Kike Brosseau got his revenge on the Yankees on Wednesday, hitting two home runs en route to a 5-2 over New York.

After a successful 5-1 road trip, including series wins against Miami and the New York Yankees, the American League-leading Tampa Bay Rays play welcome to the Marlins on Friday, when they start a three-game set against their cross-state rival. Miami is coming off a series split against the Blue Jays.

The Rays enter play 14 games over .500 and with a five-game lead over the second-place Yankees in the AL East, thanks to a loss against the Mets on Thursday.

According to FanGraphs, they have a 100% chance of their second consecutive postseason berth with 22-games left to play.

This series kicks off a 22-game stretch of play where the Rays will face six teams — the Marlins, Nationals, Red Sox, Orioles, Mets, and Phillies — that have a cumulative winning percentage of .431. They can lose half of those games and still get into the playoffs given the number of tallies they’ve accumulated in the win column.

Tampa Bay is in firm control in the AL East after a contentious series against New York. Mike Brosseau, who had a 101 mph fastball thrown at him by Aroldis Chapman on Tuesday night, responded with a two home run game on Wednesday. And while Chapman was handed a three-game suspension for his actions, Brosseau capped a four-run first inning with a 420-foot blast into left-center field, giving the Rays all the runs they’d need.

Miami is coming off an off-day following the series against the Blue Jays, culminating in a loss on Wednesday. The Marlins trail Philadelphia by one game for second place in the NL East, and sit four games behind Atlanta.

Miami has been a far better team away from home this season, going 14-7 on the road as opposed to 2-9 at Marlins Park, where the Rays swept them a week ago.

Tampa Bay’s offensive production has regressed over the last two weeks, which is to be expected given that pitchers have made adjustments. Even so, the Rays are still performing 16% better than league average (as it relates to wRC+) and 30% better than Miami.

The Rays are now 7-0 in their last seven games after allowing two runs or fewer in their previous game, and 5-0 in their last five interleague home games. What’s more, Tampa Bay will be eager to get another series win, knowing that the Yankees could certainly sweep their doubleheader with Baltimore on Friday.

Pitching Probables

Kevin Cash will lean on Josh Fleming (2-0, 1.74 ERA), Blake Snell (3-0, 3.14 ERA), and Tyler Glasnow (2-1, 4.24 ERA). Don Mattingly is expected to counter with Pablo López (3-2, 2.10 ERA), Sandy Alcántara (1-0, 5.06), and Trevor Rogers (1-0, 2.00 ERA).

Josh Fleming scattered three hits and no walks while striking out six across 5-1/3 scoreless innings. Fleming silenced the Marlins at the plate, surrendering just two base hits and a double while not allowing multiple batters to reach base in any inning. He needed only 74 pitches (47 strikes, 64% strike rate) to retire 16 batters. Fleming coaxed eight swinging strikes for an excellent 17% SwStr%. The lefty pounded the left side of the plate with his sinker, and came in on the right side with his slider, limiting the Marlins’ ability to make solid contact. Through two major-league starts, Fleming has allowed just two earned runs with nine strikeouts and two walks across 10-1/3 innings.

Pablo López allowed two earned runs on six hits and no walks while striking out five across seven innings against the Rays in his last start. Lopez held Tampa Bay scoreless through five innings although he surrendered a run in both of his final two innings of work. He dominated with groundball outs, racking up 12 groundouts to go along with his five strikeouts. Lopez has now allowed two runs or fewer in each of his seven outings this season, performing to a 2.10 ERA with a 4.57 K:BB across 34-1/3 innings. Key Matchup: Joey Wendle (2-6, 2B, HR)

Blake Snell allowed two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out five across five innings against the Marlins on Sunday. The southpaw now feels as though he’s completely recovered from the shoulder issue that bothered him during Spring Training, and his results have backed up that claim. He now maintains a 3.14 ERA and 37:9 K:BB over 28-2/3 innings and seven starts this season. Snell is 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in two career starts against the Marlins.

Sandy Alcántara allowed eight runs (five earned) on six hits and two walks while punching out two over four innings on Sunday against the Rays. Alcantara was shelved for the past month after testing positive for COVID-19 but he was roughed up in his return to the mound as the Rays tallied three runs in the first inning, making for a short day as Tampa Bay continued to drive up the score. Key Matchups: Not available at the moment.

Tyler Glasnow posted six innings of scoreless ball against New York, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out nine on 87 pitches (55 strikes, 63% strike rate). The right-hander kept the Yankees’ offense off-balance for most of the night by leaning on all three of his pitches. He threw his 97 mph four-seam fastball 55 times, his curveball 24 times (nine swings and misses, 16% SwStr%) — eight at-bats ended on the curveball, resulting in seven K’s and a groundout — and eight 92 mph changeups which he threw to whomever regardless of handedness. All told, New York hit just four hard-hit balls against Glasnow.

I just feel like every time he gets on the mound, especially his last couple starts, he’s figured something out — I’m playing behind greatness out there. I am.

Watching what he does and how silly he makes guys look every inning he’s out there, it’s incredible.

— Kevin Kiermaier

Trevor Rogers allowed two runs on five hits and two walks across five innings pitched against the Mets on Monday. He struck out five. After five walks prevented Rogers from working past the fourth inning in his first start, the southpaw issued just two free passes on Monday. Rogers spotted the Mets a 2-0 lead in the third inning, although Miami rallied for four runs off Jacob deGrom in the top of the sixth to take the lead. Rogers relies primarily on a whiffy 94 mph four-seam fastball with natural sinking action, while also mixing in a firm 85 mph changeup that dives down out of the zone, and an 81 mph slider with two-plane movement.

Noteworthiness

— The Rays have activated Nick Anderson (forearm inflammation) off the Injured List. To clear space on the 40-man roster, Edgar Garcia was optioned following Wednesday’s game.

Additionally, Brett Phillips was added to the roster. Since the Rays needed a 40-man roster spot, as Phillips was on the COVID-19-related IL while he underwent intake testing following his acquisition, the Rays shifted reliever Jose Alvarado from the 10-day to the 45-day IL and optioned Ryan Sherriff to the alternate site in Port Charlotte.

Phillips told Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) that he is extremely excited to join the Rays, as he went to Seminole High School and the Rays were his favorite team growing up.

My excitement cannot be measured right now.

— Brett Phillips

Phillips was also very complimentary of skipper Kevin Cash , saying:

I saw his interview the other night, obviously he cares about the boys. I’m excited to play for him. … I’m going to give 110 percent for that man just knowing that he has our backs like that.

— Brett Phillips

— Kevin Cash said Alvarado’s shoulder has been improving of late, and he could help the team in the playoffs, as his backdated stay ends September 18th.

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