Another day, another come from behind win. After coming from behind a 3-o deficit to defeat Cleveland on Thursday in extra innings, 5-4, the Tampa Bay Rays will welcome a left-handed mashing slugger into the fold tonight when they play the second game of a four-game series in Cleveland.
Thanks to the win, the Rays enter play a season high tying 19-games over .500 and 1.o game behind the Red Sox in the division. They now have accrued 30 come-from-behind wins on the season, and are 5-9 in extra-inning contests. A victory tonight would push them to 20 games above .500 for the first time this season.
Luis Patiño got the start for Tampa Bay on Thursday and allowed four runs on five hits and three walks with four strikeouts across 5.1 innings versus the Guardians. He threw 66 of 98 pitches for strikes (67% strike rate). Patiño was alright, with the majority of Cleveland’s damage coming on a three-run homer in the third inning. Yet, Rays’ pitchers, including the right-hander, were able to hold the Guardians to 1-for-13 wRISP. Patiño’s ERA rose to 5.26, while his FIP currently sits at 4.18, with a 1.25 WHIP and 3.5 K/BB across 25.2 innings this season.
Tonight’s contest will mark the Tampa Bay debut of Nelson Cruz, who was acquired from the Twins yesterday. Cruz — who has 19 homers, 50 RBI, and a .907 OPS on the season — is expected to DH for the Rays. To make room on the roster, Chris Mazza, who threw 2.2 scoreless innings last night, was optioned to Durham.
You can read about the acquisition of Boomstick below.
The New What Next
Josh Fleming (7-5, 3.93 ERA) will get the start tonight, pitching opposite of Zach Plesac (5-3, 4.19 ERA).
Josh Fleming was hit hard by Atlanta, allowing seven earned runs on eight hits and a walk over 4.1 innings. He also struck out two and hit a batter. Fleming had his worst outing as a big-leaguer, surrendering a pair of home runs in same-handed at-bats with Joc Pederson and Freddie Freeman to account for part of the damage. Atlanta was able to square up consistently against the lefty, as former Rays Kevan Smith and Guillermo Heredia, as well as opposing starter Max Fried and Ozzie Albies all laced doubles off him as well. Prior to that though, he threw 2.2 scoreless innings against Cleveland on July 7th, a seven-inning game where Tampa Bay didn’t allow a hit. Fleming currently maintains a 3.93 ERA and a 4.41 FIP on the season, with a 1.09 WHIP, and a 2.39 K/BB across 73.1 innings of work.
Zach Plesac allowed two earned runs on four hits and one walk while striking out three across six innings on Sunday against the Athletics. Plesac surrendered a game-tying home run to Seth Brown in the fifth inning, however, Cleveland added a run in the seventh to set up Plesac with the win. The 26-year-old missed six weeks with a thumb injury and has had an inconsistent season. He maintains a 4.19 ERA and a 4.78 FIP on the season, with a 1.02 WHIP, and a 3.46 K/BB across 68.2 innings of work. He is 0-1 with a 7.20 ERA in one career start against the Rays. Plesac relies primarily on a 93 mph four-seam fastball, an 88 mph hard slider with 12-6 movement, and a frim 86 mph changeup, while also mixing in a hard 81 mph curveball with 12-6 movement. Key Matchups: Ji-Man Choi (2-2, HR, RBI), Joey Wendle (1-2, 2B)
You can read about the series in our updated preview below, while the starting lineup is below.
Rays 7/23/21 Starting Lineup
- Lowe 2B
- Choi 1B
- Cruz DH
- Meadows LF
- Díaz 3B
- Franco SS
- Arozarena RF
- Kiermaier CF
- Zunino C
- Fleming LHP