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Rays 5/18/18 starting lineup and pregame notes; pitching shuffle for Saturday’s contest

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The Tampa Bay Rays won their fourth in a row late last night against the Angels, 7-1. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The Tampa Bay Rays look to win a fifth consecutive game tonight, and clinch a winning road trip, after taking down the Los Angeles late last night, 7-1. The Rays are 5–3 on an 11-game three-city trip.

The Rays hit three home runs on Thursday, accounting for five of the team’s seven runs and giving them more than enough offensive production to take down one of the best teams in the American League.

Tampa Bay did suffer another injury, as shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria left with a mild right hamstring strain after hitting a single to left field in the second inning. When Hechavarria reached first base, he grabbed at the back of his leg/hamstring. He was re-evaluated Friday, and while nothing official has been announced by the team, it doesn’t appear that the Rays are making a roster move, so they must have gotten a good report from Hechavarria.

In any case, Hechavarria became the third player to be injured on this trip, following Carlos Gomez (right groin strain), and Matt Duffy (right hamstring tightness). Neither Duffy nor Hechavarria are in the lineup tonight, however, Duffy is expected to return to the fold on Saturday.

The New What Next

Blake Snell (4-3, 3.12 ERA) will get the start tonight for Tampa Bay, pitching opposite of Nick Tropeano (1-2, 3.64 ERA).

Blake Snell took his third loss of the season on Sunday and is dealing with a sore right hip. The revelation came during manager Kevin Cash’s postgame press conference following a forgettable outing in which the left-hander allowed five earned runs on six hits over 3-1/3 innings against Baltimore. According to Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) Cash made sure to emphasize that it is a “minor, minor injury,” but also conceded the discomfort was the primary reason why he opted to pull Snell after just 73 pitches, allowing that he didn’t think the Snell “looked quite like himself.” Snell has faced the Angels just once, but walked away as the hard luck loser after he put together a 6 IP/4 H/2 ER/7 K performance. Prior to that outing, Snell had allowed two runs or fewer in six consecutive starts.

Nick Tropeano was credited with a no-decision in his last start on Saturday against Minnesota after the right-hander yielded three runs over six innings. This season he has relied primarily on his 91 mph four-seam fastball with natural sinking action and slight armside run, and an 80 mph 12-6 slider, while also mixing in an 82 mph splitter that dives down out of the zone, an 89 mph sinker with obvious tail, and a whiffy 82 mph changeup. He is 0-1 with a 4.35 ERA in two career starts against the Rays, but has not faced them since 2016. Tropeano is also 3-4 with a 4.56 ERA in 14 career starts at Angel Stadium. Key Matchup: Brad Miller (3-9, 2 HR, 3 RBI)

You can read about the series in our preview.

The New What Next: Rays vs Halos — a series preview

Rays 5/18/18 Starting Lineup

Span LF
Cron DH
Wendle 2B
Ramos C
Miller 1B
Robertson SS
Smith CF
Arroyo 3B
Field RF
Snell LHP

Noteworthiness

— The Rays are plotting something different and unusual for Saturday, starting the game with RHP Sergio Romo, then switching to LHP Ryan Yarbrough, based primarily on matchups.

According to Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) the thinking is that Romo’s combination of slow, sweeping breaking balls will stymie the six or so aggressive right-handers at the top of the Angels order.

In theory, that would allow the Rays’ southpaw to come in against the bottom third of the order and work deeper into the game without facing Mike Trout, Justin Upton, Zack Cozart, Albert Pujols, Andrelton Simmons and Ian Kinsler for a third time through the order.

The way that their lineup stacks generally speaking is very heavy right-handed at the top, manager Kevin Cash said when asked about the plan after Thursday’s game.

It allows us in theory to let Sergio to come in there and play the matchup game in the first, which is somewhat unheard of — up until Saturday anyway.

Then Yarbs can, in theory, have the availability to get deeper in the game. There’s no more secret about the third time through the order, everybody knows that. And that’s kind of what this is about.

Romo has never started a game in his 11-year major-league career, yet Cash said the right-hander is beyond excited to start the ball game, saying:

I can tell you this: Sergio Romo’s really excited about this. He might be the most excited of anybody in baseball.

