TAMPA BAY RAYS (7-11-0) Vs. ATLANTA BRAVES (10-8-0) LH Ryan Yarbrough (1-0, 0.00) Vs
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Press Box Documents › bit.ly/3f0l9jz TAMPA BAY RAYS (7-11-0) vs. ATLANTA BRAVES (10-8-0) LH Ryan Yarbrough (1-0, 0.00) vs. LH Max Fried (0-0, 2.25) Sunday, March 21, 2021 First Pitch: 1:05 p.m. Location: Charlotte Sports Park TV: None Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM/620 AM Spring Game No.: 19 vs. AL Opponents: 4-9-0 vs. NL Opponents: 3-2-0 Home Games: 5-3-0 Road Games: 2-8-0 Day 32 of Spring Training 11 Days Until Opening Day—Thursday, April 1 at Miami Marlins (4:10 p.m.) 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 Pitchers (Rays vs. Opp.) TV & Radio Sun., 3/21 vs. ATL 1:05 p.m. TB—LH Ryan Yarbrough, RH David Hess, LH Cody Reed, RH Hunter Strickland, LH Brian Moran, RH Stetson Allie, WDAE 95.3 FM RH Yacksel Rios; ATL—LH Max Fried, LH A.J. Minter, RH Carl Edwards Jr., RH Jacob Webb Mon., 3/22 vs. BOS 1:05 p.m. TB—RH Chris Ellis, LH Dietrich Enns, RH Nick Anderson, RH Stetson Allie; BOS—LH Eduardo Rodríguez FOX Sports Sun, MLB.com Tues., 3/23 at BAL 1:05 p.m. TB—RH Trevor Richards, LH Jeffrey Springs, RH Andrew Kittredge, RH Collin McHugh; BAL—RH César Valdez None Wed., 3/24 vs. MIN 1:05 p.m. TB—TBD; MIN—RH Michael Pineda, RH Tyler Duffey, LH Brandon Waddell, LH Andrew Albers FOX Sports Sun, MLB.com INCHING CLOSER—In less than two weeks, the Rays begin defending in the game…the system is led by INF Wander Franco, the consensus No. their third AL East title and second AL pennant, with a season-opening 1 overall prospect in the minors…he became the fourth player to rank as 6-game road trip to Miami (3) and Boston (3)…it marks the first time the Baseball America's top prospect in consecutive years, joining Bryce Harp- Rays open on the road since 2009, ending the AL’s longest current streak er (2011-12), Joe Mauer (2004-05) and Andruw Jones (1996-97). of Opening Day games at home…it is the first time the Rays face a NL opponent on Opening Day, after the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the SPRING THINGS—The Rays have lost back-to-back games on the heels Rays from opening the 2020 season against the Pirates…it will be the fifth of a 3-game winning streak…the Rays have dropped seven of their last time the Rays will face a club outside of the AL East on Opening Day. 10 games and nine of their last 13 after a 3-2 start…the Rays and Braves Ê The Rays begin a 7-game homestand on April 9 vs. NYY, the fifth are the only two Grapefruit League teams without a tie…the Rays haven't time the Rays host the Yankees in their home opener…seventeen gone an entire spring without a tie since MLBAM data is available (2006). of the Rays first 29 games of the season will be at Tropicana Field. Ê Yesterday the Rays lost their only night game of the spring, 2-1 in Ê Beginning with the home opener, the Rays have stretches of 13 Fort Myers (Twins)…their only run came on a Mike Brosseau hom- straight games, 30 games in 31 days, 36 games in 38 and 46 in 49. er in the 2nd inning, his third of the spring…RH Michael Wacha Ê Kevin Cash has announced Tyler Glasnow as the Opening Day started and allowed 1 hit over four scoreless innings…RH Diego starter, the first of his career…will be his fifth straight Opening Castillo allowed an unearned run in the 5th inning and RH Pete Day roster, fourth as part of a starting rotation…he started the Rays Fairbanks allowed the go-ahead run in the 6th and took the loss. fourth game in 2020, third game in 2019 and opened the 2018 sea- Ê The Rays offense ranks among Grapefruit League leaders in runs son in the Pirates bullpen after starting their sixth game in 2017. (84, tied for 4th), doubles (31, tied for 3rd), on-base pct. (.336, 5th) and slugging pct. (.427, 4th)…OF Austin Meadows is tied for 3rd in TWO DISTINCT ERAS—Since becoming the Rays in 2008, the Rays own the Grapefruit League with 4 HR, one shy of the co-leaders. the 5th-best record in baseball at 1,081-924 (.539) and have made six trips to the postseason, incl. three AL East division titles (2020, 2010, 2008) and RAYS vs. BRAVES—Today is the fourth of six Grapefruit League games two World Series appearances (2020, 2008)…during this span, only