Tampa Bay will be looking to build off its win over Toronto when it travels to Detroit on Thursday night. The Rays snapped a two-game losing streak with Wednesday afternoon’s 3-2 win. Detroit has lost four of its last five games, including a 4-1 setback against Minnesota on Wednesday.
Tampa Bay put together a solid first half of the season, going 51-41. The Rays have really struggled to get the wheels turning since returning from the All-Star break though, losing eight of their 12 games. They dropped two out of three against Kansas City and three out of four at Baltimore to get things started. Their poor form continued when they lost two out of three against Cleveland last weekend. They were able to pick up a split in a two-game series against Toronto earlier this week, notching a 3-2 win on Wednesday. Tampa Bay is in third place in the American League East, trailing New York by 14 games for first place.
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— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) August 3, 2022
The Rays will be battling for one of the AL Wild Card spots, as they are currently one game ahead of Cleveland for the third and final playoff position. They have not been a great offensive team this season, ranked No. 21 in batting average (.238). Tampa Bay will be facing a Detroit pitching staff that is No. 20 in ERA (4.04). Left-handed pitcher Jeffrey Springs is going to be on the mound for the Rays on Thursday. He allowed three runs on six hits and one walk across five innings against Cleveland his last time out. Springs has gone winless over his last five starts, posting a 5.32 ERA during that stretch. He is 3-3 with a 2.70 ERA and 77 strikeouts overall this season.