TAMPA BAY RAYS (80-66) vs. OAKLAND ATHLETICS (90-58) RH Ryne Stanek (2-3, 2.58) vs. RH Liam Hendriks (0-1, 5.94) Saturday, September 15, 2018 First Pitch: 6:10 p.m. Location: Tropicana Field TV: FOX Sports Sun Radio: WDAE 620 AM, WLCC 760 AM (Sp.) Game No.: 147 (80-66) Home Game No.: 73 (46-26) All-Time Game No.: 3,385 (1580-1804) All-Time Home Game No.: 1,694 (868-825) March: 1-2 April: 12-12 May: 15-13 June: 13-14 July: 13-12 August: 17-10 September: 9-3 Pre-ASB: 49-47 Post-ASB: 31-19 UPCOMING PROBABLE PITCHERS & BROADCAST SCHEDULE Upcoming Games Time (ET) Probable Starting Pitchers (Rays vs. Opp.) TV & Radio 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—Last night the Rays allowed a 10th-inning, solo homer to (1)…in these 12 starts, he is 9-2 with a 2.00 ERA (72-IP, 16-ER), including 8 Khris Davis to fall to 9 GB of the Athletics for the AL’s second Wild Card starts allowing 1 run or fewer and three scoreless starts. with 16 games remaining…any combination of seven A’s wins or Rays losses will eliminate the club from postseason contention…the homer PITCHING PLANS—Tonight’s game will be started by Ryne Stanek, the was one of only 3 hits allowed by the Rays, and first since the 4th inn. 47th time the Rays will use an opener and 26th time using Stanek in Ê The Rays have lost two of their last 3 games, but they are 9-3 in that role…the Rays opened the season with bullpen days as needed in their last 12 games, outscoring opponents, 67-38, over that span… place of a traditional starter, and since May 19, they have used openers to they are 18-5 (.783) since Aug 19, best winning pct. in the majors start games—generally facing 3-9 batters, depending on matchups. since then, and 31-19 (.620) since the All-Star break, 3rd in the ma- Ê In March, the Rays announced a season-opening rotation of Chris jors behind the Athletics (35-16, .686) and Red Sox (33-17, .660). Archer, Blake Snell, Nathan Eovaldi and Jake Faria…all four pitch- Ê The Rays are 76-53 (.589) following a 4-13 start to the season. ers spent time on the disabled list and two were traded in July…the Ê At 80-66, the Rays are two wins shy of clinching their first winning Rays have used other starters in 80 of 146 games (54.8 pct.). record since 2013 (92-71), and they would need to finish the season Ê Since the debut of the opener on May 19 at LAA, Rays pitching 10-6 or better for their sixth 90-win campaign in 11 seasons as the ranks 2nd in the majors and 1st in the AL with a 3.30 ERA—before Rays…their 80 wins tie their most under Manager Kevin Cash. that, their 4.43 ERA was 22nd in the majors and 9th in the AL. Ê The Rays have a pitched to a AL-best 3.45 ERA in the 1st inning. DOME SWEET DOME—The Rays are 46-26 (.639) at home this season, tied Ê The Rays are 42-36 with traditional starters and 38-30 otherwise. for 3rd in the majors behind the Red Sox (52-21, .712) and Yankees (49-24, .671)…this winning pct. is currently 3rd for a single season in franchise REDEFINING RELIEF—55.9 pct. of the team’s innings pitched have been history behind 2008 (57-24, .704) and 2009 (52-29, .642)…they are 13-2 in covered by the bullpen…the starters have thrown 576.1 IP, fewest in the their last 15 games and 34-10 in their last 44 games after a 12-16 start. majors, and the relievers have thrown 729.1 IP, most in major league his- Ê The Rays have won in walk-off fashion nine times, most in the AL tory, passing the 2012 Rockies (657.0)…the Rays bullpen is one of five in and tied for 3rd in the majors behind the Cardinals (10) and Brew- major league history to reach 600 IP, and the previous four all finished ers (10)…this is their most since a club-record-tying 13 walk-off with losing records…so far this season, Rays relievers have totaled: wins in 2013…their five walk-off home runs are most in the AL and Ê 54 apps of at least 50 pitches and 26 apps of at least 70 pitches, both 2nd-most for a single season in franchise history behind 2011 (7). the most since Baseball Reference data is available (1908); Ê Since