TAMPA BAY RAYS (80-65) Vs. OAKLAND ATHLETICS (89-58) RH Diego Castillo (3-2, 3.45) Vs
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TAMPA BAY RAYS (80-65) vs. OAKLAND ATHLETICS (89-58) RH Diego Castillo (3-2, 3.45) vs. RH Edwin Jackson (5-3, 3.26) Friday, September 14, 2018 First Pitch: 7:10 p.m. Location: Tropicana Field TV: FOX Sports Sun Radio: WDAE 620 AM, WGES 680 AM (Sp.) Game No.: 146 (80-65) Home Game No.: 72 (46-25) All-Time Game No.: 3,384 (1580-1803) All-Time Home Game No.: 1,693 (868-824) March: 1-2 April: 12-12 May: 15-13 June: 13-14 July: 13-12 August: 17-10 September: 9-2 Pre-ASB: 49-47 Post-ASB: 31-18 UPCOMING PROBABLE PITCHERS & BROADCAST SCHEDULE Upcoming Games Time (ET) Probable Starting Pitchers (Rays vs. Opp.) TV & Radio Sat., 9/15 vs. OAK 6:10 p.m. TBD vs. TBD FOX Sports Sun, WDAE 620 AM, WLCC 760 AM (Sp.) Sun., 9/16 vs. OAK 1:10 p.m. TBD vs. RH Mike Fiers (12-6, 3.29) FOX Sports Sun, WHNZ 1250 AM, WLCC 760 AM (Sp.) RAY MATTER—The Rays have won nine of their last 11 games, and their ing 2-5 in 2016…they have won three consecutive series over them win on Wed vs. CLE brought them back to a season-high-tying 15 games for the first time since Aug 23, 2007–Aug 14, 2008 (four straight)… over .500…this is only the sixth season in franchise history the Rays have all-time, they are 71-104 (.406) and 41-46 (.471) at home. ever been as many as 15 games over .500 (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013), and they made the postseason in four of these previous five seasons…the ROSTER MAKEOVER—Twelve of the 25 players on the active roster for Rays have outscored opponents, 66-36, over this 11-game stretch. the series finale between the Rays and Athletics on May 31 at the Oak- Ê On Wed vs. CLE, the Rays yielded 1 hit, matching their season low, land Coliseum are not on tonight’s active roster…of the 31 players on and it was their fewest allowed at home since May 29, 2016 vs. tonight’s active roster, only 13 were on it for the last meeting between NYY (1)…their only hit allowed was a solo homer by José Ramírez these two clubs…three were reinstated from the disabled list, four were leading off the 7th inn., snapping Blake Snell’s no-hit bid at 6 IP. acquired via trade and 11 were promoted from the minor leagues. Ê Since Aug 19, the Rays are 18-4 (.818), best winning pct. in the ma- Ê Only three players have been on the club’s active roster all season: jors over that span…they are 26-12 (.684) since the start of August, C.J. Cron, Sergio Romo and Jesús Sucre…only 15 of the 41 players tied with the Red Sox and Athletics for best in the majors. from last year’s season-ending active roster or disabled list remain Ê Since matching the worst 17-game start in franchise history (4-13), in the organization, and only three of the 36 players from the 2016 the Rays are 76-52 (.594), 6th-best winning pct. in the majors since season-ending roster or disabled list remain: Matt Duffy, Kevin Ki- April 18 behind the Red Sox, Astros, Yankees, Athletics and Cubs. ermaier and Blake Snell…Kiermaier is the only player who was on Ê The Rays have 80 wins this season, matching their most under the roster for Kevin Cash’s managerial debut in 2015. fourth-year Manager Kevin Cash (2015, 2017)…they are two wins shy of clinching their first winning record since 2013 (92-71) and ROSTER COMPARISON: TONIGHT’S ACTIVES & MAY 31 at OAK Ê would need to go 10-7 or better in the remaining 17 games for their Remaining on Active Roster (13): José Alvarado, C.J. Cron, Matt Duffy, Carlos sixth 90-win campaign in 11 seasons as the Rays. Gómez, Vidal Nuño, Chaz Roe, Sergio Romo, Mallex Smith, Blake Snell, Ryne Stanek, Jesús Sucre, Joey Wendle, Ryan Yarbrough DOME SWEET DOME—The Rays are 46-25 (.648) at home this season, 3rd Ê Reinstated from DL (3): Yonny Chirinos, Jake Faria, Kevin Kiermaier in the majors behind the Red Sox (52-20, .722) and Yankees (48-24, .667)… Ê Acquired via Trade (4): Jalen Beeks, Ji-Man Choi, Tyler Glasnow, Tommy Pham since Aug 9, the Rays are 13-1 at home, matching the best 14-game home Ê Promoted from Minors (11): Willy Adames, Jake Bauers, Diego Castillo, Nick stretch in club history…they have