GameDay Preview: Rays Open Series With Different Angels Team on Monday Night
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — When the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Angels got together for three games in early May, it was the Angels that looked like a playoff team and the Rays that were a mess.
It's the other way around now. The Rays are right in the thick of the playoff race and the Angels are a complete disaster.
During that three-game series from May 7-9 in Anaheim, Calif., the Angels won the first two games 11-3 and 12-0, with Reid Detmers pitching a no-hitter in the second game. The Angels, managed by former Rays boss Joe Maddon at the time, were 21-11 and looked like a contender.
The Angels were still 10 games over .500 on May 24, but then hit the skids, losing 13 straight games. They are now 52-69, a whopping 17 games UNDER .500. Their 25-52 mark since late May is the worst in baseball.
Maddon didn't survive the collapse, getting fired on June 7 and he was replaced by Phil Nevin. The Angels, who haven't made the playoffs since 2014, are 25 games behind the Houston Astros in the American League West race despite having two of baseball's biggest names on their roster, outfielder Mike Trout and pitcher/hitter/MVP Shohei Ohtani.
The Rays, meanwhile, have won seven of their last nine games and are back at the top of the wild-card race, and are now 2 1/2 games clear of the Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles. Monday is the first of four games against the Angels, night games Monday through Wednesday and a day game on Thursday.
Here's how to watch Monday night's game, with TV information, starting lineups, pitching biographies and all sorts of newsy nuggets:
How to watch Angels at Rays
- Who: Los Angeles Angels (52-69) at Tampa Bay Rays (65-55)
- When: 7:10 p.m. ET, Monday, Aug. 22
- Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Fla.
- TV: Bally Sports Sun
- Stream: Fubo.tv CLICK HERE
- Announcers: Dewayne Staats (play-by-play), Brian Anderson (color commentary) and Tricia Whitaker (reporter).
- Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM, SiriusXM Channel 179
- Latest line: The Rays are favored at minus-235 on the money line in according to the Fanduel.com website line as of Monday morning. The Angels are plus-194. The over/under is 7.
Starting lineups
- LOS ANGELES ANGELS: David Fletcher 2B, Mike Trout DH, Luis Rengifo 3B, Taylor Ward RF, Jo Adell LF, Jared Walsh 1B, Kurt Suzuki C, Andrew Velazquez SS, Magneuris Sierra CF, Tucker Davidson P.
- TAMPA BAY RAYS: Yandy Diaz 3B, Randy Arozarena RF, Isaac Paredes 1B, Harold Ramirez DH, Yu Chang 2B, Francisco Mejia C, David Peralta LF, Taylor Walls SS, Jose Siri CF, Ryan Yarbrough P.
Sunday's starting pitchers
- HUNTER DAVIDSON, Los Angeles Angels: Hunter Davidson is 2-3 with a 6.75 earned run average this season, coming over to the Angels two weeks ago from the Atlanta Braves. He's made two starts for LA, giving up six runs in four innings in a loss to Seattle on Aug. 7 and beating Minnesota on Aug. 14, allowing just two runs in six innings. He is a 26-year-old left-hander from Amarillo, Texas.
- JEFFREY SPRINGS, Tampa Bay Rays: Jeffrey Springs is 5-3 with a 2.52 ERA this season, and has been sensational since joining the rotation out of the bullpen in early May. He's 2-0 this month with a 1.69 ERA, and has beaten the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees in August. He allowed just one run and two hits last Tuesday against the Yankees
Newsy nuggets
- ROSTER MOVES — The Rays have reinstated right-handed reliever Nick Anderson, who has been recovering from right elbow surgery. He's been on the 60-day injured list and has been rehabbing in Durham, where he has made nine appearances, giving up seven runs in eight innings. He's allowed four home runs. To make room for Anderson, the Rays have designated pitcher Phoenix Sanders for assignment.
- ROSTER MOVES, Part 2 — Also, Ralph Garza Jr., who was designated for assignment last week, has cleared waivers and been assigned the Triple-A Durham.
- POOR STARTS — The Rays open a four-game series with the Angels on Monday night, and that may not be a good thing. The Rays, who are 10 games over .500, are just 15-23 in series openers this season, and just 10-10 at home to start a series.
- RUNNING WOES — The Rays have made 58 outs on the bases this season, according to Baseball Reference, most in the majors. The Chicago Cubs are second with 46. The website does not include pickoffs, caught stealing or force plays in this statistic. The Rays had only 45 outs all of last season. The 13-out gap between the Rays and Cubs is so massive that going backwards, the 13 out difference would be No. 17 out of 30 teams.
