Reds Carry Momentum Into Tampa Bay Rays Series: Everything You Need to Know

Coming off two exciting come-from-behind wins in Minnesota, the Cincinnati Reds look to keep their momentum rolling as they head to Tampa Bay to take on the Rays. While the offense has been a tad inconsistent on the season, their late, clutch, and timely hitting has kept the Reds offense rolling as they're off to such a great start on the season.

The Rays offense has been rolling to start the season, as they hold the third-best team batting average at .259, they're tied for 11th in baseball in runs scored with 103, and they have the 10th-best on-base percentage at .331. The impressive part of this is that they're doing all of this with just 18 team home runs.

The Rays offense is led by Yandy Diaz, and Chandler Simpson both hitting over .330 so far on the season, while power hitter Junior Caminero has five early homers and an OPS of 804.

Pitching-wise, the Reds will see two familiar faces in this series as former St. Louis Cardinal Steven Matz will start game two of the series, and he's off to a great start on the year with 3 wins, 21 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.03. The other familiar face is former Reds swing man Nick Martinez. Martinez leads the Rays in innings pitched so far with 22 innings an has an ERA of 2.45.

The Reds will have their work cut out for them in this series against the first-place team in the AL East. Here is how the series lines up this week:

Game 1: Rhett Lowder (2-1, 3.52 ERA) vs TBD

Lowder is coming off a great start last week against the Giants, but has yet to face anyone on the Rays roster in his Major League career. The Rays look to be throwing an opener out to start this series, but nothing has been announced at the time this was being written.

Game 2: Chase Burns (1-1, 2.42 ERA) vs Steven Matz (3-0, 3.80 ERA)

Chase Burns was awesome in his last start against the Giants, throwing six shutout innings while giving up only two hits and striking out four batters. Burns hasn't faced any of the Rays either so far in his career.

Matz isn't a stranger to the Reds by any means, but a lot of the Reds players have found success in their limited at-bats against the former Cardinal. Six current members of the Reds have an .OPS over .900 against Matz, with Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, and Ke'Bryan Hayes all having homers off the lefty.

Game 3: Brandon Williamson (2-1, 4.35 ERA) vs Nick Martinez (0-1, 2.45 ERA)

B Will — Cincinnati Reds pitcher Brandon Williamson (55) prepares to pitch in the first inning between the Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Angels at Great American Ball in Cincinnati on Saturday, April 11, 2026. | Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Brandon Williamson was solid in his last start, going home to Minnesota with 5 innings of one-run ball. Though he did struggle with walks late in his last start, he has shown promising growth as he tries to return to form after missing all of 2025. The Rays have seven combined career at-bats, and Richie Palacios is the only player with a homer against Williamson.

Martinez obviously spent the last two seasons with the Reds, so there isn't a lot of history for him facing the team. Eugenio Suarez is the only Reds player with more than four at-bats against Martinez. Suarez has a 1.208 OPS with just six at-bats against the former Reds starter.

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