After sweeping the Kansas City Royals in four games, the Tampa Bay Rays are ready to begin a big weekend series against the Boston Red Sox, who have the best record in baseball.
Tampa Bay has collected double-digit hits in three consecutive games, is in the midst of a five-game win streak, and starts the day six games over .500. However, in spite of the superlatives, the Rays are 5-11 against Boston which has 11 more wins than any team in baseball.
PHAMTASTIC, who missed the last two games after dislocating his right ring finger Tuesday night, is again absent from the lineup. With the right-handed Hector Velazquez on the mound, it’s though that Rays manager Kevin Cash could be giving him an extra day of mending time.
The New What Next
Diego Castillo (3-2, 3.47 ERA) will open for Tampa Bay, while Jalen Beeks (2-1, 6.91 ERA) is expected to pitch the bulk of the innings.
SAMANA last pitched on Sunday when tossed 1-2/3 shutout innings on just 19 pitches.
BEEKER picked up the win Sunday against his former team, allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out three across four scoreless innings. Beeks handled the bulk of innings after opener Diego Castillo fired 1-2/3 scoreless frames to open the game. Beeks stifled Boston en route to his first scoreless appearance in the big league, lowering his ERA to 6.91 on the season. He now owns a solid 2.37 ERA through four August appearances (19 innings) after a disastrous start to his tenure with Tampa Bay.
Rays skipper Kevin Cash spoke about the challenges of any pitcher having to face the Red Sox twice in a week, which will be no easy task.
I don’t think it benefits anybody when you’re facing the Red Sox twice, I really don’t. That’s not to make an excuse for Jalen Beeks. I don’t care if it was Blake Snell or (Nationals ace) Max Scherzer or whoever. When you’re facing that lineup twice in five days, I don’t think it’s going to bode well for the pitcher as much as the hitter.
Velazquez was the hard-luck loser against the Rays on Sunday, allowing one run on three hits and three walks over four innings. He struck out two. Making a spot start for the injured Chris Sale (shoulder), Velazquez limited the damage to a second-inning solo homer before handing the ball to the bullpen. He owns a solid 2.74 ERA across 65-2/3 innings this season. Key Matchups: JI (1-1, BB), DUFFMAN (5-7, BB), MENDLE (2-4, HR, RBI)
Rays 8/24/18 Starting Lineup
MENDLE 2B
DUFFMAN 3B
JB 1B
JI DH
THE KID SS
OUTLAW CF
EL FINAL RF
LOWE LF
MYKII C
SAMANA LHP (followed by BEEKER)
You can read about the series in our preview.
The New What Next: Rays vs Red Sox — one last time with feeling
Noteworthiness
— Both EL MECHÓN and AK have worked three consecutive games, so their availability is uncertain.