GameDay Preview: Cubs Look to End 4-Game Losing Streak With Stroman Pitching Vs. Rays
CHICAGO — It's vintage stadium week for the Tampa Bay Rays, as they open a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Monday afternoon before playing four games at Boston's Fenway Park.
The Rays are 39-16 through 55 games, the best record in baseball. They have a four-game lead in the American League East over the Baltimore Orioles, who are 34-19 and have the second-best record in the game. All five AL East teams are still over .500.
The game starts at 2:20 p.m. ET
The Cubs showed a lot of promise early, going 14-10. through April 27. But they've been mostly horrible since then, going just 8-20, and that has included a whopping five losing streaks of three games or more. They have a four-game losing streak currently as part of this nine-game homestand, losing 10-1 to the New York Mets on Thursday and then getting swept by the Cincinnati Reds over the weekend, losing 9-0, 8-5 and 8-5.
Marcus Stroman, the 32-year-old right hander, was the Cubs' Opening Day starter. He's made 11 starts, and is 4-4 with an impressive 2.97 earned run average. He's won his last two starts, pitching six innings of one-run ball against Philadelphia on May 19 and eight innings of two-run ball against the Mets in a game where he induced 18 ground ball outs.
The Rays are familiar with Stroman, who pitched six years with the Toronto Blue Jays, starting in 2014. He also started 44 games for the Mets from 2019 to 2021 — he missed all of the 2020 COVID-shortened season — and signed with the Cubs as a free agent prior to the 2022 season.
He will be opposed by Tampa Bay rookie Taj Bradley, who is 3-1 with a 4.44 earned run average. The 22-year-old right-hander from Los Angeles has pitched in five games this season. He won his first three starts, the best being his second when he pitched 5 1/3 innings of scoreless ball on April 18 at Cincinnati in a 10-0 win. He allowed only three hits and struck out a career-high nine batters.
He lost his last outing, giving up four earned runs and nine hits in a loss at home to Toronto. He's pitching on five day's rest — Rays manager pushed every starter back a day last week — and he's looking to make amends for that first rough start.
Bradley has struggled a bit to be efficient with his pitch count. He's never gotten deeper than than 5 1/3 innings at Cincinnati, and he's gone five innings three times and four innings once, and he's throw at least 78 pitches in every game. He has averaged 81 pitches per start, with a high-water mark of 86 pitches against the Mets on May 18.
The Rays could sure use a longer outing from him today, because their bullpen is really taxed and it's likely that they won't have either of their two best relievers — Jason Adam and Pete Fairbanks — available today. Adam earned a six-out save in Sunday's win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he had to throw the ninth after Fairbanks came up lame in the bullpen, suffering a hip injury while warming up for the ninth. He was placed on the 15-day injured list with left hip inflammation on Sunday and Trevor Kelley was recalled from Triple-A Durham.
We'll know more about Fairbanks during pregame media availability, so stayed locked in to Fastball on FanNation for updates. (Editor's Note: If you're a baseball fan, you should have that site bookmarked.)
Adam threw 37 pitches and allowed just one walk while getting six outs. He'll likely need at least one day off before being ready to throw again.
The Cubs and Rays met here at Wrigley last year, too, with the Rays taking two of three games during a chilly series from April 18-20.
Here's are Monday's starting lineups:
TAMPA BAY RAYS
- Yandy Diaz, 1B
- Wander Franco, SS
- Brandon Lowe, 2B
- Randy Arozarena, LF
- Josh Lowe, RF
- Taylor Walls, 3B
- Luke Raley, DH
- Christian Bethancourt, C
- Jose Siri, CF
SP — Taj Bradley (3-1, 4.44 ERA)
CHICAGO CUBS
- Miles Mastrobuoni, 3B
- Nico Hoerner, 2B
- Ian Happ, LF
- Seiya Suzuki, RF
- Dansby Swanson, SS
- Mike Tauchman, CF
- Edwin Rios, DH
- Matt Mervis, 1B
- Tucker Barnhart, C
SP — Marcus Stroman (4-4, 2.95 ERA)
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