The New What Next: Rays vs Halos — a series preview

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After dropping three of four in Baltimore, the Rays bounced back to sweep the Royals. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The Tampa Bay Rays are set to kick off a four-game visit to Angel Stadium in Anaheim, where they will battle the Los Angeles Angels this weekend. Tampa Bay is coming off a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals, while Los Angeles just dropped two-of-three to the AL West leading Houston Astros.

(Stats Credit: ESPN)

Tampa Bay enters the series with a 19-22 record on the season, although the team was able to take all three games at Kaufman Stadium — the Rays’ first sweep of the Royals since 2011, and the first in Kansas City since 2009. Prior to that, they had lost six of seven following a spate of play where the team was able to make up eight games in the loss column. If the Rays has any hope of being a part of the Wildcard race, then they will need to be much more consistent at the plate. To their credit, they were able to tag the Royals for 13 runs, although they have averaged just 3.67 runs per game over their last nine games …  and that just won’t get it done. While they have averaged 4.45 runs per game on the road this year, they have also allowed 5.45 runs per game under the same parameters.

The Angels have been very good at the plate so far, ranking sixth in the league in scoring — putting up 4.93 runs per game —  while also ranking second in homers with 58. They, however, have averaged 4.12 runs per game at home, while in the same breath allowing 4.96 runs per game.

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

Tampa Bay took four of the seven games from the Halos last season (2-1 at Angel Stadium).

Pitching Probables

Over the next four days, Kevin Cash will lean on Chris Archer (2-3, 5.64 ERA), Blake Snell (4-3, 3.12 ERA), Ryan Yarbrough (3-2, 3.93 ERA) and Anthony Banda (0-0, 5.40 ERA). Mike Scioscia will counter with Tyler Skaggs (3-2, 3.07 ERA), Nick Tropeano (1-2, 3.64 ERA), Andrew Heaney (2-2, 3.93 ERA) and Shohei Ohtani (3-1, 3.58 ERA).

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

Chris Archer was hit with the loss on Saturday against the Orioles, after he allowed six runs on seven hits and three walks over seven innings. He struck out four. It was Archer’s second seven inning start, yet his line left a lot to be desired thanks to the three long balls he allowed. The right-hander has now conceded nine home runs this season; he served up a homer in each of his first six starts, but kept the ball in the yard in his previous two outings heading into Saturday. He also allowed a steal of home (by Chance Sisco) and another run on a wild pitch. In spite of his 5.64 ERA across 52-2/3 innings, Archer has a solid 3.47 K/BB. He is 3-1 with a 2.45 ERA in five starts at Angel Stadium.

Tyler Skaggs gave up two earned runs on six hits over six innings against the Twins, striking out seven and walking two in a 5-4 loss. Despite the score, the southpaw put together a solid outing, and has pitched well all season (save for a rough outing against Boston on April 18, when he got tagged for six earned runs). His strikeout rate has been on an uptick lately, and he has punched out at least seven batters in three consecutive starts after managing that feat just once in his first five trips to the mound. He now has a 3.07 ERA, a 1.20 WHIP and a 3.54 K/BB over 44 innings this season. Contrary to the superlatives, Skaggs allowed five runs in his only appearance against Tampa Bay, and is 3-9 with a 4.81 ERA in 25 starts at Angel Stadium. This season he has relied primarily on his 92 mph four seam fastball resulting in a good number of swinging strikes, and a biting 75 mph curveball with sweeping glove-side movement, while also mixing in a 92 mph worm-killer sinker, and an 85 mph changeup with surprising cut action and sink.

Blake Snell took his third loss of the season on Sunday and is dealing with a sore right hip. The revelation came during manager Kevin Cash’s postgame press conference following a forgettable outing in which the left-hander allowed five earned runs on six hits over 3-1/3 innings against Baltimore. According to Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) Cash made sure to emphasize that it is a “minor, minor injury,” but also conceded the discomfort was the primary reason why he opted to pull Snell after just 73 pitches, allowing that he didn’t think the Snell “looked quite like himself.” Snell has faced the Angels just once, but walked away as the hard luck loser after he put together a 6 IP/4 H/2 ER/7 K performance.

