Stu Sternberg was shocked by the amount of vitriol surrounding his untenable, cockamamie sister city proposal. Let me guess, he’s also surprised that the attendance, which had been increasing incrementally, also took a hit the last two games.

After the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Texas Rangers on Saturday, 5-2, they will look for a series victory this afternoon at Tropicana Field. Blake Snell, who has been in the throes of a difficult stretch, will look to get on track in the series finale.

The story yesterday afternoon was Brendan McKay, who made his big league debut. McKay pitched six scoreless innings, allowing just one hit (tracked at 66.5 mph off the bat) and one walk with three punch outs. The left-hander took a perfect game into the sixth inning when he gave up two baserunners. McKay’s curveball was especially sharp, as he held Texas to 1-for-18 on his breaking pitch and generated 11 swings and misses.

McKay talked about his outing after the game:

Another left-hander, Snell, will take the mound this afternoon. He spoke with Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) yesterday about his upcoming start, and McKay’s debut:

The New What Next

Blake Snell (4-7, 5.01 ERA) will take the mound, pitching opposite of Jesse Chavez (3-2, 2.79 ERA).

Blake Snell again did not fare well in his last start, allowing seven runs on 11 hits and a walk across 3-1/3 innings on Tuesday. He struck out three. There’s at least one bright side: he made it out of the first inning, which he didn’t do in his last outing. Still, the left-hander has royally struggled in his last two appearances, yielding 13 runs over 3-2/3 total innings of work. Over his last three starts, Snell’s ERA has jumped more than 1-1/2 runs, and he now sits with a 5.01 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, and 105 strikeouts over 79 innings this season. Be that as it may, he is 2-0 with a 0.79 ERA in two career starts (11-1/3 innings) against the Rangers.

Jesse Chavez allowed one unearned run on five hits over 6-1/3 innings against the Tigers. He struck out seven. It was the 35-year-old’s longest outing in over two seasons, giving himself some job security in his new role as the Rangers’ fifth starter. Chavez carries a 2.79 ERA and a 3.2 K/BB through 51-2/3 on the season. He is 0-1 with a 2.79 ERA in nine career outings (one start, 19-1/3 innings overall) against Tampa Bay. He relies primarily on a 92 mph two-seam sinker and an 89 mph cutter with good “rise” but little cutting action, while also mixing in a hard 87 mph slider with little depth, a whiffy 92 mph four-seam fastball with run, and a firm 86 mph changeup. Key Matchups: Avisail Garcia (5-9, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI, BB), Kevin Kiermaier (2-5, RBI), Mike Zunino (4-16, 2B, RBI)

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

Rays 6/30/19 Starting Lineup

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

Noteworthiness

— Are you restless like me? Then sign the petition Sam McGreavy went through the trouble of drafting.

A petition is making the rounds: Pull back Stu Sternberg’s sister city proposal

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