Gameday Preview (Thursday): Catcher Matt Thaiss Makes Rays' Debut vs. Astros
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HOUSTON, Texas — The Tampa Bay Rays are hitting the road for a quick four-game series with the Houston Astros, and they'll start Thursday night with a new catcher in the lineup.
Matt Thaiss, acquired earlier this week from the Chicago White Sox, will make his Rays debut. The 30-year-old spent his first six seasons as a backup catcher for the Los Angeles Angels. He played in 35 games with the White Sox before the trade, hitting .212 with four doubles, a homer and eight RBIs.
Thaiss is batting ninth in the order, and he'll be catching Shane Baz, who's making his 11th start of the season.
The two teams just had a three-game series in Tampa May 19-21, with the Rays winning two of three games. Former Rays third baseman Isaac Paredes had a big series, going 5-for-12 with three homers.
This is just the 19th road game for the Rays in their front-loaded schedule, and they're 10-8. They've played 37 home games.
Here are the details on the game:
How to watch Rays-Astros
- Who: Tampa Bay Rays (28-27) vs. Houston Astros (30-25)_
- When: Thursday, May 29 at 8:10 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-118, and the Rays' money line odds are plus-102. On the run line, you can bet the Astros minus-1.5 at plus-160 odds, and the Rays plus-1.5 runs at minus-210 odds. The over/under is 9.5 runs.
Here are the starting lineups for both teams:
Rays batting order
- Josh Lowe RF
- Brandon Lowe 2B
- Yandy Diaz DH
- Jonathan Aranda 1B
- Junior Caminero 3B
- Chandler Simpson LF
- Kameron Misner CF
- Jose Caballero SS
- Matt Thaiss C
Astros batting order
- Jeremy Pena SS
- Isaac Paredes 3B
- Jose Altuve DH
- Victor Caratini 1B
- Jake Meyers CF
- Yainer Diaz C
- Cam Smith RF
- Zach Dezenso LF
- Mauricio Dubon 2B
Pitching matchup
- SHANE BAZ, Tampa Bay: Shane Baz is 4-3 with a 4.94 earned run average, and he's making his 11th start of the season. ... The 25-year-old Houston native didn't pitch in the Rays-Astros series two weeks ago, but has faced them twice before last August. He had a no decision in Houston and lost at home despite allowing just three runs over seven innings. ... Baz won his last start, holding Toronto to just one run. ... On the bad side, he's allowed a home run in five straight starts, which is a career high.
- RYAN GUSTO, Houston: Gusto, a 26-year-old right-hander is 3-2 with a 4.58 ERA. He's making his seventh start of the season, and has also made six relief appearances. ... He's had a rough May, giving up 12 runs — nine earned — is 8 1/3 innings. ... He has 38 strikeouts in 35 1/3 innings so far this season.
Related Rays stories
- 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
- RAYS MOVE ON FROM RORTVEDT: Backup catcher Ben Rortvedt was hitting just .095 for Tampa Bay this season, so the Rays decided to move on Wednesday, designating him for assignment. The team added Matt Thaiss to the active roster after trading for him with the Chicago White Sox. CLICK HERE
- SIMPSON MAKING HISTORY: Known for his blazing speed, Rays outfielder Chandler Simpson is making quite the impact for Kevin Cash's team. He's got some historic numbers. CLICK HERE
- ROTATION GRADES: When Tampa Bay's five starting pitchers are at their best, they've been really good through 10 loops through the rotation. It seems like a good time to dole grades, and break out the numbers between their best starts at their worst. CLICK HERE
- TAYLOR WALLS ON MENTAL HEALTH: Goat one night, hero the next. Playing baseball at the highest level brings out the highs and lows on a daily basis, and the mental toll it takes on players is very real. Rays shortstop Taylor Walls talked about his mental health battles after his walk-off win Tuesday against the Houston Astros. CLICK HERE
Tom Brew is the publisher of ''Tampa Bay Rays on SI'' and has been with the Sports Illustrated platform since 2019. He has worked at some of America's finest newspapers, including the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He owns eight sites on the "On SI'' network and has written four books.
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