The Tampa Bay Rays head back south but will stay on the road as they travel to Miami to take on the Marlins. The Rays continue to battle Toronto, Seattle and Baltimore for one of the three available American League wildcard spots this season. Miami, on the other hand, is far removed from the playoff picture and is forced to play the role of spoiler for the rest of the season. On the mound on Tuesday night will be left-hander Shane McClanahan (11-5, 2.20) of the Rays taking on fellow lefty Jesus Luzardo (3-5, 3.34) of the Marlins. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40pm EST.
The Rays undoubtedly welcomed the day off on Monday after a tough weekend visit to Boston. Riding high off a 7-1 home stand, including six-straight wins, the Rays were upended in each of the first two games in Boston over the weekend. On Sunday, thanks to a 17-hit attack, the Rays upended Boston 12-4. Isaac Parades homered twice, Randy Arozarena had three doubles and the slumping David Peralta came alive with three hits including two RBI doubles in the win. The Rays ended the weekend atop the wildcard standings, just a 1/2 game ahead of the Mariners.
Everyone contributed today on our way to a season-high#RaysUp
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) August 28, 2022
Sunday's hitting explosion came at a great time for a Tampa Bay team that has been greatly reliant on their pitching for the better part of the last month. In the last twenty games, the Rays are 20-7 as they have combined quality pitching with improved offense. In that 20 game span, the Rays are hitting .244 but, more impressively, have averaged 5.3 runs in that time. The Rays will send their ace to the hill on Tuesday night as Shane McClanahan toes the rubber to set the tone for the series. McClanahan leads the Rays in nearly every viable category including wins, innings, quality starts, strikeouts and ERA. In his last five starts, McClanahan is 1-2 with a 3.94 ERA while allowing 26 hits in 29.2 innings. In those five outings, McClanahan's strikeouts per nine has dipped to 8.49 compared with his season average of 11.1.