After a 5-3 win over the Phillies on Saturday, the Tampa Bay Rays look for a two-game series sweep to wrap up their current homestand. At 33-20 on the season, the Rays have won 14 of their last 15 games and still have the best record in the American League by a half-game over Boston.
From his lips to your ears, Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) writes, “the Rays have outscored the opposition 110-51 during this current stretch. Tampa Bay also has won seven of the team’s last eight games at Tropicana Field after a 7-12 start at home.”
Ryan Yarbrough got the start on Saturday and struck out eight Phillies while allowing two runs on three hits across 4-1/3 innings. He walked a pair. Yarbrough kept the Phillies off the board until Ronald Torreyes’ fifth inning two-RBI double with the bases loaded, which spelled the end to his afternoon. Yarbrough now has a 4.26 ERA (down from 4.27), a 1.21 WHIP, and a 3.92 K/BB over 57 innings this season.
Yarbrough’s eight punchies accounted for 26% of 31 total strikeouts in the contest — four shy of the Major League Baseball record for a nine-inning game, although it was a record for a Rays game. They previously had three games with 30 strikeouts.
The New What Next
Josh Fleming (4-3, 2.88 ERA) will pitch behind opener Collin McHugh (0-1, 4.02 ERA) this afternoon. They’ll pitch opposite of Zach Eflin (2-4, 3.84 ERA)
Collin McHugh has allowed one run over 10-1/3 innings since coming off the injured list — a run that scored after he left the game. The left-hander has allowed four hits and five walks while striking out 18 over that stretch.
Josh Fleming followed Michael Wacha in his most recent outing and tossed six innings of four-run baseball on four hits and a walk while striking out two. Fleming threw 56 of 79 pitches for strikes (71% strike rate). He is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in one career start against the Phillies.
Zach Eflin surrendered four runs (three earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out six across six innings on Monday against Miami. Eflin wasn’t at the top of his game, although he kept the Phillies in the contest before exiting two runs down. He’s now been saddled with three consecutive losses while allowing 10 earned runs over his last 18 frames. The right-hander relies primarily on a 93 mph sinker with arm-side run and natural sinking action and a hard 88 mph slider with 12-6 movement, while also mixing in a whiffy 93 mph four-seam fastball with natural sinking action, an 85 mph changeup with arm-side fade and natural sink, and a 78 mph curveball with glove-side movement. Eflin is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA across 2-2/3 career innings against the Rays. Key Matchup: Mike Brosseau (1-1)
You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup is below.
Rays 5/30/21 Starting Lineup
- Arozarena DH
- B. Lowe 2B
- Choi 1B
- Meadows LF
- Wendle 3B
- Walls SS
- Zunino C
- Kiermaier CF
- Phillips RF