The Rays find themselves in salvage mode Thursday, needing a win to avoid being swept in a three-game series by the New York Yankees. Luis Patino (1-2, 5.26 ERA) will get the start, taking on Gerrit Cole (10-5, 2.74 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:10.
Rays Starting Lineup
Lowe 2B
Choi 1B
Diaz 3B
Meadows DH
Arozarena LF
Franco SS
Kiermaier CF
Zunino C
Phillips RF
Yankees Starting Lineup
LeMahieu 1B
Judge RF
Odor 2B
Stanton DH
Torres SS
Urshela 3B
Gardner LF
Higashioka C
Allen CF
Starting Rotation Not Quite Finalized For Series Against Boston
The Rays will open a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox Friday, but have not quite finalized their starting pitching rotation through the weekend.
The team has announced that LHP Josh Fleming will work the bulk of the game in Friday night’s opener, but it has not been determined if he’ll start or work behind an opener.
Thee weekend’s starting pitching matchups look as follows:
Friday – Opener or Fleming (7-5, 4.07 ERA) vs LHP Martin Perez (7-6, 4.18 ERA)
Saturday – LHP Ryan Yarbrough (6-4, 4.38 ERA) vs RHP Nathan Eovaldi (9-5, 3.49 ERA)
Sunday – LHP Shane McClanahan (4-4, 3.93 ERA) vs RHP Nick Pivetta (8-4, 4.51 ERA)
Fairbanks Sidelined With Shoulder Issue
The Rays also put reliever Pete Fairbanks on the 10-day injured list Thursday with right shoulder inflammation, after the reliever left Wednesday’s loss in the tenth inning due to the issue. Reliever Chris Mazza was recalled from Triple-A Durham to take his place on the actice roster.
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.
