GameDay Preview: Early Start Saturday For Rays' Game With Pirates
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays and Pittsburgh Pirates get back at it on Saturday, with an early 1:10 p.m. ET start at Tropicana Field. The Rays, who won 4-3 in 10 innings on Friday night, will send Corey Kluber to the mound.
The 36-year-old Kluber has pitched well for the Rays this season, but his teammates haven't provided much run support for him. In Kluber's last seven starts, he has pitched 38 innings and posted a 2.61 earned run average. But during that stretch, he's just 2-2, and the Rays have scored only one run total in his last two starts, where he lost 2-0 and 2-1.
Those starts were part of a long stretch of close games for the Rays. Friday night's win was the 10th straight game that was decided by two runs or less, setting a team. record. The previous mark was nine, set way back in 2007.
The Rays have newcomer Luke Raley back in the starting lineup again on Saturday. He's the designated hitter, and batting sixth.
Here's how to watch Saturday's early game, with TV information and starting lineups and more:
How to watch Pirates at Rays
- Who: Pittsburgh Pirates (29-41) at Tampa Bay Rays (38-32)
- When: 1:10 p.m. ET, Saturday, June 25
- 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 Ryan Bass (reporter).
- Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM, SiriusXM Channel 176
- Announcers: Andy Freed and Dave Wills.
- Latest line: The Rays are favored at minus-168 on the money line according to the Fanduel.com website opening line as of Saturday afternoon. The Pirates are plus-142. The over/under is 7.
Projected lineups
- Pirates lineup: Oneil Cruz SS, Bryan Reynolds CF, Michael Chavis 1B, Daniel Vogelbach DH, Bligh Madris RF, Jack Suwinski LF, Diego Castillo 2B, Michael Perez C, Hoy Park 3B JT Brubaker P.
- Rays lineup: Taylor Walls SS, Josh Lowe RF, Randy Arozarena LF, Ji-Man Choi 1B, Vidal Brujan 2B, Luke Raley DH, Isaac Paredes 3B, Francisco Mejia C, Brett Phillips CF, Corey Kluber P.
Tampa Bay left fielder Luke Raley (55) rounds third base on his way to scoring a run in the second inning against the Pittsburg Pirates at Tropicana Field. (Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports)
Newsy nuggets
- No. 1 — Can they win a series?: With a win on Saturday, the Rays would win their first series since July 7-9, when they swept the St. Louis Cardinals. They've lost four straight series in between, their longest since losing five straight series in August of 2017.
- No. 2 — Interleague dominance: The Rays have been great against the National League so far this season. They are 8-1 in interleague games this season, and since the start of last season, their 23-6 record versus the NL leads the majors over the Boston Red Sox (20-7). Tampa Bay has dominated National League foes at Tropicana Field, going 15-1 in interleague home games over that same span, while pitching to a 2.19 earned run average.
- No. 3 — The bad injury bug: The Rays currently have 15 players on the injured list, tied with the Cincinnati Reds for most in the majors. Five of their 9 hitters from their Opening Day starting lineup are on the injured list, but there's hope that shortstop Wander Franco will be back with the team any day now. He returned from Durham on Saturday, and manager Kevin Cash said this morning that it's very possible the Franco will be back in the lineup on Sunday.
- No. 4 — Another off day pending: The Rays had Thursday off, which helped get the bullpen a little rest. After Sunday's series finale with the Pirates, they get Monday off as well before the Milwaukee Brewers come to town for a two-game series. That's going to be great for the relievers, but will also build another day in for the starters, which will come in handy with 13 games in 13 days. Drew Rasmussen is scheduled to throw a simulated game on Saturday, and it's going to be interesting to see how he responded and how quickly he can get back on the mound.
Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco is expected to return to the lineup on Sunday. Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports
Related stories on Rays baseball
- RAYS WIN IN EXTRAS (Friday): Newcomers Luke Raley and Jonathan Aranda had early RBI singles and Harold Ramirez drove in the winning run in the 10th inning as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 on Friday night. Rays pitchers combined for 17 strikeouts and no walks, only the fourth time in team history that it's happened. CLICK HERE
- JUST FOR STARTERS: Jeffrey Springs set career highs both strikeouts and total pitches on Friday night. Here's the breakdown on his night, plus the full vide of his postgame press conference. CLICK HERE
- RAYS NOTEBOOK: Pitcher Shane Baz recalls the day he got traded to the Rays from the Pirates back in 2018, plus injury updates on Manuel Margot, Wander Franco and Drew Rasmussen. CLICK HERE
- AL EAST ROUNDUP (July 24): Houston snapped the Yankees' 15-game home winning streak behind Justin Verlander, but the other four AL East teams all won. Here are the summaries, plus Saturday's pitching matchups and the division standings. CLICK HERE
- RAYS 2022 SCHEDULE: Here is the Rays' complete schedule for 2022, with results and stats thus far, and gametimes and locations for the rest of the year. CLICK HERE
