TAMPA BAY RAYS (5-7) Vs. TEXAS RANGERS (5-7) LH Rich Hill (1-0, 7.20) Vs
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Press Box Documents › bit.ly/3f0l9jz TAMPA BAY RAYS (5-7) vs. TEXAS RANGERS (5-7) LH Rich Hill (1-0, 7.20) vs. RH Jordan Lyles (1-0, 4.50) Thursday, April 15, 2021 First Pitch: 7:10 p.m. Location: Tropicana Field TV: Bally Sports Sun Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM, WGES 680 AM (Sp.) Game No.: 13 (5-7) Home Game No.: 7 (3-3) All-Time Game No.: 3,635 (1731-1903) All-Time Home Game No.: 1,819 (944-874) PRONUNCIATION GUIDE To hear Rays coaches and players pronouncing their names in their own voices, visit raysbaseball.com/pronunciation. UPCOMING PROBABLE PITCHERS & BROADCAST SCHEDULE Upcoming Games Time (ET) Probable Starting Pitchers (Rays vs. Opp.) TV & Radio Fri., 4/16 at NYY 7:05 p.m. TBD vs. TBD Bally Sports Sun, WDAE 95.3 FM, WMGG 1470 AM (Sp.) Sat., 4/17 at NYY 1:05 p.m. TBD vs. LH Jordan Montgomery (1-0, 3.27) Bally Sports Sun, WDAE 95.3 FM, WMGG 1470 AM (Sp.) Sun., 4/18 at NYY 1:05 p.m. TBD vs. RH Gerrit Cole (2-0, 1.47) Bally Sports Sun, WDAE 95.3 FM, WMGG 1470 AM (Sp.) JACKIE ROBINSON DAY—Tonight the Rays will commemorate the 74th secutive season the Rays finished among the majors’ top three in anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier in 1947 ERA, and fourth straight season they finished among the top ten. with all players and coaches wearing Robinson’s iconic uniform “No. 42” on their jerseys…the game-worn No. 42 jerseys and caps will be avail- RELIEF VALVE—The bullpen has a 6.19 ERA (48-IP, 33-ER), 29th in the ma- able for auction at raysbaseball.com/auctions, with proceeds benefiting jors and ahead of only the Tigers (6.65)…its .310 opp avg. (58-for-187) is the the Jackie Robinson Foundation…special batting practice T-shirts, which worst in the majors; in 29th place is the Rockies at .286…Rays relievers have been designed by The Players Alliance and provided by Nike, will have allowed 4 runs (or more) in six of 12 games, and has a 6.61 ERA (16.1- be worn by players prior to games…the Rays will also be recognizing IP, 12-ER) in the last 4 games…last season the Rays ranked 3rd in the ma- their 2020 Racial Equity Grant recipients prior to tonight's game. jors in bullpen ERA (3.37) behind the Athletics (2.72) and Dodgers (2.74). Ê Rays relievers have allowed six of the club's 10 HR…this includes 4 RAY MATTER—The Rays have lost back-to-back games and seven of HR allowed in the 8th inning and 1 HR allowed in the 9th inning. their last 10 games following a 2-0 start to the season…this is their second Ê The Rays are 3-2 this season when leading after 7 innings…com- losing streak of 2 games (or more) this season, matching their total from bining regular season and postseason, they entered this season the shortened 60-game 2020 season…their 5-7 record through 12 games having won 63 consecutive games when leading after 7 innings. is identical to last season, when they went 35-13 the rest of the way to finish at 40-20…the Rays would need a win tonight to avoid dropping 3 START ME UP—Rays starters rank 12th in the majors and 6th in the AL games under .500 for the first time since they were 37-40 through games with a 3.86 ERA (60.2-IP, 26-ER)…RH Tyler Glasnow ranks 3rd in the AL of June 24, 2018…the Rays are one of three AL East teams entering play at with a 0.46 ERA (19.2-IP, 1-ER) but the rest of the rotation has combined 5-7, trailing the first-place Red Sox (9-3) and second-place Blue Jays (6-6). for a 5.49 ERA (41-IP, 25-ER)…excluding openers and injury-shortened Ê The Rays have lost back-to-back home games for the first time starts, Rays starters have allowed 4 runs (or more) in five of 10 games… since Aug 19-20, 2019 vs. SEA, and are attempting to avoid a 3-game in comparison, Rays starters yielded 4+ runs in 20 pct. (12 of 60) of games home losing streak for the first time since July 3-5, 2019 vs. BAL/ last season, when the Rays ranked 7th in the majors in starter ERA. NYY (3)…the Rays are 3-3 on this homestand and would need a win RAYS vs. RANGERS—Tonight is the fourth of 7 games between the two to avoid