THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2017 vs. BOSTON RED SOX RH Jake Faria (3-0, 2.23) vs. LH Chris Sale (11-3, 2.61) First Pitch: 7:10 p.m. | Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Fla. | TV: Fox Sports Sun | Radio: WDAE 620 AM, WGES 680 AM (Sp.) Game No.: 87 (44-42) | Home Game No.: 43 (24-18) | All-Time Game No.: 3,163 (1,464-1,698) | All-Time Home Game No.: 1,583 (804-778) April: 12-14 | May: 17-13 | June: 13-13 | July: 2-2 WEEKEND FUN—When gates open prior to Saturday’s game, the first SEVERE SPLITS—The Rays are facing four left-handed starters—Jon 15,000 fans will receive an Evan Longoria Game of Thrones® Bobblehead Lester, Chris Sale, Drew Pomeranz, David Price—in their 6 games lead- as part of Major League Baseball’s partnership with HBO’s fantasy drama… ing up to the All-Star break…this follows a stretch of facing 10 consecu- on Sunday, kids 14 and under will receive a Rays Toy Truck presented by tive right-handed starters…the Rays are 34-26 (.567) vs. RH starters, 3rd- W.B. Mason…immediately following the game, Lauren Alaina will take the best record in the AL behind the Astros (44-17, .721) and Red Sox (40-28, stage as the Rays second postgame concert of the season.…Rays post- .588)…they are 10-16 (.385) vs. LH starters, 2nd-worst record in the AL game concerts are free with the purchase of that game’s ticket…giveaways ahead of Toronto (7-15, .318). available while supplies last. RAY-KING RAYS—The Rays have hit 129 HR, RAYS OFFENSE McKAY VISITS TOMORROW—The Rays top selection from the 2017 June 3rd in the AL and 4th in the majors…they have A.L. RANKS Draft, LH/1B Brendan McKay, will visit Tropicana Field tomorrow and will hit 25 HR in the last 15 games, 41 in the last 25 415 runs 5th be available to media on the field during Rays BP…McKay, the draft’s No. 4 games, and 80 in the last 46 games…last year they 759 hits 5th overall selection out of the University of Louisville, was the consensus 2017 knocked a club-record 216 HR; this year they are 19 3B 1st College Player of the Year and officially signed with the Rays on June 27. on pace to eclipse that mark by 27 (243)…the 1997 129 HR 3rd Mariners hold the major league record of 264 HR, 279 XBH 4th RAY MATTER—The Rays return home for a 4-game series vs. the Red Sox led by Ken Griffey Jr. (56)…through 86 games, 1,315 TB 2nd leading into the All-Star break…they went 4-4 on the 8-game, 10-day road their 129 HR are most in club history (prev. 117 in .445 SLG 3rd .775 OPS 3rd trip (1-2 at PIT, 2-1 at BAL, 1-1 at CHC), ending with a 7-3 loss at Wrigley 2016), while their 415 runs scored are their most 310 BB 3rd Field yesterday afternoon…LH Blake Snell tossed 5 scoreless innings and since 2010 (434)…the Rays have outscored oppo- 836 SO 1st exited in line for his first win of the season, handing a 3-0 lead over to the nents 278-198 (+80) in innings 1-thru-5, but have bullpen…RH Erasmo Ramirez (1-IP, 4-R/ER), LH Adam Kolarek (1-IP, been outscored 202-137 after that (-65). 1-R/ER) and RH Chase Whitley (1-IP, 2-R/ER) combined to allow 7 runs, Ê The Rays lead the majors with 11 back-to-back home runs, a club most by the Rays bullpen since May 30 at TEX (7)…it was the 27th game record…no other team has more than 7 this year (Nationals)…since the Rays have lost this season after holding a lead, most in the AL and one the All-Star Game was born in 1933, the Rays are just the seventh shy of Milwaukee for most in the majors. club to hit 11 back-to-back homers before the All-Star break, joining Ê Beginning with the last series the Rays played against Boston (won 2 the 1977 Red Sox (13), 2000 White Sox (13), 2000 Cardinals (13), of 3, May 12-14 at BOS), the Rays are 9-3-4 over their last 16 series. 