Following the off-day, the Tampa Bay Rays will begin a two-game set against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday. Tampa Bay took two of three from the Angels over the weekend, while the Nationals split a four-game series against Miami, and won a one-off makeup game against the Mets.
The Rays enter play a game behind Boston in the division and 15-games above .500. The Nationals got back to .500 on Monday after they defeated the first-place Mets, 8-4.
After losing a season-high seven games between June 15-22, Tampa Bay rattled off four consecutive wins before losing to Shohei Otani the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday, 6-4. Prior to the loss, the Rays pitching staff limited the Angels to just six runs across 18 innings. Tampa Bay’s hurlers stifled Los Angeles’ run production by limiting hard contact, ultimately allowing just three two-out runs (which came in the series finale) over the life of the set. They will look to do the same against a spry Washington ballclub whose offense has shown recent signs of life.
The Nationals enter the series just three games out of first in the NL East. Their resurgence is due in part to Kyle Schwarber who has homered 11 times in nine games, and 15 times in the past 17 games. Schwarber now boasts a 1.9 WAR, a team-best 22 homers, and 50 RBI. Meanwhile, Trea Turner leads the team with a 2.3 WAR, a .309 batting average, and has swiped 16 bags to go along with 12 home runs and 36 RBI.
The Rays are 24-16 on the road this season, although they dropped the final six games of their last road trip. Tampa Bay and Washington split two games at the Trop from June 6-8, with the Rays’ loss coming in extra innings.
Pitching Probables
Kevin Cash will turn to Rich “Dick Mountain” Hill (6-2, 3.52 ERA), and Michael Wacha (1-2, 4.66 ERA) over the next two days. Dave Martinez will counter with Joe Ross (4-7, 4.12 ERA) and Jon Lester (1-3, 4.99 ERA).
Rich Hill got the start against Boston on Wednesday and allowed one run on three hits and five walks over five innings of work. Hill struck out five. The southpaw got the hook after 97 erratic pitches (58 strikes, 60% strike rate), as he hit a batter and uncorked a wild pitch. In all fairness though, home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi didn’t help the cause for either team. Per Umpire Score Cards, Cuzzi made 18 wrong calls (out of 197 pitches) which favored Boston by 0.93 runs and had a total run impact of 2.32 runs. A handful of those missed calls came at Hill’s expense. Nevertheless, Hill was able to keep Boston from cashing in on all the traffic while the Rays gave him plenty of run support. The lefty currently maintains a 3.52 ERA and a 4.19 FIP, with a 1.08 WHIP and 2.69 K/BB across 76-2/3 innings on the season.
Joe Ross fired seven scoreless innings on four hits and two walks while striking out eight against the Marlins on Thursday. Ross dominated Miami in his second-best performance of the season. In his last four appearances, the right-hander has three quality, scoreless starts. Ross now maintains a 4.12 ERA and a 4.75 FIP on the season, with a 1.21 WHIP, and a 2.81 K/BB across 74-1/3 innings. He relies primarily on a whiffy 93 mph sinker and an 85 mph slider with few remarkable qualities, while also mixing in a 94 mph four-seam fastball with heavy sink, and a hard 89 mph changeup which also boasts some natural sink. Key Matchup: Mike Zunino (1-3, HR, RBI)
Michael Wacha was fantastic on Thursday against Boston, tossing five innings of one-hit ball, walking two while striking out seven. Wacha went head-to-head with Nick Pivetta in a terrific bounce-back effort after the right-hander was hammered for 11 hits and five earned runs over 3-2/3 innings by Seattle. Through 13 outings (11 starts) this season, Wacha is 1-2 with a 4.66 ERA, a 4.08 FIP, a 1.30 WHIP, and 2.79 K/BB across 48-1/3 innings.
Jon Lester allowed seven runs on five hits and three walks across just 2-1/3 innings Friday against the Marlins. He struck out one. Lester tossed 64 pitches in his woeful outing and missed the strike zone 29 times (55% strike rate). The southpaw also snapped a streak of five consecutive appearances allowing two runs or fewer. One of those outings came against the Rays when he limited Tampa Bay to one run on four hits across 3-2/3 innings back on June 8. However, it should also be noted that the Rays chased him two outs into the fourth after forcing 91 pitches from the veteran hurler. Look for them to be very patient against Lester once again. Through 11 starts this season, Lester is 1-3 with a 4.99 ERA and a 5.15 FIP, a 1.53 WHIP, and 1.80 K/BB across 52-1/3 innings. Key Matchups: Randy Arozarena (1-2), Yandy Diaz (1-2), Manuel Margot (7-13, HR, RBI), Austin Meadows (3-8, 2B, 3B, HR, RBI), Francisco Mejia (1-3, 2B, RBI), Michael Wacha (2-3)*, Mike Zunino (3-5, 3 BB)
*It’s not often that I get to highlight a pitcher as a key matchup, yet here we are.
Noteworthiness
— The Rays made a roster move Monday, optioning Louis Head to Durham. They have been playing a position player short and with a day off again on Thursday, it’s possible that Mike Brosseau will return from Durham. Brosseau has been down for more than ten days, and Taylor Walls is due to come back off the IL over the weekend.