Nick Tropeano was credited with a no-decision in his last start on Saturday against Minnesota after the right-hander yielded three runs over six innings. This season he has relied primarily on his 91 mph four-seam fastball with natural sinking action and slight armside run, and an 80 mph 12-6 slider, while also mixing in an 82 mph splitter that dives down out of the zone, an 89 mph sinker with obvious tail, and a whiffy 82 mph changeup. He is 0-1 with a 4.35 ERA in two career starts against the Rays, but has not faced them since 2016. Tropeano is also 3-4 with a 4.56 ERA in 14 career starts at Angel Stadium. Key Matchup: Brad Miller (3-9, 2 HR, 3 RBI)

Ryan Yarbrough allowed one run on five hits and three walks over five innings to earn his third win of the season on Monday against the Royals. He struck out four. Yarbrough put together a somewhat surprising outing, in that his strike to ball rate sat at 60% as he walked three batters. It will be interesting to see if the southpaw can bounce back against Mike Trout and the Angels, who he has never faced.

Andrew Heaney fanned 10 over eight solid innings of one-run ball against the Astros on Monday. He later described the outing as the best of his career. Heaney has pitched to a 1.80 ERA over his last four starts for the Angels, although he is 6-4 with a 4.16 ERA in 17 starts at home. This season the left-hander has relied primarily on his 92 mph swing and miss sinker and a hard 80 mph curveball, while also mixing in a firm 84 mph worm-killer changeup with armside fade and natural sink. He has never faced the Rays. Key Matchup: Brad Miller (2-2)

Anthony Banda efficiently cruised through the Royals lineup, setting a quick pace and inducing lots of contact — prior to the fifth inning he had struck out only one batter. But it appeared that the wheels might fall off for the southpaw in that frame. As Banda pounded the zone, the Royals began to hit squibbers that found holes.

A pair of leadoff singles and a sacrifice bunt later, Kansas City had runners on second and third with just one out. Banda came back and coaxed a soft grounder to short out of Ryan Goins that was scored as an RBI fielder’s choice. The next batter, Whit Merrifield, sent a liner to left that dropped just in front of Span, who struggled with the ball. Merrifield tried to stretch his single into a double, and Span gunned him down at second. The Rays got out of the inning with the lead, yet the Royals cut the deficit to one. Kansas City later tied the game against the tandem of Jose Alvarado and Sergio Romo.

That’s not to say Banda performed poorly, because he didn’t. The left-hander went five innings, and didn’t walk a batter. He struck out one and threw just 52 pitches (38 strikes, 73% strike ratio), although he allowed three runs on six hits.

Shohei Ohtani, thrust into a six-man rotation, will get the start in the series finale. Ohtani is coming off a quality start against Minnesota — his fourth of the season — in which he allowed just three hits and collected 11 strikeouts. It’s also thought that he may see some at-bats leading up to his start. The two-way star has relied on a blazing 98 mph four-seam fastball, a firm and whiffy 88 mph splitter with slight cut action and has some natural sink, and a sweeping 83 mph slider with two-plane movement, while also mixing in a whiffy 75 mph curveball with exceptional bite and glove side movement.

Noteworthiness

— Christian Arroyo, the highly touted prospect acquired in the December trade of Evan Longoria to the Giants, was called up Wednesday when the Rays put RF Carlos Gomez on the DL so they could add another right-handed bat. The team also plans to have him step in for 3B Matt Duffy, who is out of the lineup, likely until Friday, after leaving Tuesday’s game with hamstring tightness.

Arroyo has been off to a slow start with Triple-A Durham, hitting .200 with one homer (albeit a grand slam) in 17 games, having missed time with a calf strain.

The New What Next: Rays vs Orioles — a series preview, part two

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Oriole Park at Camden Yards, site of the upcoming four-game series between the Rays and the Orioles. (Photo Credit: Baltimore Sun)

So it begins, the Tampa Bay Rays are set begin the most important stretch of their season on Friday, a period of action that finds them playing 40 games in 41 days. First stop Baltimore, where they are set to take on the Orioles in a four-game, three-day series starting Friday.

(Stats Credit: ESPN)

The American League East rivals met late last month in Baltimore, and the Rays took each of the two encounters that occurred. Unfortunately the first game of that series was rained out, hence the doubleheader on Saturday. Tampa Bay’s offense has fallen off the last few games, although the team is batting .259 (fifth in MLB) and boasts a .331 on-base percentage (sixth in MLB). The Rays are hovering around .500 but have lost three in a row.