May 26, the Rays have played 50 games at home: 37 wins, 11 Ê 81 decisions, most since Baseball Reference data is available; 1-run losses, and 2 losses by 2 runs or more. Ê 130 apps of at least 2 IP, most since the 1992 Royals (137); Ê 63 apps of at least 3 IP, most since the 1987 Angels (73); CLOSE SHAVES—Last night was only the fourth time in their last 28 Ê 41 apps of at least 4 IP, most since the 1924 Cardinals (41); games the Rays played a game decided by 1 run, and it was their first Ê 29 apps of at least 5 IP, most since the 1924 Phillies (30) 1-run loss since Aug 12 at TOR…in comparison, 50 of the club’s first 118 games (42.4 pct.) of the season were decided by 1-run margins…the Rays CHANGE IN APPROACH—The Rays have totaled 133 HR this season, are 25-29 (.463) in 1-run games, leading the majors in 1-run losses, while 4th-fewest in the majors, and are on pace for 147 HR, which would be 81 their 54 1-run games are 2nd in the majors behind the Mariners (55)…the HR fewer than their club-record 228 HR last season…they have won 26 single-season club records are 56 1-run games and 30 1-run losses. games this season without the benefit of a home run, most in the majors, Ê Last night was the 14th time this season the Rays lost when allow- and they are 29-6 (.823) when hitting multiple homers in a game. ing 2 runs or fewer, most in the majors ahead of the Pirates (11) and Ê The Rays rank 4th in the majors with 108 SB to the Indians (121), extending the single-season club record over 2012 (12)…it was the Red Sox (115) and Brewers (115), and their most since 2012 (134). 23rd time they lost when yielding 3 runs or fewer, most in the ma- Ê The Rays have only three players with double-digit homers, fewest jors and one shy of tying the single-season club record (24, 2014). in the majors…the Blue Jays, Dodgers and Yankees lead the majors with 10 players in double digits…the Rays have never finished a RAYS vs. ATHLETICS—The Rays are 3-2 against the Athletics this season season with fewer than four players with 10+ homers. (0-1 at home, 3-1 on the road), and three of the 5 games have been decided by 1-run margins…the Rays are 8-4 over the last two seasons against the CHANGES IN RAYS OFFENSE OVER 2017-18 SEASONS Athletics after going 2-5 in 2016…dating back to July 22, 2016 at OAK, 2017 2018 Change Improvement 10 of the 15 games between the clubs have been decided by 1 run…the SO/PA Ratio 25.0% 22.6% -2.4% 1st Rays entered this series having won three straight series over them for Batting Avg. .245 .257 +.012 1st the first time since Aug 23, 2007–Aug 14, 2008 (4)…all-time, the Rays are On-Base Pct. .317 .330 +.013 1st 71-105 (.403), their 2nd-worst winning pct. against any AL opponent. Avg. with RISP .227 .250 +.023 3rd HR/Game 1.41 0.91 -0.50 30th PITCHING PROPERLY—The Rays have yielded only 2 runs and 4 hits Runs via HR 48.0% 32.5% -15.5% 30th over their last 2 games, and it marks the second time this season they have allowed 3 hits or fewer in consecutive games, following June 25- PHAM-LY MATTERS—Tommy Pham 26 vs. WAS…the Rays have yielded 2 runs or fewer in three straight is batting .391 (27-for-69) over his 17- LONGEST HITTING STREAKS, games, matching their 2nd-longest such streak of the season behind June game hitting streak, the longest active FRANCHISE HISTORY 25–July 1 vs. WAS/HOU (6)…despite trading four veteran pitchers in the in the majors and two shy of tying the Jason Bartlett, 2009 19 week leading up to MLB’s non-waiver trade deadline, the Rays lead the club record…his .319 avg. with the Rays Wilson Ramos, 2018 18 majors with a 2.84 ERA (346-IP, 109-ER) since the beginning of August. is higher than any other player (min. Quinton McCracken, 1998 18 Ê Overall, the Rays rank 3rd in the majors with a 3.63 ERA, behind 100 PA) traded in the week leading up Tommy Pham, 2018 17 the Astros (3.11) and Dodgers (3.44)…only three times have the to the non-waiver trade deadline—clos- Aubrey Huff, 2002 17 Rays finished a season with a lower ERA: 2011, 2012 and 2014.