With three straight wins and their first series sweep of the season, the Tampa Bay Rays look to keep the good times rolling when they host the Chicago White Sox in the opener of a three-game set on Monday.
The Rays rallied for a 7-6 win against the Mets on Sunday. Jonny DeLuca delivered the walk-off victory with a two-run triple in the 10th inning and finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
DeLuca made his Tampa Bay debut Friday after being out with a broken hand sustained when he was hit by a pitch on March 10. In three games, he is 3-for-11 with two runs, two steals and six RBIs.
“He was a guy that we really were excited about in spring training when he broke the hand,” manager Kevin Cash said. “… We talk about guys that are like baseball players, he certainly presents that. He’s going to go up and have good at-bats, he’s going to steal a base when he needs to, he’s going to do a lot of things to help you win.”
Tampa Bay’s offense came alive against the Mets, scoring 20 runs after managing just six in their previous four games combined. Prior to the series, the team had lost eight of 10 games.
“We’ve been struggling a little bit,” Randy Arozarena, whose solo home run with two outs in the ninth forced extra innings, said through a translator. “It’s good to come out and work hard and stay positive out there. And as you can see, the team really needed it.”
Now the Rays aim to avenge being swept by the White Sox as they were a week ago, a three-game series in which Chicago outscored them 21-13.
While Tampa Bay not officials have not announced their starting pitcher for Monday, Tyler Alexander (1-1, 5.02 ERA) is expected to be on the mound, either as a starter or following an opener. The left-hander is 1-5 with a 4.52 ERA in 19 career appearances (nine starts) against the White Sox.
Chicago arrives in Tampa Bay fresh off a series win against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Eloy Jimenez broke a 1-1 tie with a home run to lead off the seventh inning. The blast ignited a four-run burst that carried the White Sox to a 5-1 triumph.
His four home runs lead the team.
“If you see back at home and in Minnesota, they were pitching me away and I was unavailable to hit that ball,” Jimenez said. “So to stay that way, that was in ’19, too, the most homers I hit and pretty much all my homers went to the other side. So hitting the ball that way means I’m getting better.”
Despite winning two straight, the White Sox remain tied for last overall in wins in the majors with eight. Their run differential is the worst at minus-82, and they were outscored 19-12 in three losses to the Minnesota Twins before the series in St. Louis.
Sunday’s win against was also just the second time Chicago won a game by more than two runs. The other was its 9-4 victory in the series opener against the Rays on April 26.
While the White Sox had not confirmed who Monday’s starting pitcher will be, indications were that Mike Clevinger could make his season debut. Clevinger, who was 9-9 with a 3.77 ERA in 24 starts for the White Sox last season, re-signed with the team in early April.
In three appearances against the Rays, two as a starter, Clevinger is 1-0 with a 1.46 ERA and 18 strikeouts covering 12 1/3 innings. The most recent of those appearances was a start on April 30, 2023, when he took a no-decision after allowing two runs on seven hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in five innings.
–Field Level Media