Meanwhile, Baltimore is the worst team in baseball but at least they managed to put an end to an eight-game losing streak by beating Kansas City both on Wednesday and Thursday, consequently winning the series. The Orioles are 29th in batting average, 30th in on-base percentage, 27th in slugging percentage, and 29th in runs scored.

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

Pitching Probables

Kevin Cash will turn to Jake Faria (3-1, 4.15 ERA), the bullpen (6-10, 4.35 ERA), Chris Archer (2-2, 5.32 ERA) and Blake Snell (4-2, 2.40 ERA). Buck Showalter will counter with Kevin Gausman (2-2, 3.30 ERA), Alex Cobb (0-4, 7.61 ERA), a pitcher to be named later, and Dylan Bundy (1-5, 5.31 ERA).

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

Jake Faria allowed one run on three hits and a walk over 5-1/3 innings against the Blue Jays on Saturday. He struck out out four. The right-hander has now allowed no more than one run in five of his seven starts this season, although he has only lasted long enough to produce two quality starts thanks to the Rays reluctance to allow certain hurlers to face batters three times through the order. Faria is 1-0 with a 4.78 in five games (four starts) against Baltimore.

Kevin Gausman allowed just two hits and two walks while fanning six across nine scoreless innings on Saturday. He, however, did not factor into the decision. Gausman’s line is slightly misleading, as only 66 of his 113 pitches went for strikes. He also threw a low percentage first pitch strikes, although it did not come back to haunt him via walks or hard contact. Since getting knocked around for six earned runs in his season debut, Gausman has not allowed more than three earned runs in any of his following six starts, and now owns a neat 3.30 ERA over 43-2/3 innings. This season he has relied on his 93 mph four-seam fastball with arm-side run and an 83 mph worm killer splitter, while also mixing in an 81 mph 12-6 slider. He is 5-5 with a 3.57 ERA in 12 starts against the Rays. Key Matchups: CJ Cron (3-10, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB), Wilson Ramos (2-8, HR, RBI), Rob Refsnyder (3-8, 2B, BB), Mallex Smith (3-7, 3B, BB), Denard Span (4-9, 2 2B, 3 RBI), Jesus Sucre (2-6, 2 2B, RBI)

I will update this piece when Saturday’s starter for the Rays is announced.

Alex Cobb allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk, while striking out five over six innings in a loss to the Athletics on Sunday. Cobb has put together back-to-back quality starts, although he is bereft of his first win of the season. His offense failed him Sunday, as the Orioles were able to push across just one run. In spite of solid performances in his last two outings, Cobb still sits with a 7.61 ERA/5.32 FIP and 2.03 WHIP as a result of a disastrous start to the season. Key Matchups: CJ Cron (1-3, 2B, 2 RBI), Brad Miller (4-9, 2B, 2 RBI, BB), Daniel Robertson (1-2, 2B), Mallex Smith (1-2), Denard Span (2-3, 2B), Joey Wendle (2-3, RBI)

Chris Archer fanned six, walked none and scattered five hits over seven strong innings on Sunday. Previous to this start, Archer had performed to a 6.05 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP, but he notched his second consecutive quality start and his third in his last four outings. His current peripherals still aren’t pretty, and he hasn’t been striking out batters at quite as prolific a rate as he had in the past, but he appears ready to move past his early season struggles and start to hack away at those ugly peripherals. Archer is 6-8 with a 4.92 ERA in 17 starts against Baltimore, including a 5-1/3 inning, four-run outing on April 26th.

I will update this piece when Saturday’s starter for the Orioles is announced.

Blake Snell allowed one run on four hits and two walks over 6-1/3 innings on Tuesday against the Braves. He struck out five. The southpaw threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of 25 batters and induced 13 swinging strikes, allowing him to Atlanta’s lineup off balance for most of the night. His only real mistake came on a solo home run from Ronald Acuna in the third inning, on a slider that hung up over the middle of the plate. His loss was of the hard luck variety, as it was due to a lack of run support. Otherwise, Snell has been outstanding over his last six starts, allowing two runs or fewer in each while posting a 4.78 K/BB over that span. Snell is 1-1 with a 3.78 ERA in three career starts against Baltimore,

