Gameday Preview (Sunday): Rays Look to Sweep MLB Leaders Detroit Tigers

The Tampa Bay Rays have roughed up the Detroit Tigers two days in a row at Steinbrenner Field, and they look for the sweep on Sunday. Here are the lineups, pitching breakdowns and several daily fantasy nuggets.

Tampa Bay's Junior Caminero (right) celebrates with Christopher Morel after hitting a home run against the Detroit Tigers. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

TAMPA, Fla — Having the best record in baseball apparently doesn't mean a whole lot to the Tampa Bay Rays. Last week, the Rays swept the New York Mets in New York when they had the best record, and now they're doing the same to the Detroit Tigers.

The Rays have won 14-8 and 8-3 vs. the Tigers in the first two games of the series at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. The Tigers have now lost three games in a row, and that their longest losing streak of the season.

They've done it two other times, but haven't lost four in a row all season. You have to go all the way back to July 28 to Aug. 2, 2024 to find a longer streak, and that's when they lost five straight.

It's a good pitching matchup on Sunday, with Detroit's Casey Mize squaring off against Zack Littell in another early start.

Here are the details on the game:

How to watch Tigers-Rays

• Who: Detroit Tigers (48-30) at Tampa Bay Rays (43-34)
• When: Saturday, June 21 at 12:10 p.m. ET
• Where: Steinbrenner Field, Tampa, Fla.
• TV: FanDuel Sports Sun
• Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM/620 AM, WQBN 106.7/1300 AM (Spanish)
• Betting information: The Rays are favored on the money line at HardRockBet.com at minus-116, and the Tigers' money line odds are plus-102. On the run line, you can bet the Tigers minus-1.5 at plus-164 odds, and the Rays plus-1.5 runs at minus-200 odds. The over/under is 8.5 runs.

Here are the starting lineups for both teams:

Tigers batting order

1. Colt Keith 3B
2. Gleybar Torres 2B
3. Kerry Carpenter DH
4. Riley Greene LF
5. Spencer Torkelson 1B
6. Wenceel Perez RF
7. Dillon Dingler C
8. Parker Meadows CF
9. Javier Baez SS

Rays batting order

1. Yandy Diaz DH
2. Brandon Lowe 2B
3. Junior Caminero 3B
4. Jonathan Aranda 1B
5. Jake Mangum CF
6. Josh Lowe RF
7. Jose Caballero SS
8. Matt Thaiss C
9. Christopher Morel LF

Pitching matchup

• ZACK LITTELL, Tampa Bay Rays: Zack Littell is 6-7 with a 3.88 earned run average. ... The 29-year-old Burlington, N.C. native is making his 16th start of the season and he has bounced back nicely from an 0-5 start. ... In his last start on Tuesday against Baltimore, he pitched six innings and allowed three runs in the 5-1 loss. ... Littell has been prone to giving up the home run ball this season. He's allowed 22 so far, most in the majors by a wide margin. Toronto's Bowden Francis is second with 19.

• CASEY MIZE, Detroit Tigers: Casey Mize, a 28-year-old right-hander from Springville, Ala., is making his 13th start of the season for Detroit, and he's been a pleasant surprise. He's 7-2 thus far, with a 2.97 ERA. He was 9-19 in his career before this season. ... Mize has allowed two runs or less in five of his last six starts.

Newsy Tigers-Rays nuggets

• DAILY FANTASY WINNERS: Detroit center fielder Parker Meadows has had good success against Rays pitcher Zach Littell. He's 3-for-6 all-time with two home runs. That's knowledge. there, considering Littell has given up 22 homers this year, tops in baseball. ... Riley Greene (3-for-7) and Kerry Carpenter (2-for-9) might be good for hits today.

• QUICK TURNAROUND: The Rays and Tigers conclude their three-game series on Sunday, but they'll see each other again in just two weeks. They'll play another three-game sereis in Detroit from July 7-9. Tampa Bay has played well against the Tigers the past six years, improving to 8-3-1 in their last 12 series against the Tigers after clinching the series on Saturday.

• SATURDAY BLUES: The Tigers have the best record in baseball at 48-30, so it's a real stunner to see that they've lost eight games in a row on Saturdays. The good news? They are much better on Sunday in 2025. So far this season, they are 7-4 on Sundays and are 4-1 in the last five weeks.

Related Rays stories

• TOM BREW COLUMN: Since May 20, the Tampa Bay Rays are 22-8, the best record in baseball. They always have great pitching and defense, but the change has come with a batting order that's been impressive from one through nine almost every night. That's a winning formula. CLICK HERE

• ESPN INSIDERS LOVE THE RAYS: With each win, the Tampa Bay Rays are compelling the nation to pay attention. ESPN insiders Buster Olney and Paul Hembekides were raviing about the Rays in a recent Baseball Tonight podcast. CLICK HERE

• RAYS BEAT TIGERS AGAIN (Saturday): Tampa Bay's 8-3 win over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday secured another series victory and once again proved the Rays can hang with the best teams in baseball. CLICK HERE

• RAYS WALLOP TIGERS IN SERIES OPENER (Friday): The Tampa Bay Rays offense put on a clinic against the Detroit Tigers, winning 14-8 and once again proving they can hang with the best of the best in Major League Baseball. CLICK HERE

• RAYS 2025 FULL SCHEDULE: The Tampa Bay Rays will play the 2025 season outdoors for the first time, playing their home games at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Here is their complete schedule, with dates, locations and game times, and results of all games thus far. CLICK HERE