After a 7-1 loss to the Orioles on Saturday, the Tampa Bay Rays look to win one last game in Baltimore before they head to Houston. Tampa Bay looks to finish a stretch of 21 games against sub .500 teams at 14-7.
Tampa Bay enters play a half-game behind Cleveland for the top Wildcard spot, while Oakland remains a half-game behind for the final AL Wildcard spot. Of note, according to FanGraphs, the Rays have seen their playoff chances drop 23.7% since August 13th over a stretch of play where they have gone 7-5.
The Rays made more roster moves after yesterday’s ballgame. Jose Alvarado, who threw just nine of 24 pitches for strikes as an opener, is headed the Injured List. Meanwhile, Joey Wendle has been activated. With an off-day on Monday, Tampa Bay will go with a 13th position player — opting to add a left-handed bat because the Rays are expected to see seven consecutive right-handed starters.
Meanwhile, Blake Snell, out since July 22 with a left elbow injury, is on track to throw a bullpen session this week, while Tyler Glasnow (forearm strain) just wrapped up a bullpen of his own. Glasnow is on track for a rehab assignment and could return during the club’s next homestand. Contributions from those two, as well as solid starter Yonny Chirinos (finger inflammation), who’s now playing catch, would be a boon to a club fighting for a playoff spot.
The New What Next
Diego Castillo (2-6, 3.44 ERA) will open for the Rays and will be followed by Jalen Beeks (5-3, 4.10 ERA). They’ll be opposed by Dylan Bundy (5-13, 5.03 ERA).
Diego Castillo will open for the fifth time this season. The right-hander has not appeared in a game since August 20th, when he allowed a pair of two-out runs in the first inning on a Kyle Seager homer.
Jalen Beeks gave up four runs (two earned) on four hits and three walks while striking out four across five innings on Tuesday against the Mariners. Beeks entered the game in the second inning and turned in three scoreless frames to begin his night. However, things took a turn for the worse when an error allowed the leadoff runner to reach base in the fifth innings, and Beeks went on to allow two hits, a walk, and a wild pitch to account for his two unearned runs. An inning later, he gave up a two-run homer to Tom Murphy, the deciding hit of the contest. Beeks hasn’t been good in the second half, as his ERA has ballooned from 2.79 to 4.10 in seven appearances.
Taking Monday’s off-day into consideration, and since several relievers (Oliver Drake, Colin Poche, Emilio Pagan, Nick Anderson) haven’t thrown over the past two days, Kevin Cash could be aggressive with the bullpen should Tampa Bay get a lead.
Dylan Bundy allowed one run on five hits with two walks over seven innings against the Royals on Tuesday. He struck out seven. The right-hander turned in his best start in more than a month, yet he settled for a no-decision because of no offense early in the game. Overall, he is 5-13 with a 5.03 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP, with 129 strikeouts in 127 innings this season. Bundy is 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA in three starts (13-1/3 innings) against Tampa Bay this season. Key Matchups: Willy Adames (2-7, 2B, RBI), Travis d’Arnaud (1-1, RBI), Kevin Kiermaier (5-15, 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, BB), Austin Meadows (2-5, 2B, RBI, 2 BB)
You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup is below.
Rays 8/25/19 Starting Lineup
- Sogard 2B
- Pham LF
- Meadows DH
- Choi 1B
- Garcia RF
- Kiermaier CF
- Adames SS
- Wendle 3B
- Zunino C