The Tampa Bay Rays will wrap up the weekend series against Texas Rangers with Jake Odorizzi (6-4, 4.37 ERA, 5.58 FIP) on the mound. He’ll start opposite Tyson Ross (2-2, 7.22 ERA, 5.86 FIP).
Odorizzi pitched his best start of the season on the 17th, allowing one run on one hit over seven innings against the Atletics. Odorizzi pitched out of the stretch during that start and said he plans to only throw out of the stretch going forward. Was he dominant? Not really. He relinquished a fair amount of medium-to-hard contact that, luckily, was right at the outfielders. However, he was able to generate a fair amount of weak contact that allowed him to keep his pitch count in order, while also keeping himself out of the dangerous hitters’ counts that he’d been plagued by of late. And much like those who pitched before him — namely Jacob Faria, Chris Archer and Alex Cobb, none of which featured their best stuff in their most recent outings — he threw quality strikes throughout to keep Oakland’s bats at bay.
Ross gave up nine runs in 3-2/3 innings in his last start against the Orioles. Before that, he was 1-0 with a 3.24 ERA over his previous three starts. The 30 year-old right-hander relies primarily on a 92 mph four-seam fastball with average velocity and an 84 mph fly-ball inducing slider. He will also mix in a whiffy 91 mph sinker and an 89 mph swing-and-miss cutter. He is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in four career games against the Rays, but he hasn’t faced them since 2013. Key Matchups: Corey Dickerson (5-14, 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBI, BB), Adeiny Hechavarria (2-5), Evan Longoria (2-5, RBI), Brad Miller (1-2, HR, RBI, BB), Logan Morrison (2-5, 2 BB), Shane Peterson (1-2, BB), Trevor Plouffe (1-3), Wilson Ramos (4-9, 2B, 2 RBI)
You can read more about the series in our preview.
Rays 7/23/17 Starting Lineup
Dickerson DH
Miller 2B
Longoria 3B
Morrison 1B
Souza RF
Peterson LF
Hechavarria SS
Smith CF
Sucre C
Odorizzi RHP
Noteworthiness
— In case you missed it, the Rays acquired Sergio Romo from the Los Angeles Dodgers last night for cash considerations.
— From the fingers of the inimitable Neil Solondz (Rays Radio):
The Rays were fortunate that Boston and New York lost yesterday on the West Coast, leaving the Rays still tied with New York for the wild card lead (a game in front of Minnesota and Kansas City) and 3.5 back of Boston in the AL East.