against the Orioles has been rescheduled for Tuesday as part of a single-admission doubleheader, beginning at 3:10 p.m. 

More information will follow shortly.