The Tampa Bay Rays will pick up where they left off on Saturday when the contest against the Bisons Blue Jays was suspended due to inclement weather in Toronto Buffalo. They will finish Saturday’s game, starting in the bottom of the fourth inning, before they play a seven-inning game Sunday afternoon. Tampa Bay leads the game 1-0 after three and a half innings.
The Rays took the lead on a third-inning home run — which landed in the team bus area of Sahlen Field, beyond the right-field fence — from Austin Meadows, his second of the season; both homers have come on the current road trip.
Ryan Yarbrough pitched three scoreless innings against Blue Jays, allowing four hits while striking out two before the game was suspended. Yarbrough certainly wasn’t spotless in his outing, although he made big pitches when he needed to — stranding runners in scoring position in two of his three innings of work. It goes without saying, the left-hander will not be available to complete his outing this afternoon.
Tampa Bay will need to cover in the neighborhood of 13 innings today. Yonny Chirinos will be activated from the Injured List and is still slated to start the second game. John Curtiss, Jalen Beeks, Anthony Banda, and Aaron Slegers are all available to pitch in a long-relief role.
The New What Next
Game one will feature a battle of the bullpens, while Yonny Chirinos (0-0, 1.04 ERA) will toe the rubber in the second game of the doubleheader, pitching opposite of Matt Shoemaker (0-1, 4.86 ERA).
Yonny Chirinos, in his last start before he hit the Injured List, allowed one run on five hits and two walks while striking out three across 4-2/3 innings in a loss to the Orioles. Chirinos increased his pitch count in his second to 72 pitches in his second start of the season, however, expect him to be on a short leash if he takes the mound this weekend. Chirinos is 2-0 with a 6.31 ERA in six outings (25-2/3 IP) against the Blue Jays.
Matt Shoemaker allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits and no walks while punching out six across six innings on Sunday against the Red Sox. Shoemaker allowed two solo homers, one to Mitch Moreland and the other to Rafael Devers, however, the only other hit he allowed was a single to Jackie Bradley Jr. Shoemaker has a bloated 4.86 ERA after getting hit hard in his second outing, yet he has recorded quality starts in his other two turns. The soft-tossing right-hander limited the Rays to one run on three hits and two walks across six innings back on July 25. However, Shoemaker has allowed five homers in his last two starts.
You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup and Noteworthiness are below.
Rays 8/16/20 Starting Lineup (Game 1)
- Meadows LF
- Lowe DH
- Díaz 3B
- Choi 1B
- Brosseau 2B
- Adames SS
- Kiermaier CF
- Margot RF
- Zunino C
The lineup is subject to change.
Rays 8/16/20 Starting Lineup (Game 2)
- Meadows DH
- Lowe 2B
- Wendle 3B
- Choi 1B
- Tsutsugo LF
- Adames SS
- Kiermaier CF
- Renfroe RF
- Perez C
Noteworthiness
— An additional player can be added to the roster because of the doubleheader.