Tampa Bay’s offense hit pay dirt once again Saturday night, while the Rays’ bullpen limited Cleveland to a pair of runs en route to an 8-2 victory over the Guardians.
At 60-39 on the season, the Rays enter the series finale 21-games over .500 and tied with Boston for first place in the AL East. They have now won five consecutive games, while the Rays are 6-0 against Cleveland this season.
Tampa Bay got off to a good start against J.C. Mejia when Ji-Man Choi hit a one-out, opposite-field homer in the opening inning — his sixth on the season and the second in as many at-bats. Choi ended the night with three extra-base hits while both he and Joey Wendle collected four hits apiece.
Drew Rasmussen got the start for Tampa Bay and tossed a perfect first. Yet, Bobby Bradley tied the game with an opposite-field homer to left-center in the second inning. That, however, was the only blemish against the right-hander, who threw three solid frames and punched out three. Rasmussen needed just 35 pitches (25 strikes, 71% strike rate) over the course of his three-inning outing.
The Rays got that run back, and then some, in the third inning.
Brett Phillips led things off with a homer to right off Mejia — the fifth of the season for the pride of Seminole High.
Choi followed with a one-out double to left-center before Austin Meadows blasted a two-out, two-run home run to right for a three-run advantage. It was the first homer for Meadows and the first of two on the night.
Louis Head, who followed Rasmussen, worked a pair of scoreless innings before Cleveland chased him. Bradley Zimmer hit a grounder wide of first to Choi and he just beat the toss over to Head for an infield hit. The play initially was called an out, yet it was overturned upon review. Cesar Hernandez followed by chopping a ball back to the mound which forced a wild throw from Head, whose throw glanced off Choi’s glove for a two-base error, putting a pair of runners in scoring position. That chased Head.
Kevin Cash called upon Andrew Kittredge, who threw two scoreless innings on Friday. Kittredge struck out Ahmed Rosario on three pitches, while José Ramírez followed with a first-pitch RBI groundout to first to cap Cleveland’s scoring. Franmil Reyes capped the inning by grounding hard to first, ending the threat.
Even so, the Rays got that run back in the top of the next inning.
Mejia walked Phillips to open the frame … and we all know what happens when a batter earns a free pass to lead off a late-in-the-game inning. Phil Maton entered in relief, and one out later, Choi hit an opposite-field RBI double, scoring Phillips and putting the Rays up by three once again.
Jeffrey Springs allowed just a hit in the seventh and eighth innings, and Tampa Bay put the game out of reach in the ninth.
Brandon Lowe singled to right, then moved into second on an errant pickoff attempt. He eventually came around to score on Choi’s single to right.
Two batters later, Meadows hit his second homer of the night, capping the scoring for Tampa Bay.
Diego Castillo put the final nail in the coffin by working around a base hit and finishing up with a scoreless ninth on 17 pitches (12 strikes, 71% strike rate).
All told, the Rays went 2-for-11 wRISP and scored four two-out runs, while Cleveland went 0-for-7 wRISP and stranded five runners on base. Since the acquisition of Nelson Cruz, the Rays have scored 18 runs in 18 innings. While Cruz went 0’fer for the night, the mere threat of his pop forces opposing hurlers to pitch differently to the Rays’ thick lineup.
The New What Next
Ryan Yarbrough (6-4, 4.59 ERA) will pitch in some capacity, be that starter or bulk, pitching opposite of Tristan McKenzie (1-4, 5.91 ERA).
Ryan Yarbrough got the start Monday and coughed up six runs on eight hits and two walks over 5.2 innings. He struck out five. Baltimore didn’t hit the southpaw particularly hard, as a first-inning double by Ryan Mountcastle was the only extra-base hit Yarbrough surrendered. However, given how little run support he received, Yarbs had little to no margin for error. The ebbs and flows of Yarbrough … the lefty has lasted six innings only once in his last five outings. On the season, Yarbrough maintains a 4.59 ERA and a 4.20 FIP, with a 1.22 WHIP and a 4.42 K/BB across 102.0 innings pitched. He is 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA across two career outings (one start) against Cleveland.
Triston McKenzie allowed five runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out three over four innings against the Astros on Tuesday. While McKenzie was brilliant in a spot start against Kansas City, he couldn’t replicate the same success against a much more potent Astros’ lineup. José Altuve took him deep twice in the first three frames and the eight hits allowed were a season-high. McKenzie walked just one batter for a second straight game, a category he’s struggled with for most of the season. Even so, the right-hander is having a rough sophomore season, owning a 5.91 ERA and a 5.30 FIP, with a 1.46 WHIP, and a 1.73 K/BB over 53.1 innings. McKenzie relies primarily on a 92 mph four-seam fastball that has some added backspin, while also mixing in a whiffy 79 mph curveball with 12-6 movement and a whiffy 87 mph slider.
You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup is below.
Rays 7/24/21 Starting Lineup
- Arozarena RF
- Choi 1B
- Cruz DH
- Meadows LF
- Díaz 3B
- Franco SS
- Wendle 2B
- Mejía C
- Phillips CF
- Yarbrough LHP