Dylan Bundy allowed seven runs on five hits and two walks while not recording an out in the 15-7 loss to Kansas City on Tuesday. Bundy allowed four home runs over over a seven batter span, and managed to do so with only 28 pitches. Over his last three outings, Bundy has allowed 22 runs (19 earned) on 23 hits (including nine home runs) across just nine innings. Bundy started the season with a fantastic 1.42 ERA across 31-2/3 innings — with 40 punch outs and only one home run allowed — but has recently looked like a completely different pitcher. Bundy has relied primarily on his 92 mph four-seam fastball and an 82 mph slider, while also mixing in a 75 mph curveball, 84 mph changeup and 92 mph sinker. The right-hander is 1-3 with a 7.61 ERA in six career starts against Tampa Bay. Key Matchups: Carlos Gomez (1-4), Brad Miller (4-11, 2B, HR, RBI), Mallex Smith (4-7, RBI, BB), Joey Wendle (2-3, 2B, RBI)

Noteworthiness

— Left-hander Anthony Banda will be promoted at some point this weekend. It is not immediately clear whether he would be added to the roster Friday (someone would need to be optioned to make room) or if he is being added as the 26th man for Saturday’s doubleheader.

Banda is 4-2 with a 3.50 ERA in seven starts at Triple-A Durham, with 44 strikeouts and 16 walks over 36 innings. He was 2-3 with a 5.96 ERA in eight games last season for the Diamondbacks.

— The Rays have suffered another dent to their depth, as 21 year-old RHP Jose Mujica has been sidelined with a forearm strain. Mujica had shown well over his first six starts with Triple-A Durham, working to a 3.13 ERA with 32 punch outs against ten walks in 31-2/3 innings of work. His anticipated timeline is not yet known.

— The Orioles received another blow, as RHP Darren O’Day was placed on the 10-day DL with a hyper-extended right elbow. Steve Adams (MLB Trade Rumors) wrote about the injury, saying:

Eduardo A. Encina provides some insight into the injury that sent righty Darren O’Day to the 10-day disabled list with a hyperextended right elbow. O’Day explains that a “freak accident” occurred during the middle innings of Tuesday’s game as he began stretching and getting loose. A teammate inadvertently ran into his arm while he was stretching it, hyperextending the right elbow and initially causing O’Day to fear that he’d suffered a serious injury. An MRI revealed no structural damage in O’Day’s right arm, and manager Buck Showalter actually said that the MRI was “remarkably good” for a pitcher in his mid-30s.

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

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Under the big top, where the Rays will face the Braves in a two-game Interleague Series starting Tuesday. (Photo Credit: Anthony Ateek/X-Rays Spex)

The Tampa Bay Rays will cap a five-game home stand by playing host to the Atlanta Braves in a two-game interleague series starting Tuesday. Despite falling 2-1 in the finale against Toronto on Sunday, the Rays took two of three from Jays, and are 11-4 over their last 15 games. Meanwhile, the Braves are coming off a series sweep at the hands of Evan Longoria and the San Francisco Giants, and are 8-7 over their last 15.

(Stats Credit: ESPN)

The Rays are swinging the bats well, currently averaging 4.44 runs per game thanks in large part to, C.J. Cron, who’s reached base safely in 13 consecutive games. Over that span Cron has accrued 13 RBI, and is now hitting .256 with seven home runs and 20 RBI on the season. Then there’s Wilson Ramos, who’s hit safely in 14 consecutive games — including nine extra base hits (four homers, five doubles) — and driven in 15 RBI.

The offense for the first place Braves (19-14) has played a large role in the team’s strong start, and is now averaging 5.48 runs per game, good for third in the Majors. Freddie Freeman continues to be one of the more productive members of Atlanta’s squad, collecting 10 hits and eight RBI in his last nine games. The 28 year-old slugger now boasts a .950 OPS and is hitting .307 with five home runs and 25 RBI on the season.

All told, Atlanta’s hitters are a big league best .274 at the plate, and lead the league with a .341 on-base percentage. However, with the exception of the number of runs scored (or driven in), the Rays and Braves offenses are startlingly close with one another over the last 14 days.

