A ninth inning run wasn’t enough for the Rays to come out ahead of the Marlins in extra innings. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The Tampa Bay Rays look to bounce back against the Miami Marlins, after dropping an extra inning loss Monday night, 3-2. A win would get the Rays back over the .500 mark. Tampa Bay starts the day 2-8 in games against the National League this season.

The Rays had been planning to use RHP Ryne Stanek as Tuesday night’s opener, getting the first three to six outs. However, after he pitched the 10th inning Monday night, Ryan Yarbrough will function as the traditional starter instead.

The New What Next

Ryan Yarbrough (7-4, 3.76 ERA) will toe the rubber opposite of Trevor Richards (2-5, 5.06 ERA).

Ryan Yarbrough allowed one just earned run on seven hits and a walk over 6-1/3 innings of hard luck loss to Houston on Thursday. He struck out four. Yarbrough entered the game with two outs in the second inning and worked into and out of trouble for a considerable amount of his appearance. However, the southpaw managed to coax 10 groundballs and allowed only one extra-base hit — a home run to Jake Marisnick — which limited the damage. He also threw 62 of 95 pitches for strikes. It was a nice bounce back performance for Yarbrough, who allowed 15 earned runs over four of his last six outings.

Trevor Richards gave up three runs on six hits and two walks while fanning three batters over 4.0 innings against the Diamondbacks. Arizona got to Richards early, scratching all of their runs across over the first two frames. Even though Richards was BABIP’d, his command was shaky from the start, as 28 of his 75 pitches went for balls (37% ball rate). Overall, Richards was hot and cold in the month June, following up strong quality starts with subpar work. He has pitched against AL East teams (Boston and Baltimore) twice this season and has allowed 11 runs across 7-2/3 innings. This season he has relied primarily on his 92 mph four-seam fastball and a whiffy 84 mph changeup swith ome natural sink to it, while also mixing in a hard 81 mph 12-6 curveball.

You can read about the series in our preview.

The New What Next: Rays vs Marlins — an interleague series preview

Rays 7/3/18 Starting Lineup

Kiermaier CF
Duffy 3B
Bauers 1B
Ramos C
Wendle LF
Robertson 2B
Hechavarria SS
Smith RF
Yarbrough LHP

Noteworthiness

— Chris Archer, who threw a 46-pitch simulated game on Thursday, and a 65-pitch bullpen on Saturday, is slated to make a rehab start Tuesday with Class-A Advanced Charlotte, with a decision pending whether he could return after that (July 8 in New York, or July 9 at home) or make a second rehab appearance. Archer will throw four innings or 60 pitches, whichever comes first.

We’ll monitor the weather, Rays manager Cash said. If it means we’ve got to delay (the start) for 35 minutes or somebody else needs to start the game to make sure Arch gets his 65-70 pitches in we’ll do that.

— Yonny Chirinos, who was recently placed on the Triple-A disabled list, threw a 35-pitch bullpen on Sunday and is reportedly feeling better and on the upswing.

— The International Signing Period began on Monday, and the Rays signed five of the top 50 prospects (per Baseball America) in this year’s class.

The Rays reportedly inked deals with 16 year-old SS Alejandro Pie; 16 year-old twin shortstops Ryson and Rainer Polonius; 16 year-old OF Estanli Castillo; SS Daury del Rosario; right-handed pitchers Justino Dominguez, Jose Gonzalez and Anthony Molina; and left-handers Brayan Dum and Daniel Gonzalez.

Today is an exciting day for the organization and I’m really proud of the job our scouting group did to put us in position to add this much talent into the system, international scouting director Carlos Rodriguez said. Our organization is built on our ability to add high end talent and develop it. We feel we’ve added a strong collection of tools and skills that have a chance to impact the organization in the years to come and we will continue to add the best possible players going forward as today signals the beginning of the 2018-2019 signing period.

The Rays reportedly agreed to a $1.4-million with Pie the big, athletic, highly touted and talented shortstop, although the team has not confirmed the deal.

At the plate, Pie exhibits above-average bat speed and projects to have above-average power in the future. And while Baseball America pegs him as “an athletic shortstop with plus speed and a plus arm,” it is thought he projects more as an outfielder, where his speed — he is clocked in the 6.65 second range in the 60-yard run — translates into the ability to cover a lot of ground.

The Polonius twins are southpaw-hitting shortstops who both are 6 feet and 140 pounds. Ryson (ranked 30th) and Rainer (ranked 31st) are quick, fast and athletic, although both need to gain weight and strength.

Estanli Castillo is regarded for his raw power and batting practice power shows in the Dominican Republic.

Jesse Sanchez (MLB.com) wrote about the rules surrounding the International Signing Period:

According to the rules established by the Collective Bargaining Agreement, clubs — like the Rays — that received a Competitive Balance Pick in Round B of the MLB Draft received a pool of $6,025,400, while clubs that received a Competitive Balance Pick in Round A of the Draft received $5,504,500. All other clubs received $4,983,500.

Teams are allowed to trade as much of their international pool money as they would like, but can only acquire 75 percent of a team’s initial pool amount. Additionally, signing bonuses of $10,000 or less do not count toward a club’s bonus pool, and foreign professional players who are at least 25 and have played in a foreign league for at least six seasons are also exempt.

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