Gameday Preview: Rays Look to Bounce Back Behind Jeffrey Springs Saturday vs. Orioles

Jeffrey Springs has done well in his new role as a starter for the Rays, and he'll make his third start on Saturday night at Baltimore. Here's our gameday preview, with how to watch, the starting lineups and the return of our jam-packed newsy nuggets.

BALTIMORE, Md. — Jeffrey Springs makes his third start of the season on Saturday night for Tampa Bay, and the Rays are looking for more good things from him. He''s done great in his new role, pitching 8 2/3 innings and making just one mistake.

Last Sunday, he pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings to beat Toronto, and in his first start, was great with one exception, a two-out three-run home run by Jared Walsh of the Los Angeles Angels.

The Rays are still monitoring his work load as he gets stretched out, but they also used nine relievers last night in an ''opener'' game that went 13 innings. So the goal is for Springs to shoot for being as efficient as possible and getting deeper into the game. The 4 2/3 innings is his high-water mark so far.  

"I'm just trying to keep it simple and let things carry over,'' Springs said, who's been pleased with his season so far, in both roles. "I'm just going to take in at inning at a time and give it my all until they come and take the ball from me. It's been amazing so far, but I'm trying not to get all caught up in it.'' 

Cash would like to save his bullpen a bit, but monitoring Springs' workload is still first priority.

"We're not going to push him past where he's capable of, but we've liked his trajectory that he's been on and let's see if we can maintain that.''

Saturday is the major-league debut of Baltimore catcher Adley Rutschman, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft who is considered the top-ranked prospect in baseball. He's a former Oregon State star.

Here's how to watch Saturday's game, with TV information and starting lineups and more.

How to watch Rays at Orioles

• Who: Tampa Bay Rays (23-16) at Baltimore Orioles (16-24)
• When: 7:10 p.m. ET, Saturday, May 21
• Where: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, Md.
• TV: Bally Sports Sun
• Stream: Fubo.tv CLICK HERE
• Announcers: Dewayne Staats (play-by-play), Brian Anderson (color commentary) and Ryan Bass (reporter).
• Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM; SiriusXM Channel 185 (Orioles broadcast; Rays online only)
• Announcers: Andy Freed and Dave Wills.
• Latest line: Tampa Bay is favored at minus-133 on the money line according to the SISportsbook.com website opening line as of Friday afternoon. The Tigers are plus-110. The over/under is 8.5.

Projected starting pitchers

• Rays left-hander Jeffrey Springs: The Rays are giving Jeffrey Springs his third start of the season, stretching him out after starting in the bullpen this year. He's 1-1 with a 1.66 earned run average, and a very stingy 0.78 WHIP. The 29-year-old lefty from Belmont, N.C. pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings last Sunday in the 3-0 series-clinching win over Toronto, allowing just four hits.
• Orioles right-hander Kyle Bradish: Kyle Bradish is 1-2 with a high 5.06 earned run average so far this season. The 25-year-old from Goodyear, Ariz., made his first start of the season on April 29, making his major-league debut against the Boston Red Sox. His best outing was May 10 at St. Louis, where he went seven innings and allowed only two runs and four hits in getting his first career win in a 5-2 victory. Both of his losses are to AL East opponents, the Red Sox and New York Yankees.

Projected lineups

• Rays lineup: Kevin Kiermaier CF, Yandy Diaz 3B, Ji-Man Choi 1B, Randy Arozarena LF, Harold Ramirez DH, Vidal Brujan 2B, Brett Phillips RF, Francisco Mejia C, Taylor Walls SS, Jalen Beeks P.
• Orioles lineup: Cedric Mullins CF, Austin Hays LF, Anthony Santander RF, Trey Mancini 1B, Ryan Mountcastle DH, Adley Rutschman C, Tyler Nevin 1B, Rougned Odor 2B, Jorge Mateo SS, Kyle Bradish P.

Newsy nuggets

• No. 1 — Kevin Kiermaier batting leadoff: Tampa Bay center fielder Kevin Kiermaier is hitting lead-off for the first time this season as manager Kevin Cash juggles his lineup a bit with Wander Franco out. It helps that Kiermaier is hitting the ball well, with back-to-back three-hit games. That's only the second time in his career that he's done that consecutively. The first time was Sept. 8-9, 2016.
• No 2 — No Wander Franco tonight: Rays shortstop Wander Franco complained of right quadriceps soreness on Friday night, so Cash is giving him the day off on Saturday to try to save his legs a big. Here's the full story. CLICK HERE
• No. 3 — Randy loves Orange: Tampa Bay left fielder Randy Arozarena loves hitting against the Orioles. He had four hits last night and is now hitting .404 for his career against Baltimore. He's 36-for-89 with nine home runs and 22 RBIs in 22 career games. 
• No. 4 — Still smarting: The Rays lost in unlikely fashion on Friday night, falling 8-6 in 13 innings. It was the first time all year that they blew a multi-run lead. It was also the first time they blew three different leads in the same game. They were up 3-0 through six, up 5-3 in the 10th and ahead 6-5 in the 11th.

Related stories on Rays baseball

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• ORIOLES TAKE OPENER (Friday): Tampa Bay's usually reliable bullpen had a rough night on Friday, giving up the lead on three different occasions before finally losing to the Baltimore Orioles 8-6 in 13 innings. The loss ended the Rays' 15-game winning streak over the Orioles. CLICK HERE
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