Tampa Bay Rays Right-Hander Drew Rasmussen will put his scoreless innings streak on Tuesday when he takes the hill for the opener of his team of a three-game series against the visiting Texas Rangers.
Rasmussen (4-4, 2.33 ERA) expanded his winning series to three games and scoreless run to 18 innings after allowing only a lead-off single in the first of the 5-0 win of Tampa Bay on the Minnesota Twins last Wednesday. He has only delivered nine hits combined during his last three starts.
“He was pretty dominant (versus the twins),” said Rays manager Kevin Cash about Rasmussen. “… he really performs pitches at a very high level over his last handful start.”
Rasmussen, 29, allowed one point on three hits in a no-decision against Texas on April 6. He is 0-1 with an ERA of 6.75 in two career meetings with the Rangers.
Just like Rasmussen, Texas Right-Hander Tyler Mahle (5-2, 1.64) comes from a performance in which he threw six scoreless innings.
Mahle, who allowed four hits on Wednesday in a no decision against the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday, gets the start when the Rangers open a road trip of nine games.
He also recorded a scoreless outing in his lonely career start versus Tampa Bay, with only one hit and switching five batters over five innings on April 4.
Mahle will come across a Tampa Bay attack that has been called and has been cold for the past four games.
The rays broke out for 13 points in the opener of their four-game series against the Houston Astros on Thursday, but only one in three hits in the Rematch. Tampa Bay housed the attack with 16 points on a season-high 18 hit-including five gay-on Saturday, but limited to two hits in a 1-0 shutout loss the next day.
Brandon Lowe saw his career-high 13-game stroke streak come to a halt in Sunday’s setback. The loss was only the third in the last 12 games for the Rays.
The Rangers, in turn, have answered a season-high six-game skid through alternating victories and losing during their last seven. They provided an 8-1 win over St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday and marked the first series of Texas since 12-14 May when it wiped the sad Colorado Rockies.
Josh Smith corresponded to his career-high RBI total on Sunday with four after beating a two-run double in the second inning and a two-run Homer in the eighth. Smith, who also achieved a double to distract the first inning, only had four extra basehits in the entire month of May.
Marcus Semien reached a base four times for a Rangers attack that only hits the season. Texas only leads the Chicago White Sox (.221) and Rockies (.217) in that respect to Monday’s matches.
“We want to be a complete violation,” Semien said, according to the Dallas Morning News. “We have guys who can run, we have boys who can bump. We always talk about guys with power, but it doesn’t seem like the ball wears so much (home), so we have to find ways to score.”
-Field level Media
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