Gameday Preview (Sunday): Rays Try to Beat Hunter Brown Again in Season Finale vs. Astros

Just two weeks ago, the Tampa Bay Rays were able to beat Houston Astros ace Hunter Brown in Tampa, and they get the chance again on Sunday afternoon in Houston. Here are the starting lineups, pitching notes and several newsy pregame nuggets.

Houston Astros pitcher Hunter Brown (left) chats on the mound with catcher Yainer Diaz earlier this season. He pitches against the Rays again on Sunday. | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

HOUSTON, Texas — Twice already in this four-game series with the Houston Astros, the Tampa Bay Rays' bats have gone wild. They scored 13 runs Thursday, and 16 more in Saturday's win. They face Hunter Brown on Sunday, and that's quite the challenge against one of the best right-handers in the American League.

But the Rays have some good recent history against Brown, beating him 8-4 on May 21 to take the series in Tampa. Brown, who arrived with a 2.04 ERA at the game, allowed five runs in five innings — including three home runs. Right now, he's 7-2 with a 2.00 ERA

Taj Bradley gets the call for Tampa Bay, and he was the winning pitcher vs. Brown. He's allowed two runs or less in each of his last two starts.

Rays pitching has been exceptional lately. The Rays have allowed four runs or fewer in 12 straight games, their longest single-season streak since a 16-game run to conclude the 2021 season (Sept.
16–Oct. 3, 2021) and tied for the fifth-longest streak of any type in franchise history. The staff has also allowed three runs or fewer in nine straight games, their longest run since May 22-30, 2019 and tied for the third longest in team history, trailing streaks of 12 games (Aug. 4-16, 2014) and 10 games (July 24–Aug. 4, 2016).

The rotation has turned in a 1.52 ERA — just 10 earned runs in 59 1/3 innings — and a 0.83 WHIP across their last nine starts, yielding one or zero runs in six of those outings.
The bullpen has a 1.98 ERA — eight earned runs in 36 1/3 innings — in the last 13 games since May 17, fourth in the majors behind the Chicago Cubs (0.88), San Francisco Giants (1.61) and Toronto Blue Jays (1.94).

Here are the details on the game:

How to watch Rays-Astros

• Who: Tampa Bay Rays (20-28) vs. Houston Astros (31-27)
• When: Sunday, June 1 at 2:10 p.m. ET
• Where: Daikan Park, Houston, Texas
• TV: FanDuel Sports Sun
• Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM/620 AM, WQBN 106.7/1300 AM (Spanish)
• Betting information: The Astros are favored on the money line at Fanduel.com at minus-174, and the Rays' money line odds are plus-146. On the run line, you can bet the Astros minus-1.5 at plus-120 odds, and the Rays plus-1.5 runs at minus-144 odds. The over/under is 7.5 runs.

Here are the starting lineups for both teams:

Rays batting order

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

Astros batting order

1. Jeremy Pena SS
2. Isaac Paredes 3B
3. Jose Altuve LF
4. Christian Walker 1B
5. Yainer Diaz DH
6. Victor Caratini C
7. Cam Smith RF
8. Jacob Melton CF
9. Mauricio Dubon 2B

Pitching matchup

• TAJ BRADLEY, Tampa Bay: Taj Bradley is 4-4 with a 4.38 ERA, and is making his 12th start of the season. This is his fifth start all-time vs. Houston. He is 2-2, but the Astros have hit him hard. He's got a 7.71 ERA in those four starts. ... The 25-year-old from Los Angeles has six strikeouts or more in three straight starts for the second time this season and the sixth time in his career. He has reached six K's in four straight starts twice in his career. most recently from Sept. 27, 2024 through April 11, 2025. ... Opposing 3-4-5 hitters have batted only .163 (13-for- 80) with one home run against Bradley, the third-lowest mark among qualified American League pitchers behind Toronto's Kevin Gausman (.159) and New York Yankees' lefty Carlos Rodón (.160)

• HUNTER BROWN, Houston: Hunter Brown is 7-3 with a 2.00 ERA, and it would be even lower if you took that five-run start out against the Rays. He's given up one run or less in seven of his 11 starts, and has a 1.43 ERA outside of that Rays start. ... Brown has 79 strikeouts this year and just 16 walks. ... He's only given up six home runs all year, and half of them came against the Rays. Brandon Lowe, Josh Lowe and Curtis Mead all homered in that May 21. start. ... The Rays are 4-2 against Brown and the Astros this year, and it's the first time they've won a season series against them since 2019.

Newsy Rays nuggets

• BEN RORTVEDT CLEARS WAIVERS: Tampa Bay catcher Ben Rortvedt has cleared waivers, and has agreed to accept an assignment to Triple-A Durham. Rortvedt played 26 games with the Rays this season, but was hitting .095 with no homers and six RBIs when he was released earlier this week. He was replaced by Matt Thaiss, who was acquired in a trade with the Chicago White Sox.

JUNIOR CAMINERO ON FIRE: Junior Caminero is currently on pace for 36 doubles and 36 home runs this season, and the only player in Rays history to reach those marks is Evan Longoria, who ad 41 doubles and 36 homers in 2016. ... Only three hitters in the majors since 1901 have reached them in an age-21 or younger season, Seattle's Alex Rodriguez (54 doubles and 36 homers) HR in 1996 at age 20), St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols (47 doubles and 37 homers in 2001 at age 21) and Mel Ott of the New York Giants (37 doubles, 42 homers in 1929 at age 20.

Related Rays stories

• RAYS CRUSH ASTROS 16-3 (Saturday): Zack Littell pitched Tampa Bay's first complete game since 2021 and the Rays had season highs in home runs (5), hits (18) and runs (16) in a 16-3 blowout of the Houston Astros on Saturday. CLICK HERE

• MANGUM HOMER A FAMILY AFFAIR: Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Jake Mangum waited a long time to make the big leagues, and the 29-year-old had a great first month before suffering a groin injury. He came back this weekend, and hit his first-ever MLB home run with his parents in the stands. It was a great family moment. CLICK HERE

• WANDER FRANCO TRIAL DATE SET: The trial against former Rays shortstop Wander Franco will begin on Monday in the Dominican Republic, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. Here's the story. CLICK HERE

• MANGUM RETURNS, SIMPSON SENT DOWN: The Rays have brought back outfielder Jack Mangum from the injured list, but it's come at the surprising expense of electric rookie Chandler Simpson. CLICK HERE

• FRAMBER VALDEZ DOMINATES RAYS (Friday): Ryan Pepiot had his second straight scoreless start, but Houston rallied with a run in the eighth and a walk-off homer from catcher Yainer Diaz in the ninth for a 2-1. Framberr Valdez pitched a nasty 83-pitch complete game for Houston. CLICK HERE

• CAMINERO HAS 6 RBIs IN ROUT (Thursday): The Tampa Bay Rays continued their winning ways on Thursday, exploding for five runs in both the seventh and eighth innings in a 13-3 rout of the Houston Astros. Junior Caminero had three hits and six RBIs for the Rays. CLICK HERE

• KELLY REJOINS RAYS: Kevin Kelly has been a big part of the Tampa Bay Rays bullpen since 2023, and he's back with the team after spending six weeks on the injured list. He was activated on Thursday ahead of the series with the Houston Astros. CLICK HERE