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

Whether Tampa Bay can end the home stand with an overall .500 record will depend on whether the team can sweep Atlanta. Pitching and defense will likely determine the outcome of series. Can the Rays defense — which has been very good all season, committing just 14 errors in the field (only Houston and Arizona have fewer) — continue to be solid? How about the pitching staff, which has gelled over the last 14-day, performing to an overall 3.27 ERA/3.03 FIP/3.53 xFIP line (3.14 ERA/2.92 FIP/3.64 xFIP by the starters, 3.46 ERA/3.17 FIP/3.42 xFIP by the ‘pen)?

Pitching Probables

Over the next couple of days Kevin Cash will lean on Blake Snell (4-1, 2.55 ERA) and the bullpen (6-10, 4.58 ERA). Brian Snitker will counter with Sean Newcomb (2-1, 3.38 ERA) and Julio Teheran (2-1, 3.65 ERA).

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

Blake Snell allowed two runs on five hits and a walk while striking out four over 6-2/3 innings against the Tigers. The southpaw allowed a game-tying two-out solo home run against the final batter he faced in the seventh inning, although he was again impressive and efficient, throwing just 86 pitches (57 strikes, 66% strike ratio). Snell didn’t rack up the strikeouts after fanning at least nine in three of his past four starts, yet the effort was still good enough for his fifth straight quality start. Suffice it to say, Snell has fared well thus far, posting a 2.55 ERA and a .190 batting average over 42-1/3 innings. A cursory tale, the Braves rank third in the Majors with 181 runs scored and a .274 team batting average against left-handers.

Sean Newcomb picked up a win against the Mets on Wednesday, scattering two hits and a walk over seven scoreless frames while striking out eight. The left-hander threw 70 of 97 pitches for strikes (72% strike ratio) while generating 16 swinging strikes. He now has a total of 42 strikeouts on the season. Newcomb has conceded just three homers so far. This season he has relied primarily on a whiffy 93 mph four-seam fastball with little arm side movement, while also mixing in a hard 88 mph worm-killer changeup, and a biting 77 mph curveball with arm side movement. Key Matchups: Denard Span (1-3)

I will update this piece when Wednesday’s starter for the Rays is announced.

Julio Teheran tossed seven scoreless innings against the Mets on Thursday, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out six — carrying a no hitter into the seventh, which former Ray Asdrubal Cabrera broke up. Teheran exited his previous start with upper-back tightness, although his strong showing in his last start should ease any injury concerns. The 27 year-old has now thrown four quality starts over his past five outings, with his injury-shortened start against the Phillies marking the only time he didn’t toss six innings in that stretch. This season he has relied primarily on a whiffy 90 mph four-seam fastball with natural sinking movement, an 89 mph sinker (using a two-seam fastball grip) with arm side run, and a whiffy 80 mph slider, while also mixing in an 82 mph changeup wit arm side fade. Key Matchups: Matt Duffy (1-2, 2B, BB), Carlos Gomez (4-16, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB), Wilson Ramos (4-11, 2 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB), Denard Span (13-35, 2 2B, 2 3B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB)

The New What Next: Rays vs Tigers — a series preview

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Blake Snell will get the start in the series finale against the Tigers on Wednesday. (Photo Credit: MLB.com)

Riding a huge wave of momentum, born of an 8-2 stretch of play, the Tampa Bay Rays head to Detroit on Monday to start a three-game series against the Tigers. Both teams are similar, in that they got off to terrible starts, but have had a nice stretch to get back to respectability.

(Stats Credit: ESPN)

The Rays have been fantastic, going from 4-13 all the way to 12-14 following an eight-game winning streak that was snapped on Sunday. And while they looked to be in a dogfight for the basement position in the AL East along with Baltimore, their recent spate of play suggests that they might actually be able to live up to their preseason projections.

The Tigers offense has gone dormant in recent days, getting blanked 1-0 on Thursday and then again, 6-0 on Friday night.  The loss dropped them to 11-15, although that is better than what most people expected.

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

Detroit was handed what could be a major blow on Sunday, when Miguel Cabrera was pulled from the game against the Orioles having been diagnosed with left biceps spasms. There have been no updates at this time regarding the severity of the injury.

Pitching Probables

Kevin Cash will lean on Jacob Faria (1-1, 6.33 ERA), Chris Archer (2-1, 6.61 ERA), and Blake Snell (4-1, 2.25 ERA) over the life of the series. Ron Gardenhire will counter with Jordan Zimmerman (1-0, 7.91 ERA), Matthew Boyd (0-2, 2.74 ERA), and Michael Fulmer (1-2, 2.76 ERA).

