After an uneven opening homestand capped by an ugly series loss to the Rangers, the Tampa Bay Rays departed the not-so-friendly confines of Tropicana Field for the Bronx where they’ll start a three-game series against the Yankees, on Friday. New York is coming off its second consecutive series loss after dropping two-of-three to the Blue Jays.
Neither team has looked good the last few series, although the Rays did step into the limelight during their first series against the Bronx Bummers a week ago, outscoring New York and winning two-of-three. Since then though they’ve won just one game.
Tampa Bay has outperformed New York over the last 14 days, however, the pitching staff has allowed four runs or more in 10 of the first 13 games, which is not a recipe for success. And while I can usually find some sort of silver lining during tough stretches like this, I’m having a difficult time at the moment. The Rays have a one-run advantage over the Yankees as it relates to wRC+, but they are still performing below league average, and they are striking out at an ugly +30% clip. Dare I mention that their production also isn’t consistent, resulting — at least partially — in a 5-8 record?
Pitching Probables
Over the next three days, Kevin Cash will turn to Michael Wacha (0-1, 7.00 ERA), Tyler Glasnow (1-0, 0.46 ERA), and presumably Ryan Yarbrough (0-2, 6.48 ERA). Aaron Boone will counter with Nick Nelson (0-1, 9.00 ERA), Jordan Montgomery (1-0, 3.27 ERA), and Gerrit Cole (2-0, 1.47 ERA).
Michael Wacha entered Sunday’s contest against the Yankees in the third inning and allowed three earned runs on three hits and three walks across four frames. He struck out five. Wacha allowed the Yankees to begin their comeback by serving up a two-run homer to Gio Urshela shortly after entering the ballgame, and he struggled with control overall. The right-hander’s first two regular-season appearances have looked nothing like his excellent spring, and Wacha’s career-long issues with command and control have surfaced in the form of five walks over his first nine frames, during which he’s also given up 11 hits.
Nick Nelson worked primarily as a starter in the minors and will now make his first career big league start. Nelson has covered four innings across three appearances out of the bullpen this season, so he’ll be limited to just a few frames Friday. The right-hander has faced Tampa Bay in relief four times, striking out five across four innings. Michael King is expected to follow as the bulk hurler for New York.
Tyler Glasnow got the start against the Rangers on Monday and was electric from the jump, striking out seven of the first nine batters he faced, and not allowing a base runner until Joey Gallo walked with two outs in the fourth. Meanwhile, Eli White broke up the right-hander’s no-no with an infield single one out into the fifth. He, however, was erased on a strikeout/caught stealing double play.
Favoring his 96-98 mph four-seamer, while also leaning on his cut-slider and curveball, Glasnow struck out 14 total batters — one shy of the franchise record (set by Chris Archer and James Shields) — across 7-2/3 fantastic innings. He scattered just two hits and a walk and posted a career-best 27 swings and misses (26% whiff rate) on 102 pitches (73 strikes, 72% strike rate). In short, he filled the zone with strikes and challenged hitters with practically unhittable stuff, and earned his first “W” of the season.
Jordan Montgomery gave up four runs on five hits and two walks while striking out four in five innings of work against Tampa Bay on Sunday. Montgomery gave up a pair of two-run shots in consecutive innings — Mike Zunino went deep in the second inning and Randy Arozarena did the same thing in the third — although he looked solid the rest of the way albeit ratherunspectacular. Key Matchups: Willy Adames (1-4, 2B), Randy Arozarena (2-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI), Mike Brosseau (2-3, HR, 2 RBI), Yandy Diaz (2-4, 2 RBI), Manuel Margot (2-4, 2 2B), Austin Meadows (2-3), Mike Zunino (1-2, HR, RBI)
Ryan Yarbrough surrendered six runs on 10 hits and a walk while striking out six across six innings on Tuesday. Although Yarbrough was able to miss a decent number of bats while avoiding any long balls, the Rangers found their way onto the scoreboard repeatedly, more often than not by swatting Yarbrough’s changeup which was flat and bereft of movement. They got to Yarbrough early with an RBI base hit from Joey Gallo in the first inning, followed by back-to-back RBI doubles by Nick Solak and Charlie Culberson in the fourth, and an RBI single by Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the sixth. The poor performance was the second in a row for the left-hander, who now owns a 6.48 ERA.
Gerrit Cole allowed one run on three hits and a walk over six innings on Monday. He struck out eight. Toronto strung together a couple of hits in the first inning to squeeze across a run, yet Cole collected himself and was in full control the rest of the way. The right-hander fired 65 of 98 pitches for strikes (66% strike rate) and retired the final 15 batters he faced. Cole will take his 1.47 ERA and a dominant 9.67 K/BB through 18-1/3 innings into his next outing. Cole is 0-3 with a 4.07 ERA in seven career starts against Tampa Bay. Key Matchups: Yandy Diaz (5-12, HR, RBI), Manuel Margot (4-16, 2B, HR), Brett Phillips (1-1), Joey Wendle (3-11, 3B, 3 RBI)
Noteworthiness
— Rays skipper Kevin Cash says that Kevin Kiermaier will join the team on the road trip, and he is expected to be activated at some point on the road.