For the first time in nearly a month, the Tampa Bay Rays have clinched a series. Now they’ll look for their first sweep of the season when they host the New York Mets in the series finale on Sunday.
The Rays won 3-1 in the second game of the series on Saturday. The victory gave Kevin Cash his 755th win as Tampa Bay manager, surpassing Joe Maddon for most in franchise history.
“They were pretty pumped,” Cash said. “We got a bunch of good guys. I am appreciative of all of them and guys from the past. It was a fun day.”
Tampa Bay went ahead in the eighth inning. Austin Shenton drew a walk with the bases loaded, scoring Richie Palacios and then Isaac Paredes was forced in when Jose Caballero drew a walk.
The Rays’ bullpen has been strong during the series. After starter Aaron Civale allowed seven runs through 4 2/3 innings in the opener, the four relievers who followed held the Mets to just one run — a home run in the ninth — on four hits the rest of the way.
On Saturday, Cash turned to his bullpen after six innings. The three relievers combined for three hitless innings to close the game.
Ryan Pepiot (3-2. 3.12 ERA) will get the start for Tampa Bay on Sunday. He’s allowed one run or fewer in four of his six starts this season. The 26-year-old will be facing the Mets for the first time in his career.
New York, meanwhile, enters the game looking to avoid being swept for the first time since their season-opening series against the Milwaukee Brewers.
After getting a strong outing from rookie Christian Scott in his major league debut on Saturday, Luis Severino (2-2, 2.31) will be on the mound to face Tampa Bay on Sunday. The right-hander didn’t allow a hit until the eighth inning in his last outing, a 3-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs on April 29. He’s 8-3 with a 3.33 ERA in 15 career games (11 starts) against the Rays.
“He was great,” reliever Adam Ottavino said of Scott. “It’s just disappointing we weren’t able to win for him.”
The Mets took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Starling Marte’s single drove in Brandon Nimmo, who led off with a double.
They were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position on Saturday, stranding eight on base. In the opener on Friday, they were 4-for-7 while leaving three on base.
Nimmo has gone 1-for-4 with one run scored in each of the first two games of the series. He was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a walk in the finale against the Cubs on Thursday.
“I just keep telling myself, and I just keep telling some of the guys around me, that I’m going to get hot as a firecracker here pretty soon,” Nimmo said. “It’s building up. But day after day, it gets more and more frustrating.”
New York has lost nine of its past 13 games since winning six in a row to drop below .500 for the first time since April 14.
–Field Level Media