After ending their woes against Masahiro Tanaka on Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Rays look for a series w against the Yankees tonight in the Bronx.
Both Brandon Lowe and Austin Meadows went yard Tuesday night as the Yankees fell 6-3. Tampa Bay enters play at 15-9 on the season is and 1-1/2 games behind the Yankees. They also increased their odds of a playoff berth to 98.3% according to FanGraphs with 36 games left to play.
The Rays are now 8-1 on their 10-game road trip. Meanwhile, in all four of their wins against New York, Tampa Bay has allowed three runs or fewer…although the Yankees did hit two home runs last night.
Per Neil Solondz (Rays Radio), Ji-Man Choi says he may not be batting right-handed again this season. Choi thinks that the righty swings might have affected his swing from the left side, and he’s focusing on that side right now because producing left-handed has a better chance to help the team. Choi says he hasn’t given up on the idea and said through translator Steve Nam that perhaps with a full off-season and a full regular season it might be a better possibility then, but he hasn’t made a firm decision.
The New What Next
Tyler Glasnow (0-1, 7.04 ERA) will take the mound tonight for Tampa Bay, pitching opposite of Gerrit Cole (4-0, 2.76 ERA).
Tyler Glasnow allowed five earned runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out eight across four innings against the Red Sox on Thursday. Glasnow was staked to 10 runs, but he failed to pitch efficiently enough to qualify for a win. To his credit, he kept the ball in the yard and racked up strikeouts. However, Glasnow allowed five extra-base hits and regularly fell behind batters, running up his pitch count. Glasnow has an incredible 15.9 K/9 across 15-1/3 innings this season, yet that has been overshadowed by a 5.9 BB/9 and 1.8 HR/9. He also has yet to complete five innings of work in any of his four outings. Glasnow gave up four runs on five hits and three walks against the Yankees on August 8. He is 0-2 with a 5.68 ERA in three career starts against the Yankees.
Gerrit Cole allowed one run on four hits and no walks while striking out eight across seven innings against the Red Sox on Friday. In his first start since a short outing against the Rays, Cole stifled Boston’s offense — his best outing since he signed a monster deal with New York in the offseason. In five starts this season, the right-hander carries a 2.76 ERA and 0.85 WHIP across 29-1/3 innings. The Rays tagged Cole for three runs on six hits and a walk across 4-2/3 innings on August 8. Overall, he is 0-2 with a 3.86 ERA in five regular-season starts against Tampa Bay. Key Matchups: Ji-Man Choi (6-13, 3 2B, HR), Yandy Díaz (3-9, HR), José Martínez (4-11, 2B, HR), Joey Wendle (3-12, 2B)
You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup and Noteworthiness are below.
Rays 8/19/20 Starting Lineup
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- Meadows LF
- Diaz 3B
- Lowe 2B
- Martinez DH
- Choi 1B
- Adames SS
- Kiermaier CF
- Margot RF
- Zunino C
Noteworthiness
— Charlie Morton threw an intense bullpen on Tuesday, and by all accounts, things went well. the right-hander is scheduled to play catch today and could be activated over the weekend to start against the Blue Jays at home.
— Tampa Bay has yet to announce a starter for the series finale against New York, although Trevor Richards is expected to start or pitch behind an opener.
— Tampa Bay added Sean Gilmartin — husband to professional asshole Kayleigh McEnany — to the taxi squad, joining Aaron Slegers, Sam McWilliams, catcher Ronaldo Hernandez, and OF/IF Brian O’Grady.