The Cleveland Guardians travel to Tampa Bay on Friday night to take on the Rays in a weekend set. The Guardians continue their chase of the first-place Twins in the AL Central Division and find themselves within two games of the top spot. The Rays are third in the AL East behind the red-hot Blue Jays and the front-running Yankees. The pitching matchup on Friday night will feature righty Shane Bieber (4-6, 3.55) of the Guardians taking on lefty Jeffrey Springs (3-2, 2.50) of the Rays. The first pitch is scheduled for 710pm EST.
The Cleveland Guardians continue to defy the odds and remain very much in the AL Central Division race as the season pushes towards the trade deadline. On Wednesday night in Boston, the Guardians came from behind to win their second straight over the Red Sox 7-6. Josh Naylor homered in the 9th to put the Guardians ahead to stay. On Thursday night, in the series finale, the Guardians bats were kept quiet by Red Sox pitching in a 4-2 Sox win. Cleveland had just five hits on the night to all an additional half game behind idle Minnesota in the AL Central Division race.
Josh Naylor is honored to do what he does, and he does it with his whole heart. ??#ForTheLand | @CleGuardians pic.twitter.com/ye5dUmAnTY
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) July 28, 2022
The Guardians are 6-4 in their last ten games and are inching closer to the top spot in the AL Central. The bats are doing the damage during this stretch, hitting .308 in the last ten games. The Guardians are averaging 5.8 runs during this stretch and have belted 11 home runs. On the mound on Friday night will be Guardians' ace Shane Beiber. Beiber leads the team in innings pitched, quality starts and strikeouts this season as he continues his comeback from a season-ending injury in 2021. In July, Beiber is just 1-2 with an ERA of 5.23. In between two poor starts in the month, Beiber pitched a complete-game 3-hitter against the White Sox.