This Saturday the (85-71) Tampa Bay Rays and the (102-54) Houston Astros will play game two of this three-game series. The first pitch will be thrown out at 7:20 PM EST inside Minute Maid Park. The last time that these two teams matched up, the Houston Astros ended up sweeping the Rays.
The Tampa Bay Rays will be coming into this game after losing their previous series to the Cleveland Guardians. Tampa struggled at the dish in the final two games, as they only scored two combined runs to end the series. They will have to warm up at the plate if they want to challenge the Astros on the road.
The Houston Astros are entering this one after splitting a short two-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Astors looked great at the plate in game one, as they scored 10 runs. They stunk in game two, though. Houston only scored two runs to finish that series. They will need to heat up at the dish if they want to get the job done in this one.
This game was written/published before last night's results.
The Tampa Bay Rays are currently in third place in the AL East, as they trail the first-place New York Yankees by 11.5 games. The Rays are 4-6 in their last 10, as they started to slide in the wrong direction. They are also still holding on to the second AL Wild Card spot, as they have a .5 game lead over the Seattle Mariners.
At the plate, the Rays are scoring 4.22 runs per game and they are hitting .241 as a team. This is the 21st most runs scored per game and the 17th highest overall team batting average. They have struggled to consistently reach base safely this season and they have had issues when there are men in scoring position. The Rays have also realized that they don't have very much power inside of their lineup. Tampa Bay is only hitting .87 bombs per game, which is the 26th most in the league. I would watch for Randy Arozarena, as he leads the team with 20 home runs this season. I would expect the Ray s to stay aggressive once they have reached base safely, as well. They have already taken 95 bases this season, which is the ninth most. They have a ton of speed inside of their lineup.
According to MLB.com, the Rays will be starting Shane McClanahan on the mound, as he is 12-7 with a 2.51 ERA and a .92 WHIP. Reaching base consistently has been a real struggle for his opponents this season. He is also 3-2 on the road this season, with a 1.94 ERA. In his last start, he pitched for 5.0 innings, but he gave up six hits and four earned runs to the Blue Jays. Tampa Bay's bullpen has also allowed the sixth least amount of runs per game. As a team, the Rays are only allowing 3.82 runs per game, which is the sixth least in the MLB.