their first losing homestand since July 19-24, 2019 (2-4). clubs this season, with a 3-game series from June 4-6 in Arlington…this Ê The Rays have held a lead in 10 of their 12 games this season and is the first series between the clubs since Sep 10-12, 2019 at TEX and first blown a lead in five of their 7 losses…the five blown leads (games at Tropicana Field since June 28-30, 2019…the Rays are 88-100 (.468) all- eventually lost after having the lead) are tied with the Twins for time against them, going 49-44 at home (46-44 at Tropicana Field, 3-0 at most in the majors and are only three shy of their total from the Disney Wide World of Sports) and 39-56 on the road…the Rays have won shortened 2020 season (8)…in comparison, last season the Rays nine of the last 15 games between the two clubs since the start of 2018. trailed in 40 of their 60 games but had 20 come-from-behind wins, Ê RH Pete Fairbanks (injured list) and LH Jeffrey Springs were both most in the AL and 2nd in the majors behind the Padres (22). selected by the Rangers in the 2015 Amateur Draft…Fairbanks, Ê The Rays have used 34 players and 19 pitchers, both most in the who was acquired for INF Nick Solak, had 3 saves last postseason majors…they have used seven starting pitchers, tied with the Blue including Game 7 of the ALCS…1B Nate Lowe, who ranks 2nd in Jays, Diamondbacks, Mariners and Tigers for most in the majors. the majors with 15 RBI, was traded to the Rangers in the offseason. Ê The Rays are 4-2 this season against teams that made the expanded Ê Since 2010, the Rays have made five trips to the postseason (2010, postseason in 2020, and 1-5 against teams missing the playoffs. 2011, 2013, 2019, 2020)…strangely, during that stretch the Rays Ê The Rays are 12-0-4 in their last 16 home series since Aug 30, 2019. have won 6 games in Arlington and 5 games at Tropicana Field. Ê The Rays are 13-2-4 in regular-season series since Aug 4, 2020. Ê This series the Rays continue stretches of games on 13 consecutive UP NEXT: YANKEES—Tomorrow the Rays begin a 6-game road trip with days (April 9-21) and 30 games in 31 days (April 9–May 9). a 3-game series in the Bronx…the Rays won two of three over the Yan- kees last weekend to clinch a fifth straight regular-season series win over ABOUT THE OFFENSE—The Rays have been held to 5 runs this series them, dating back to Sep 24, 2019…over that stretch, the Rays are 12-3 and 13 runs in the last 5 games…this season their .223 avg. ranks 22nd against them in the regular season with a +23 run diff. (71-48)…tomorrow in the majors and 12th in the AL, and their 12 HR are tied for 20th in the is the fourth of 19 meetings between the two clubs this season, which in- majors and tied for 10th in the AL…this comes on the heels of the 2020 cludes 16 in advance of the trade deadline…the Rays and Yankees end the postseason, when the Rays hit 34 HR—the most in a single postseason in regular season facing each other in a 3-game series at Yankee Stadium. major league history…37.0 pct. (17 of 46) of the Rays runs this season have Ê The Rays went 8-2 against them last season (3-1 at home, 5-1 on come on home runs, compared to 67.1 pct. (53 of 79) in the 2020 playoffs. the road), the best winning pct. against them in club history and Ê The Rays are batting .208 (21-for-101) with RISP, 24th in the majors. best winning pct. against them in the majors since the 2013 A's (5-1) Ê This homestand the Rays have scored 19 runs in innings 1-thru-4 and 2013 Mets (4-0)…the Rays went 5-1 at Yankee Stadium, the best and 4 runs from the 5th inning on…in comparison, on the first road record of any visitor to the new ballpark (min. 5 games) and best trip they scored 5 runs in innings 1-thru-4 and 18 runs after that. mark by a team visiting the Bronx since the 2001 Mariners (5-1). Ê Since 2020, the Rays are 26-11 (.703) in games decided by 2 runs (or Ê In the last two seasons, the cushion in the AL East has been similar fewer) and 16-6 (.727) in 1-run games, both the best in the majors… to the result of the season series…in 2020, the Rays won the season this includes a 15-4 (.789) record in 1-run games since Aug 7.