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Gameday Preview: Ryan Yarbrough Looks to Build Off Scoreless Start; Lineups, Newsy Nuggets

Ryan Yarbrough is back on the mound Saturday night for the Tampa Bay Rays, taking on Toronto in the second game of their three-game series at Tropicana Field. Here's our gameday preview, with TV information —  there's a switch — plus starting lineups, stats and tons of newsy nuggets.
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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Ryan Yarbrough had to wait a month to make his 2022 debut because of a groin injury coming out of spring training. He's got two starts under his belt now — both polar opposites — and he's excited to take the mound for the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday night against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Yarbrough gave up five runs in the first inning against Oakland on May 3, but then he turned around and pitched five scoreless innings on Sunday at Seattle, allowing just four hits and inducing a lot of soft contact.

That's Yarbrough's formula for success, and he wants to see more of it Saturday. The game starts at 6:10 p.m. ET and is on Bally Sports Florida tonight instead of Bally Sports Sun because of a conflict with the Tampa Bay Lighting playoff game.

"First and foremost, being in the strike zone and attacking guys early on, that's what makes me successful over the years, and it was just a matter of getting back to that,'' Yarbrough said of his Sunday start. "The biggest thing was being able to go five innings, and I do feel like I'm in a good spot and can work off of that.

"(That first game) you're focusing on pitching, but in the back of your mind you're still thinking about it being your first time back. It was good to get back into that rythym and timing and see good results.''

Here's how to watch Saturday's game, with gametime and TV information, the starting lineups, bios and, of course, our great daily dose of newsy nuggets.

How to watch Blue Jays at Rays

  • Who: Toronto Blue Jays (17-16) at Tampa Bay Rays (20-13)
  • When: 6:10 p.m. ET, Saturday, May 14
  • Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Fla.
  • TV: Bally Sports Florida
  • Stream: Fubo.tv CLICK HERE
  • Announcers: Dewayne Staats (play-by-play) and Brian Anderson (color commentary).
  • Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM; SiriusXM Channel 181
  • Announcers: Andy Freed and Dave Wills.
  • Latest Line: Tampa Bay is favored at minus-125 on the money line according to the SISportsbook.com website opening line as of Saturday afternoon. It's the first time the Rays have been underdogs at home all season. The Blue Jays are plus-105. The over/under is 8.5.

Blue Jays-Rays history

  • Blue Jays vs Rays all-time series history: Tampa Bay holds a 231-191 edge in the series with their AL East rival dating back to 1998. The Rays are 131-86 in St. Petersburg, tops for win against any other opponent at Tropicana Field. Last year, Tampa Bay went 11-8 last year and won the season series for the sixth time in seven years. The Rays are 1-0 this season. They have met in the playoffs just once, when the Rays swept a first-round series 2-0 in 2020.

Blue Jays-Rays most recent game

  • Rays 5, Blue Jays 2Drew Rasmussen was terrific for the fourth straight start and the Tampa Bay Rays rallied with three runs in the eighth inning to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 on Friday night, grabbing their 20th win of the year. For the complete game story, CLICK HERE

Projected starting pitchers

  • Blue Jays left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu: Korean Hyun Jin Ryu returns to the mound on Saturday night after missing more than a month. He's pitched just 7 1/3 innings in the big leagues this season, giving up 11 runs in two starts the first week of the season. He's been out with left arm soreness since then, but he did make one rehab start for Buffalo against Durham, the Rays' Triple-A affliate. This is the 35-year-old's ninth season in the big leagues. He spent the first six seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers before coming over to Toronto in 2020.
  • Rays left-hander Ryan Yarbrough: The start to Ryan Yarbrough's season was derailed by a groin injury, and his missed the first month of the season. He's made two dramatically different starts so far. He gave up five runs in the first inning against Oakland on May 3, but them threw five shutout innings on Sunday in Seattle. He doesn't have any decisions yet and has a 6.14 ERA. 

Projected lineups

  • Blue Jays lineup: Matt Chapman 3B, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B, Teoscar Hernandez RF, Bo Bichette SS, Santiago Espinal 2B, Alejandro Kirk DH, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. LF, Danny Jansen C, Raimel Tapia CF, Hyun Jin Ryu P.
  • Rays lineup: Yandy Diaz 3B, Wander Franco SS, Manuel Margot DH, Harold Ramirez 1B, Randy Arozarena LF, Vidal Brujan RF, Mike Zunino C, Taylor Walls 2b, Brett Phillips CF, Ryan Yarbrough P.

Newsy nuggets

  • Nugget No. 1: Yandy Diaz is back in the lineup for Tampa Bay on Saturday night. He missed Friday night's game with an illness. Diaz, who's hitting .263 on the season, is hitting leadoff and playing third base.
  • Nugget No. 2: The Rays are 15-7 since April 19, and that's the fourth-best mark in baseball since then, being only the New York Yankees (19-3), Houston Astros (16-7) and Los Angeles Angels (16-7).
  • Nugget No. 3: The Rays often rely on defense to win games, as they did Friday night, but they haven't been their usual selves at home this season. They have surrendered 17 unearned runs so far in 17 home games, which is the worst in the majors. (The Chicago White Sox are second, with 15.)
  • Nugget No. 4: The Rays are 6-1 so far against AL East teams, sweeping Baltimore to open the season, and then winning two of three against Boston at Tropicana Field from April 22-24. The win Friday night shouldn't come as much of a surprise because the Rays went 51-25 against AL East opposition a year ago in their record-setting 100-win season. Counting the COVID-shortened 2020 season, the Rays are 84-39 against the division, a .683 winning percentage. That's the best in baseball over that time.