Following a day off on Monday, the Tampa Bay Rays begin a nine-game home stand this evening with the first of three contests against the New York Yankees. Lefty Shane McClanahan (4-3, 3.88 ERA) will get the start, taking on Jordan Montgomery (3-5, 3.96 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10.
Rays Starting Lineup
Margot RF
Franco SS
Cruz DH
Diaz 3B
Choi 1B
Arozarena LF
Lowe 2B
Zunino C
Kiermaier CF
Yankees Starting Lineup
LeMahieu 1B
Judge RF
Sanchez C
Stanton DH
Torres SS
Odor 2B
Urshela 3B
LaMarre LF
Allen CF
Rays Activate Margot Before Series
As expected, the Tampa Bay Rays activated outfielder Manuel Margot from the 10-day injured list before Tuesday’s contest.
Margot suffered a hamstring injury on July 6 while beating out a ninth-inning infield single against the Cleveland Indians, a game which the Rays would come back and win in the inning in part because of that play. In 76 games this season, Margot has a slash line of .252/.297/.404 with nine home runs and 44 RBI.
To make room for Margot, Tampa Bay optioned reliever Sean Poppen to Triple-A Durham on Monday.
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
