The Tampa Bay Rays will look for a fifth consecutive win overall and their 11th consecutive victory against the Cleveland Indians Saturday. The Rays will have a bullpen day on the mound starting with right-hander Drew Rasmussen (0-0, 4.97 ERA with Tampa Bay), taking on J.C. Mejia (1-5, 7.13 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10.
Rays Starting Lineup
Lowe 2B
Choi 1B
Cruz DH
Meadows LF
Wendle 3B
Franco SS
Kiermaier CF
Zunino C
Phillips RF
Indians Starting Lineup
Hernandez 2B
Rosario SS
J. Ramirez 3B
Reyes DH
Bradley 1B
H. Ramirez LF
Johnson RF
Hedges C
Zimmer CF
Poppen Called Up For Bullpen Day
To help with the bullpen day Saturday, the Rays recalled reliever Sean Poppen from Triple-A Durham for his first stint with the big-league club since being acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates May 18.
Poppen made three appearances with Pittsburgh earlier this season, amassing no record and a 7.71 earned run average. In 17 appearances with the Durham Bulls, Poppen has gone 2-3 with a 1.37 ERA.
To make room on the active roster for Poppen, infielder Taylor Walls was optioned to Durham.
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.
