After sweeping the Marlins — Tampa Bay’s fifth sweep of the season — the Rays will make one last stop on their six-game road trek: New York City, where they will start a three-game set against the Bronx Bummers on Monday. The Yankees took three of five from the Mets this weekend…and yes, it was quite weird typing that.
The Rays enter play a season-high 13 games above .500 and atop the American League.
Winners of five in a row, Tampa Bay is playing well at the moment. As Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) writes, the Rays are in the midst of their best stretch of play in seven years.
…they have matched the best 35-game start in franchise history, tying the 24-11 mark of 2010. They have won 18 of their past 21, their best 21-game stretch at any point in a season since 2013.
— Marc Topkin
Just two weeks ago, the Rays were third in the AL East, trailing the Yankees by 2-1/2 games. Yet since they have won 12 of 14 and hold a 3-1/2 game lead over the Yankees.
Meanwhile, the Yankees have struggled over the past week, and have lost seven of the last 10 contests. They’ve also lost five consecutive games to Tampa Bay.
Overall, New York has played well offensively this season, yet they have struggled during this slump. In fact, the Rays have outperformed the Yankees by 17% over the last 14 days as it relates to wRC+, while the Yankees enter the series with a very subpar -5.4 weighted runs above average (wRAA) across that stretch.
Tampa Bay swept New York in the Bronx the last time these paired up. This is the last time the two will face one another in the regular season.
Pitching Probables
Over the next three days, Kevin Cash is expected to lean on Tyler Glasnow (1-1, 5.14 ERA), a pitcher to be named before the middle-game of the set, and Charlie Morton (1-1, 5.40 ERA). Man-baby Aaron Boone will counter with Gerrit Cole (4-1, 3.51 ERA) and Masahiro Tanaka (0-1, 3.48 ERA) — no surprise there — and Jordan Montgomery (2-1, 4.44 ERA).
Tyler Glasnow got the start Tuesday and fanned a career-high 13 over seven dominant innings — the longest start by a Ray this season. He allowed the first run of the ball game on a two-out first-inning home run down the left-field line, that just cleared the 162 Landing, off the bat of Renato Nunez — his sixth homer of the season. Then, with one out in the fourth, Ryan Mountcastle flicked a ball into right with a pair on, scoring a run. Glasnow coaxed a comebacker from Mason Williams before he struck Pat Valaika out, ending the threat. And from there the righty really dialed it in.
Nine of Glasnow’s punches came on the curveball (48 thrown, 13 swings and misses), while he struck out nine the last 10 hitters, and retired the final 11 batters he faced. Glasnow threw 72 of 96 pitches for strikes (75% strike rate) and induced a career-high of swings and misses; 24 of 72 strikes for a 33% SwStr%.
Gerrit Cole surrendered five runs on five hits with nine strikeouts and two walks over five innings against Atlanta. Leadoff man Ronald Acuna hit a 473-blast on Cole’s sixth pitch of the game, and things didn’t improve much the rest of the way. The right-hander allowed two runs on six hits including two homers in a Yankee loss to the Rays on August 19. He now has a 3.51 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and 6.625:1 K:BB over 41 innings this season. Key Matchups: Ji-Man Choi (7-15, 3 2B, 2 HR), Yandy Diaz (3-12, HR), Joey Wendle (3-12, 3B)
TBA
Masahiro Tanaka allowed three hits and no walks while fanning four across five scoreless innings on Wednesday in Atlanta. Tanaka was dominant, allowing just a trio of base hits in his time on the mound. Tanaka was pulled after only 66 pitches as he felt he was running out of energy. Tanaka has completed five innings of work in only two of his five starts this season, although they have been high quality. The Rays dusted Tanaka up back on August 18, tagging the right-hander for six runs (five earned) on eight hits including two homers. He now maintains a 3.48 ERA with a 5.67:1 K:BB across 20-2/3 frames this season. Key Matchups: Michael Brosseau (2-3, 2 2B), Kevin Kiermaier (11-37, 2 2B, 2 3B, HR), Austin Meadows (5-15, 2 HR), Micahel Perez (1-4), Joey Wendle (4-14, 2 2B)
Charlie Morton (shoulder) will return from the 10-day Injured List to start either Tuesday or Wednesday against the Yankees. Morton’s shoulder responded well to his latest bullpen session Saturday, leaving Rays skipper Kevin Cash optimistic that the right-hander will be ready to rejoin the rotation this week. Morton last started against the Yankees on August 9, allowing one run on three hits across two innings. Before he was shut down with the shoulder injury, Morton performed to a 5.40 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, and 4.25:1 K:BB over 16-2/3 innings over four starts.
Jordan Montgomery allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits and no walks while striking out six over five innings on Friday against the Mets. Montgomery tossed four scoreless frames to begin Friday’s doubleheader, but he surrendered a run in the fifth inning before things started to unravel in the sixth. The Mets totaled five runs in the sixth inning, forcing Montgomery to settle for his second consecutive no-decision. He relies primarily on an 83 mph worm-killer changeup with a lot of backspin and a 93 mph sinker, while also mixing in a whiffy 93 mph four-seam fastball with natural sinking action, an 81 mph 12-6 curveball with surprisingly little depth, and an 89 mph cutter with good “rise”. He is 1-1 with a 3.54 ERA in five career starts against Tampa Bay. Key Matchups: Yandy Diaz (1-2), Austin Meadows (1-1)
Noteworthiness
— Following a poor outing on Sunday, the Tampa Bay Rays designated left-hander Anthony Banda for assignment. Banda allowed five runs in one-plus inning of work on Sunday.
— The Rays also reinstated Brendan McKay from the IL and sent him to the team’s alternate training site. McKay, however, is still out for the rest of the season after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery, although the team had to officially bring him back off the COVID-19 IL, and thus needed to create an opening on the 40-man roster — hence the DFA of Banda.