GameDay Preview: Padres Pitcher Blake Snell Takes on Former Team in Showdown With Rays

Blake Snell spent his first five years in the big leagues with the Tampa Bay Rays, but was traded to San Diego after the 2020 World Series. On Saturday night he pitches against his former team for the first time when the Rays and Padres hook up in San Diego. Here's our gameday preview, with a breakdown on the game, starting lineups and TV information.

Updated 6:30 p.m. ET

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Blake Snell made a name for himself — a big name — as a starting pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays during his five years there. He made 108 starts from 2016 through 2020, winning the American League Cy Young Award in 2018 and helping the Rays reach the World Series in 2020.

On Saturday night, he pitches against the Rays for the first time. Snell, who was traded to San Diego after that World Series, will start for the Padres when they take on Zach Eflin and the Rays at 7 p.m. ET. 

Snell struggled out of the gate this year — as did most of his San Diego teammates — and the Padres have won only three of his 11 starts. It hasn't all been his fault, though. He's 2-6 with a 3.78 earned run average, which looks bad, but in his last four starts he's pitched 24 innings and allowed only two earned runs total. For his efforts, he got only one win.

The Rays are 51-22 on the season and have the best record in baseball. Has Snell noticed? Of course he has. He's still friendly with many Rays players, and spent a lot of time on Friday night saying hello to everyone before the game.   

“They do all the little things right and they have guys that love each other and pull the same way together,” Snell said. “That’s usually why they’re so good.”

San Diego comes into the game with a disappointing 33-36 record, despite having the third-highest payroll in all of baseball at over $246 million. (The Rays, by the way, rank No. 27 at $77 million. Despite a slew of All-Stars in their lineup, they are dead last in batting average with runners in scoring position at .199. 

Snell allowed 14 earned runs in 23 innings through his first five starts, all losses. He struggled with his control, with 18 walks in those first five game, never getting past the fifth inning. He's been much better lately, and was great in his last start, throwing seven innings with 12 strikeouts and no walks against Colorado, allowing just one first-inning run. The Padres lost that game, too. 

Snell has been dealing with a minor ankle issue, but the Padres have said he's good to go for Saturday. 

Zach Eflin (8-2, 3.28 ERA) will start for Tampa Bay. He pitched four scoreless innings on Monday, facing just one over the minimum. But then he got lit up in the fifth inning, walking the first two batters he faced and then allowing two singles and a bases-clearing double while giving up four runs. The Rays never recovered and lost 4-3. 

Tampa Bay lost the next day, too, but then beat Oakland on Wednesday and Thursday to salvage a split. They beat San Diego 6-2 on Friday night.

Eflin has been hittable on the road, but not at home. He's won all seven starts at Tropicana Field, going 7-0 with a 1.85 ERA. But on the road he's 1-2 with a 5.53 ERA. Batters are hitting just .196 at home, but are hitting .271 on the road. 

How to watch Rays-Padres

• Who: Tampa Bay Rays (51-22, first place in American League East) at San Diego Padres (33-36, fourth place in American League West).
• What: Second of a three-game interleague series.
• When: 7:15 p.m. ET
• Where: Petco Park, San Diego, Calif.
• TV: FOX national television. (UPDATE: The Yankees-Red Sox game was also on FOX throughout much of the nation, but that game has been rained out, so the Rays will be televised nationwide. Your cable/TV guides may not update that, so just find your local FOX station and you should be good.
• Odds: San Diego is favored at minus-118, according to the Fanduel.com gambling website. The over/under is 8.5. For more predictions, Fanduel's experts also break down all of Saturday games. 

Here are the starting lineups for Saturday's game:

Tampa Bay Rays

1. Yandy Diaz, 1B
2. Wander Franco, SS 
3. Harold Ramirez, DH
4. Randy Arozarena, LF
5. Isaac Paredes, 3B
6. Taylor Walls, 2B
7. Manuel Margot, RF
8. Francisco Mejia, C
9. Jose Siri, CF

SP — Zach Eflin (8-2. 3.28 ERA)

San Diego Padres

1. Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
2. Juan Soto, LF
3. Manny Machado, 3B
4. Xander Bogaerts, SS
5. Jake Cronenworth, 1B
6. Gary Sanchez, C
7. Matt Carpenter, DH
8. Ha-Seong Kim, 2B
9. Trent Grisham, CF

SP — Blake Snell (2-6. 3.78 ERA)

Related stories on Rays-Padres

• TOM BREW COLUMN: There's a long list of great things the Tampa Bay Rays are doing in dashing out to a 51-22 record. They hit homers and run the bases, and play great defense. But the best thing just might be the 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation with Shane McClanahan and Zach Eflin. The Rays are a stunning 23-4 in their starts. CLICK HERE
• GUARDIANS MOVE ON FROM ZUNINO: Former Tampa Bay catcher Mike Zunino is off to a terrible start this season, hitting just .177 in his first year with the Cleveland Guardians. They've seen enough, and designated him for assignment on Friday. CLICK HERE
• SCHEDULE HICCUPS: Baseball's new more-balanced schedule drops division games from 19 to 13, which is a good thing considering the trade-off. But those rivalries are still important, so they shouldn't be on back-to-back weekends like Red Sox and Yankees and then dormant for months at a time. Tom Brew likes the new format, but some fixes are in order. CLICK HERE
• RAYS MAKE HISTORY WITH 50TH WIN: The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Oakland Athletics 4-3 on Thursday to split the four-game series. In doing so, the Rays recorded their 50th win of the season and made some team history, doing it in just 72 games. CLICK HERE

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