1996 Mariners (12), 2001 Rangers (11) and 2016 Nationals (11)…3+ Ê The Rays, Cubs and Angels are the only three teams in baseball that consecutive homers counts as one occurrence. have remained within 4 games of .500 (above or below) all season. Ê The Rays already have 15 HR (T-4th in majors) and 50 RBI (T-4th in Ê In extra innings, the Rays are 6-3 and have won 5 straight. majors) from their catchers this season, compared to 18 HR and 55 RBI (4th fewest in majors) last season…from 2008-16, the Rays ranked last BEST POSITION SINCE 2013—At 44-42, the Rays hold their best record in the majors with 512 RBI from their catchers, and Rays catchers have through 86 games since 2013 (46-40), when they made their last postsea- ranked among the majors’ bottom 10 in RBI for each of the last 8 years. son entrance as the AL Wild Card entry…the Rays have been in third place in the AL East for 25 consecutive days after spending only one day of the THE MALLEX EFFECT—Yesterday CF Mallex Smith went 4-for-4 with a previous eight weeks in third (end of play May 20)…the Rays and Twins double, 3 runs and a stolen base…the 4 hits set a career high, and the 3 are 1.0 game behind the Royals for the second AL Wild Card position…the runs scored tied a career high (also June 9 vs. OAK)…it was the seventh Rays need to at least split this series to reach the All-Star break with a win- 4-hit (or more) game by a Ray this season, already matching the season ning record for the eighth time in 10 seasons of the Rays era (since 2008). total in both 2016 and 2015. RAYS vs. RED SOX—This is Boston’s first visit to St. Pete this season, FINAL VOTE ENDS TODAY—Today at 4 p.m., voting will end for the Esur- coming in the Rays 87th game…only once has Boston waited longer to ance Final Vote, with 1B Logan Morrison one of five AL candidates…win- make their first trek to St. Petersburg: July 27, 2007…last year they didn’t ners will be announced live on MLB Tonight at 6 p.m. on MLB Network and come down until June 27, the Rays 75th game…the Rays are 3-4 this sea- MLB.com…any tweet containing the hashtag #GoLoMo between 10 a.m.–4 son vs. Boston, all at Fenway Park, including an 11-2 rout in the last game p.m. today counts toward Morrison’s Final Vote totals…Morrison is attempt- (May 14)…Rays have lost 8 of the last 11 meetings dating back to 2016… ing to join Longoria (2008) as the only Rays to win the Final Vote…other Rays the Rays went 7-12 in the 2016 season series (4-6 at home, 3-6 at Fenway who made the Final Vote: Longoria (2016), Ben Zobrist (2011), Carlos Peña Park), only the second time they lost the season series in the Rays era (2009; named All-Star to replace BOS Dustin Pedroia) and Crawford (2005). (since 2008), also going 7-12 in 2013…Tampa Bay is 88-85 (.509) vs. Bos- Ê Morrison has reached base in 25 consecutive games, the longest ton since becoming the Rays in 2008. streak by a Ray since James Loney (25) in July–Aug 2014…the last Ray with a longer streak was Evan Longoria (34, 2012-13)…Mor- FARIA, FELIX…AND NO ONE ELSE—Tonight’s starter, RH Jake Faria, rison’s career high is 42 (2010 with Marlins), and his last streak of this has totaled 35 SO and 5 BB over the first 5 starts of his career, putting length came in 2013 (26 with Marlins). him in some elite company…according to Stats LLC, only one other pitcher Ê Morrison has a career-high 24 HR, tied for 4th in the majors…over since data is available (1913) has began his career with 5 starts (no relief the past three years (2014-16), only one of the 13 players who hit apps in between), totaling at least 35 SO and 5 BB or fewer: SEA Félix at least 24 HR before the All-Star break was not named an All-Star: Hernández (38-SO, 5-BB) in 2005…in June—the first month of his ca- CWS Todd Frazier (24) in 2016. reer—Faria’s 7.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranked 3rd in the majors, trailing only CLE Corey Kluber (9.14) and BOS Chris Sale (9.00)…he also led all MIAMI-BOUND—OF/DH Corey Dickerson was selected by fans to be the major league rookie pitchers in June with a 35 SO and a 2.23 ERA. starting DH for the American League in Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Miami… Ê Faria has pitched 6 IP or more in each of his first 5 starts, including he will become the fourth Rays player to start an All-Star Game, with all 6.2 last night, breaking the club record set by RH Jeremy Hellick- three previous starters coming in 2010 at Angel Stadium: 3B Evan Longo- son (first 4 in 2010)…all 5 of his starts have been quality starts, as ria (won fan vote), LF Carl Crawford (won fan vote) and LH David Price well (6 IP or more, 3 ER or fewer), the longest such streak by a Ray (named starter by manager)…Longoria (2009) and DH José Canseco this season…since the start of 2013, only two other pitchers have (1999) were also elected starters but did not play.