Ernie Banks famously once said, “It’s a beautiful day for a ballgame — let’s play two!” and now that Hurricane Elsa has cleared the area, that’s just what the Tampa Bay Rays will do this afternoon, at Tropicana Field.
At 48-35 on the season (and 13-games above .500), the Rays have won two straight games after Monday’s walk-off win — their 24th comeback win of the season, tied for the second-most in Major League Baseball. They enter play 4.0 games back in second place thanks to Shohei Otani and the Angels, who handily defeated the Red Sox on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Cleveland enters play just two games over .500 and has lost a season-high seven straight contests.
Both clubs sustained injuries Monday night. For the Rays, Manuel Margot (left hamstring strain) was injured while legging out an infield hit in the ninth inning. He was placed on the 10-Day Injured List retroactive to July 6. LHP Ryan Sherriff was recalled from Triple-A Durham and will take Margot’s spot on the active roster if just temporarily. As for Cleveland, Eddie Rosario was injured on a swing in his first at-bat.
As we mentioned last night (see the link above), utility infielder/outfielder Vidal Bruján has been promoted as the 27th man ahead of today’s doubleheader. Bruján is expected to stick around while Margot is on the shelf.
The New What Next
Michael Wacha (1-2, 5.26 ERA) will toe the rubber, opposite of J.C. Mejia (1-3, 6.18 ERA), in the first game of the doubleheader. Then in the second game, left-hander Josh Fleming (6-4, 3.39 ERA) will be activated from the 10-Day IL and will pitch opposite of Sam Hentges (1-3, 8.22 ERA).
Michael Wacha was tagged for five runs on seven hits and two walks while tossing three relief innings on Wednesday against the Nationals. He struck out five. Wacha entered in the bottom of the fourth trailing 6-5, and Washington didn’t take long to extend its lead following his entrance. Solo homers in the fourth and fifth innings put Washington up by three runs before Wacha coughed up three more runs in the sixth. Wacha now holds a 5.26 ERA and a 4.71 FIP across 14 outings (nine starts) on the season, with a 1.40 WHIP and a 2.75 K/BB over 51.1 innings of work.
J.C. Mejia allowed six runs on five hits — including two home runs — and two walks while fanning three across four innings on Thursday against the Astros. Mejia was taken deep by Yordan Alvarez in the fourth inning and also gave up a grand slam to Jose Altuve in the fifth before being chased. He was coming off a strong start last week against Minnesota, having allowed just one run across six innings, yet the wheels came off here, and he’s now given up at least four runs in three of his last five appearances. The right-hander now owns a 6.18 ERA and a 4.20 FIP across nine outings (six starts), with a 1.27 WHIP and a 2.78 K/BB across 27.2 innings. Mejia relies primarily on a 93 mph sinker that has heavy sinking action, while also mixing in an 84 mph slider that has short glove-side cut and has some two-plane movement, a 94 mph four-seam fastball that has heavy sinking action, and an 88 mph changeup that has some natural sink to it.
Josh Fleming was placed on the 10-day Injured List after a 3.2 IP outing against the Angels. In that outing, Fleming allowed one unearned run on two hits and a walk while striking out two. Through 0 outings (0 starts), he’s posted a 3.39 ERA and a 4.14 FIP, with a 1.06 WHIP and a 2.50 K/BB across 66.1 innings.
Sam Hentges allowed six runs on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts across 2.2 innings on Friday against Houston. For the second straight outing, a half-dozen runs were charged to Hentges line, and the southpaw continues to struggle in a starting role this year. Through 14 outings (seven starts), he’s posted an 8.22 ERA and a 5.11 FIP, with a 2.06 WHIP and a 1.86 K/BB across 38.1 innings. Hentges relies primarily on a 95 mph four-seam fastball that has some natural sinking action, an 81 mph hard curveball, and a hard 86 mph slider, while also mixing in a 93 mph sinker that has some natural sinking action.
You can read about the series in our preview while the starting lineup for game one is below. I will post the starting lineup for game two upon availability.
Rays 7/7/21 Starting Lineup (game one)
- B. Lowe 2B
- Choi 1B
- Wendle 3B
- Meadows DH
- Bruján 2B
- Kiermaier CF
- Walls SS
- Zunino C
- Phillips RF
- Wacha LHP
Rays 7/7/21 Starting Lineup (game two)
- Arozarena DH
- Franco 3B
- Meadows LF
- Díaz 1B
- Bruján RF
- Mejía C
- Brosseau 2B
- Wells SS
- Phillips CF
- McHugh RHP