After a 12-4 loss at the hands of the Toronto Buffalo Blue Jays Bisons, spelling the end of a six-game win streak, the Tampa Bay Rays look to get back on the winning side of the ledger tonight at Sahlen Field. The Rays pitching staff allowed a season-high six home runs to go along with the season-high in runs.
Tampa Bay has allowed four runs or more in five of the last eight games, which is concerning, to say the least. They now maintain a 4.39 ERA, which is the 10th best in the American League, and 18th best in all of baseball.
While last night’s game found many turning the channel early, at least one good thing happened.
The AL fWAR leader, Brandon Lowe, hit an absolute bomb to right-field.
Lowe enters play Saturday with a .319 BA/.388 OBP/.706 SLG/1.094 OPS slash line, outpacing DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge from that one team, as well as Bisons Blue Jays phenom, Bo Bichette.
Turn the page.
The New What Next
Ryan Yarbrough (0-2, 4.71 ERA) will get the start Saturday, pitching opposite of Chase Anderson (0-0, 3.00 ERA).
Ryan Yarbrough gave up four runs on five hits and two walks over 4-1/3 innings on Monday. He struck out one. He didn’t have his best stuff, getting tagged for three runs in the first inning, but Yarbrough was able to settle down and limit the damage the rest of the way. He threw 49 of 77 pitches for strikes (64% strike rate) although he didn’t complete at least five innings for the first time in four starts. Yarbrough is 6-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 10 outings (42 IP) against Toronto, and
Chase Anderson allowed one run on a hit and two walks while fanning one in three innings of work against the Red Sox on Saturday. Anderson threw 26 of his 45 pitches for strikes (58% strike rate). He missed a couple of weeks due to an oblique strain, although he pitched fairly well in a short debut. His only run came on a Christian Vazquez single. The right-hander pitched to a 4.21 ERA and 1.27 WHIP with 124 strikeouts across 139 innings last season with Milwaukee. He still may need a few weeks to get to a starter’s workload. Anderson relies primarily on 93 mph four-seam fastball and a whiffy 78 mph curveball with exceptional bite, while also mixing in an 89 mph cutter, and an 84 mph circle changeup with a ton of added backspin. He has never faced the Rays. Key Matchups: Manuel Margot (2-8), Hunter Renfroe (2-7, 2 2B)
You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup and Noteworthiness are below.
Rays 8/15/20 starting lineup
- Meadows LF
- Lowe DH
- Díaz 3B
- Choi 1B
- Brosseau 2B
- Adames SS
- Kiermaier CF
- Margot RF
- Zunino C
Noteworthiness
— Right-hander Charlie Morton, who was placed on the 10-day Injured List due to shoulder inflammation, played catch from 150 feet on Friday 150 feet without any problems. He will probably throw a bullpen session Saturday or Sunday.
Rays manager Kevin Cash is not sure when the right-hander will pitch in a game, noting that Morton has a few hurdles to cross before he returns from the IL.
— Tampa Bay has added infielder Xavier Edwards to the 60-man player pool. He reported to the alternate training site in Port Charlotte on Friday morning.