After defeating the the Angels Angels on Wednesday, 3-1, the Tampa Bay Rays have a chance at notching their second sweep of the season tonight, in Anaheim. The Rays have won eight of their last nine road games, and have a chance to move three games above .500 for the first time of the 2021 campaign.
Even with the win, Wednesday marked the first time in the last nine road games when Tampa Bay didn’t score four runs or more. Still, Brandon Lowe — who put the Rays ahead by a pair on a seventh-inning three-run homer — continues to get toasty. Lowe has now slashed .286 BA/.333 OBP/.536 SLG/.969 OPS/.374 wOBA/150 wRC+ across his last seven games (30 plate appearances).
The New What Next
For the second consecutive game, Tampa Bay will follow an opener with a bulk guy. Right-hander Collin McHugh (0-1, 10.13 ERA) will open the game, pitching ahead of Josh Fleming (1-3, 2.18 ERA). They’ll pitch opposite of Andrew Heaney (1–2 5.25).
Collin McHugh was bothered by a lower back strain in his previous four outings, although he just came off the Injured List and is said to be throwing much better.
Josh Fleming gave up three runs on three hits and five walks over six innings while striking out four on Saturday. The left-hander had walked only four batters in 14-2/3 innings entering his start, yet Fleming had trouble finding the plate Saturday and tossed just 59 of 98 pitches for strikes (60% strike rate). In spite of the inefficiency though, he did record his first quality start in four turns. Fleming has a 2.18 ERA and 1.33 K/BB through 20-2/3 innings on the season.
Andrew Heaney allowed four runs on six hits and two walks while striking out five across 3-1/3 innings on Friday against the Mariners. Heaney came into the contest riding a strong three-game stretch during which he allowed only three earned runs over 17-2/3 frames. But, Seattle put an end to the string of excellent starts, swatting three homers off the right-hander and tagging him for four runs. Heaney needed 90 pitches to record 10 outs and left following a Tom Murphy homer with one out in the fourth inning. He now maintains a 5.25 ERA although he has posted an excellent 3.78 K/BB across 24 innings. Heaney is 0-3 with a 4.87 ERA in three career starts against the Rays. He relies primarily on a 92 mph four-seam fastball, an 80 mph curveball, and an 84 mph changeup. Key Matchups: Willy Adames (2-6, HR, 2 RBI), Austin Meadows (3-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI), Joey Wendle (1-2)
You can read about the series in our preview while the starting lineup is below.
Rays 5/6/21 Starting Lineup
- Arozarena LF
- Margot RF
- Meadows DH
- Diaz 1B
- Brosseau 2B
- Wendle 3B
- Zunino C
- Adames SS
- Phillips CF
- Fleming LHP