three against the Braves for the Battle of Tamiami Trail, which includes three at clubs (Dodgers, Yankees, Cardinals) have reached the postseason more home and three in North Port…the Rays are 1-2 so far, most recently a 8-7 often, and only two (Dodgers, Giants) have competed in more World Se- loss on March 14…last spring the Rays went 1-1-1 against the Braves and ries…the Rays have seven 90-win seasons since 2008, a number matched turned a 6-3-4 triple play against them…the two clubs met four times in by only three other teams in baseball: Dodgers (8), Red Sox (7) and Yan- the regular season, with the Rays going 2-0 at home and 0-2 in Atlanta. kees (7)…this success comes after the Devil Rays amassed the majors’ Ê The Rays nearly met the Braves in the World Series…both teams worst record at 645-972 (.399) over the club’s first decade of existence. went to a Game 7 in their League Championship Series, with the Ê The Rays enter the 2021 season on the heels of the second AL pen- Rays beating the Astros and the Braves losing to the Dodgers. nant in team history…in 2020, the Rays went 40-20 (.667), the best Ê The only series against the Braves in the 2021 regular season is winning pct. in club history…it was the fourth straight season they from July 16-18 at Truist Park, immediately following the All-Star improved their winning pct., all under Manager Kevin Cash. break…the 2021 All-Star Game will be held on Tuesday, July 13 in Atlanta…as the defending AL champions, the AL team will be led SINGLE-GAME TICKETS—The Rays have announced single-game ticket by Manager Kevin Cash and the Rays coaching staff. information for the first two homestands…tickets will be available in so- cially distant seating pods of up to six seats…to accommodate 6 feet of TODAY’S STARTER vs. ATL—LH Ryan Yarbrough (1-0, 0.00 ERA) separation between pods, the 300 Level of Tropicana Field will be re- Ê 2020: 1-4, 3.56 ERA (55.2-IP, 22-ER) in 11 apps (9 starts) opened, and the overall capacity will be limited to about 9,000 fans. Ê 2020 Postseason: 1-0, 3.68 ERA (14.2-IP, 6-ER) in 5 apps (2 starts) Ê Season members have access, based upon their tenure and mem- Ê His first 8 apps last season came from the starting rotation…missed bership level, to purchase tickets through an exclusive online pre- a start while on the 10-day IL for left groin tightness (Aug 29–Sep 6). sale…single-game tickets for the first two homestands will go on Ê Allowed 2 runs (or fewer) in seven of his 11 apps, including four sale to the general public on Friday, March 26, at 10 a.m. in the MLB scoreless outings, but yielded 4 runs (or more) in his other 4 apps. Ballpark app and at raysbaseball.com, subject to availability. Ê Ended the season winless in his last 17 starts, going 0-7 with a 4.72 Ê Fans will be asked to participate in health and safety measures by ERA (89.2-IP, 47-ER) during that stretch, which began in 2019…tied wearing face masks at all times, except while actively eating or the longest winless streak for a traditional starter in club history. drinking in their seats, and washing hands frequently. Ê Threw first-pitch strikes to 67.2 pct. of batters faced, and 68.4 pct. of his pitches were strikes, the 4th- and 5th-highest rates in the ma- ON THE WEB—The 2021 Rays Media Guide is now available at mlbpress- jors (min. 50 IP)…averaged 15.0 pitches per inn., 6th in the majors. box.com (login required), rayspressbox.com (using username rays\media Ê Batters had an avg. exit velocity of 82.6 mph, lowest in the majors. and password R@ys1998#) and bit.ly/3t73SkH (no login necessary). Ê His full bio is on Page 202 of the Rays 2021 Media Guide. SLICE OF GRAPEFRUIT—Last month, MLB released a revised, region- ON THE AIRWAVES—Today's game will air on WDAE 95.3 FM/620 AM, alized Grapefruit League schedule to mitigate travel…27 of the Rays 28 with Dave Wills and Andy Freed on the call…Dave and Andy are en- games are against the Braves (6), Orioles (3), Pirates (2), Red Sox (8) and tering their 17th season together; only the Giants and Tigers have lon- Twins (8)…the only exception is the final game—March 30 in Lakeland— ger-tenured full-season radio broadcast duos…Rays fans have enjoyed after the Rays move their major league operations to Tropicana Field.