outscored opponents, 85-34, over these Ciuffo, Andrew Kittredge, Adam Kolarek, Brandon Lowe, Adam Moore, Jaime 14 games…their loss on Tues vs. CLE snapped a franchise-record 12-game Schultz, Andrew Velazquez, Hunter Wood home winning streak, longest in the majors since the 2016 Indians (13). PLAYOFF PUSH—Since going 2-4 against the White Sox (0-3) and Orioles Ê Since June 11, the Rays are 34-9 (.791) at home, best winning pct. in (2-1) over the final 6 games of a 9-game homestand from July 31–Aug 9, the majors over that span…before this, they were 12-16 at home. the Rays are a major-league-best 22-8 (.773), yet they have gained only Ê The Rays have 46 wins at home, their most since 2013 (51)…they two games on the Athletics (21-11) over that span…both the Rays and A’s have clinched a winning record at home for a second consecutive rank among major league leaders in several categories since then. season after going .500 or worse in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Ê The Rays have won in walk-off fashion nine times, most in the AL MAJOR LEAGUE RANKS SINCE AUGUST 10 and their most since 2013 (13)…they have hit five walk-off home PITCHING RAYS ATHLETICS BATTING RAYS ATHLETICS runs, most in the AL and tied for 2nd in the majors. Winning Pct. .733 (1st) .656 (T-3rd) Batting Avg. .275 (1st) .265 (4th) Ê Since May 26, the Rays have played 49 games at home: 37 wins, 10 ERA 2.70 (1st) 3.51 (7th) On-Base Pct. .345 (1st) .338 (4th) 1-run losses, and 2 losses by 2 runs or more. Starter ERA 2.96 (2nd) 4.02 (13th) Slugging Pct. .441 (5th) .470 (1st) Bullpen ERA 2.55 (2nd) 2.95 (3rd) Extra-Base Hits 100 (11th) 130 (1st) WHERE WE STAND—The Athletics Opp. Avg. .217 (1st) .227 (3rd) Runs/Game 4.87 (8th) 5.38 (2nd) lost last night, bringing the Rays to AL WILD CARD STANDINGS 8 GB of the second Wild Card with New York 90-56 (.616) +1.5 PITCHING PLANS—Tonight’s game will be started by Diego Castillo, the 17 games remaining…the Rays were Oakland 89-58 (.605) -- 46th time the Rays will use an opener and seventh time using Castillo in 7 GB at the end of play on Sep 4, but Tampa Bay 80-65 (.552) 8.0 that role…the Rays opened the season with bullpen days as needed in they haven’t been closer than that Seattle 80-66 (.548) 8.5 place of a traditional starter, and since May 19, they have used openers to to the second Wild Card since they start games—generally facing 3-9 batters, depending on matchups. were 6.5 GB of the Mariners through games of June 1…no other teams are Ê Since the debut of the opener on May 19 at LAA, Rays pitching between the A’s and Rays—Wednesday marked the first time all season ranks 2nd in the majors and 1st in the AL with a 3.32 ERA—before the Rays ended the night with a better record than the Mariners, and that, their 4.43 ERA was 22nd in the majors and 9th in the AL. they have gained 14 games on them since the start of play on June 17. Ê The Rays have a pitched to a AL-best 3.48 ERA in the 1st inning. Ê The Rays entered August only one game over .500 and 9 GB of the Ê The Rays are 42-36 with traditional starters and 38-29 otherwise. Mariners for the second Wild Card, and despite improving to 15 games over they have gained only one game on the second Wild REDEFINING RELIEF—55.7 pct. of the team’s innings pitched have been Card over that stretch…the Rays have a 0.8 pct. chance of making covered by the bullpen…the starters have thrown 574.1 IP, fewest in the the postseason according to Baseball Prospectus, a 0.2 pct. chance majors, and the relievers have thrown 721.1 IP, most in major league his- according to FanGraphs and 0.1 pct. chance per ESPN.com. tory, passing the 2012 Rockies (657.0)…the Rays bullpen is one of five in Ê The Rays are on pace for 89 wins, and since the second Wild Card major league history to reach 600 IP, and the previous four all finished was introduced in 2012 the only teams to win that many games with losing records…so far this season, Rays relievers have totaled: and miss the postseason are the 2013 Rangers (91, lost “Game 163” Ê 54 apps of at least 50 pitches and 26 apps of at least 70 pitches, both tiebreaker against the Rays), 2012 Angels (89) and 2012 Rays (90).