After a 4–3 home stand, the Tampa Bay Rays made their way to Minnesota where they will face the AL Central-division leading Twins. The Rays put together a winning road trip in their previous stretch away from the Trop, taking series wins from Boston and Cleveland. The Twins have won four straight.
Chris Archer (3-3, 3.76 ERA, 3.06 FIP) will get the start for the Rays this evening, opposite of Hector Santiago (4-2, 3.96 ERA, 4.85 FIP).
In his last start on May 2nd against the Yankees, Archer fanned a season-high 12 over 6-1/3 innings. He, however, took the hard luck loss after he allowed three runs in the second inning on a day when the offense managed just four hits. The outing brought Archer his fifth career 10 strikeout loss. Archer has an excellent track record against Minnesota, sporting a 5–1 record and a 1.73 ERA in six careers starts.
Santiago couldn’t notch a victory in his last outing against the Royals; a five inning, eight hit and three earned run no-decision. He only struck out one batter in that start. So far this season, the 29 year-old left-hander has relied primarily on his whiffy 92 mph four-seam fastball, and an 83 mph circle changeup with some arm-side fade. He also has mixed in a 77 mph worm burner curveball when he needs a ground ball. He is 1-0 with a 4.86 ERA in four starts against the Rays. Key matchups: Corey Dickerson (1-3), Michael Martinez (1-1), Evan Longoria (4-9, 2B), Derek Norris (3-11, 2 BB), Steven Souza Jr. (1-4, HR, 3 RBI, BB), Jesus Sucre (2-2, 2B, HR, 2 RBI).
You can read about the series in our preview.
Rays 5/26/17 Starting Lineup
Beckham SS
Dickerson LF
Longoria 3B
Morrison 1B
Souza RF
Kiermaier CF
Weeks DH
Norris C
Robertson 2B
Archer RHP