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

Faria goes for the Rays

Jacob Faria allowed four runs on four hits and three walks while striking out five over 4-1/3 innings against the Orioles on Wednesday. He did not factor into the decision.

Faria, essentially, matched Cobb’s mediocrity pitch-for-pitch, allowing a foreboding lead-off walk in the home half of the first, which was converted into a run on a two-out double into the left-field corner by Adam Jones. It certainly didn’t help that the ball got stuck in the padding at the bottom of the wall, forcing Denard Span to literally dig it out.

Faria continued to struggle in the second inning, when the Orioles took a two-run lead. Pedro Alvarez worked a one out walk before Anthony Santander and Jace Peterson went back-to-back with doubles, giving Baltimore a 3-1 advantage. That would be the last hit Faria would allow until Chance Sisco tee’d off on the hurler in the home half of the fifth, chasing him in favor of the bullpen.

Jordan Zimmeran looks like he’s on his last legs at just 31 years of age. He’s getting shelled just about every time out, and has been hit hard in all five appearances (four starts). Moreover, he’s given up at least three earned runs in each of his four starts, with a few being much worse.

Zimmerman has lasted just 18-2/3 innings over his four starts and allowed 17 earned runs, leading to a bloated 7.91 ERA. Batters are hitting .333 against him and his WHIP is 1.71. If the Rays are looking to set a tone early, Zimmerman is the perfect contender to do that against. Key Matchups: None to speak of.

Chris Archer allowed four earned runs on 11 hits while walking one and striking out seven over 5-1/3 innings on Thursday, allowing him to earn the win against the Orioles. Still, it was another rough outing for the Rays ace as he continued his undesirable streak of allowing a home run in each of his starts. On the positive side, he did fan seven and coaxed 19 whiffs, showing that he still has plenty of deception in his stuff. Both his BABIP and strand rate indicate that things should improve over time, although his current stat-line remains unsightly.

Matthew Boyd gave up four runs on seven hits and three walks with three strikeouts over just 3-2/3 innings to take a loss Wednesday against the Pirates. Boyd finally showed weakness after opening the season with three fantastic outings. He was undone by a three-run homer off the bat of Jose Osuna in the second inning, and struggled with his control all day. Boyd threw just 12 first-pitch strikes to 21 hitters and walked three batters over the span of his outing, needing 94 pitches to get just 11 outs. This season he has relied primarily on his 90 mph four-seam fastball and an 80 mph slider, while also mixing in a 73 mph curveball with good glove side movement, a 78 mph changeup, and an 88 mph sinker. He has started just one game against the Rays since 2015, and is 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA after he allowed three runs on three hits and two walks over five innings. Key Matchups: Rob Refsnyder (2-3, 2B, RBI)

Blake Snell allowed just two runs on five hits and a walk over 7-1/3 innings of a win over the Red Sox on Friday. He struck out nine. It was the first time in the southpaw’s Major League career that he’s pitched into the eighth inning, as Snell threw 68 of 104 pitches for strikes, and generated 17 whiffs in his impressive performance. The 25-year-old has now produced four consecutive quality starts and sits at a 2.25 ERA on the season. His .286 BABIP suggests he could be due for a slight change of luck.

Michael Fulmer tossed six scoreless frames against the Pirates on Thursday, but did not factor into the decision. He scattered four hits and a walk while striking out nine. Fulmer has allowed two earned runs or fewer in four of his five starts this season and now has a 2.76 ERA, yet he has just one win to show for it, as the Tigers have not been providing him much run support. This season Fulmer has relied upon his 95 mph sinker and an 86 mph slider, while also mixing in an 88 mph changeup, a 96 mph four seam fastball, and an 86 mph curveball. He is 2-2 with a 2.36 ERA in four starts against the Rays (26-2/3 innings), having allowed seven total runs on 18 hits including two homers. Key Matchups: CJ Cron (2-8, RBI), Wilson Ramos (1-1, 2B, BB), Daniel Robertson (2-3, 2 RBI), Mallex Smith (1-3)

Noteworthiness

— Lots of big crowds at Fenway for the weekend series against the Red Sox. Totally no empty seats or sections at all!

(Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)