Following a come from behind, 12-6 victory against Boston Saturday afternoon, the Tampa Bay Rays look to notch their third consecutive series sweep today … weather permitting, that is.
And, good morning Boston, where #Rays and #RedSox are supposed to play this afternoon at 1 … pic.twitter.com/fcHVpXHly1
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) April 29, 2018
Because Yonny Chirinos lasted just two-plus innings yesterday afternoon — leaving Rays manager Kevin Cash to lean on LHP Ryan Yarbrough, who seemed likely to start the series finale — the Rays instead will turn to RHP Matt Andriese this afternoon. Andriese will be making his first start of the season after seven relief outings.
We’ve recalled RH Chih-Wei Hu from Triple-A @DurhamBulls and optioned LH Ryan Yarbrough.
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 29, 2018
The team made a quick decision to scratch RHP Chih-Wei Hu from his scheduled start for Triple-A Durham, with the intent of bringing him up to add a fresh arm to the ‘pen. To make room for Hu on the roster, Yarbrough was optioned to Durham.
The Rays have been riding some pretty hot bats over the life of their eight-game winning streak, including that of Wilson “the Buffalo” Ramos.
Yesterday Ramos doubled in the second inning, scored on an inside the park home run by Denard Span, and then hit one over the Monster the following inning — his third homer in three games, becoming the organization’s first catcher to hit three home runs in three consecutive games.
Left: Friday
Right: Saturday pic.twitter.com/3Buw3GsGUi— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 29, 2018
The Rays’ primary backstop walked in his third plate appearance, then singled in his fourth. He, however, was pulled from the game in the seventh inning with groin soreness.
Following the game, Cash said they felt confident Ramos was okay, and would be available on an emergency basis Sunday. He is also expected to return to regular duty in the next few days.
Field hit his first big-league home run, a three-run blast to left in the ninth.
It was kind of weird the way it worked out, Field said. I was obviously in bunt mode the first two pitches and I saw them take the sign off and I had a good feeling he’d groove a heater and that’s what happened.
Oh lawd, @JohnnyField1…
Over the Monster for career homer No. 1️⃣! pic.twitter.com/WtIPumnaxb
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 28, 2018
The outfielder got the ball back, and has one from his first hit, and plans to let his mom and dad who gets which one. If Field gets demoted in favor of Hu, at least he will do so on a high note.
About Span’s inside the park homer…
The New What Next
If the series finale can be played today, Matt Andriese will toe the rubber opposite of RHP Rick Porcello.
Porcello allowed three runs on three hits and three walks Tuesday, while striking out nine over seven innings in Toronto. Porcello has now posted five quality starts in five outings, who gave up all three runs in the second inning without the benefit of any hard contact; the right-hander was nicked by a walk, a weak dribbler that found the outfield grass, an infield single, a wild pitch and two fielders’ choices. Beyond that, Porcello was practically spotless, retiring 16 of the final 18 batters faced. The right-hander gave up three runs on six hits over 7-1/3 innings against the Rays on April 7, after allowing just one-run over 5-1/3 innings against them on March 30. Key Matchups: CJ Cron (2-7, 2B, BB), Matt Duffy (5-16), Carlos Gomez (3-9, 2B, HR, RBI), Brad Miller (12-43, 5 2B, 5 HR, 11 RBI, 2 BB), Rob Refsnyder (1-3), Denard Span (16-42, 5 RBI, 2 BB), Joey Wendle (2-7, 2B)
You can read about the series in our preview.
The New What Next: Rays vs Red Sox — a series preview, part three
Rays 4/29/18 Starting Lineup
Span LF
Cron DH
Wendle 2B
Miller 1B
Robertson 3B
Smith CF
Hechavarria SS
Sucre C
Field RF
Andriesse RHP
Noteworthiness
— Per the Elias Sports Bureau, the Rays are the first team to have an eight-game winning streak and an eight-game losing streak in same season before May 1, since the 1985 Minnesota Twins.
— Fun with numbers:
The Rays jettisoned their playoff odds from approximately 7% two-weeks ago to 22.6% Sunday morning, according to Baseball Prospectus.
As for FanGraphs, which tends to be a lot more pessimistic on a postseason berth for Tampa Bay, the Rays are finally in whole number territory, with a 2.7% chance of playing past October.
I know I know, it’s way too early to even consider whether one should save money toward the purchase playoff tickets or not. However, this is a breath of fresh air considering all the doom and gloom scenarios that peppered the Twitter-sphere over the first few weeks of the season.