Gameday Preview: Thursday's Rays-Mariners Gametime, Lineups, Pregame Nuggets

The Tampa Bay Rays wrap up their series with the Seattle Mariners on Thursday afternoon, and are using an opener again, for the fifth time this season. Left-hander Jeffrey Springs gets the call, and he's been very good so far, pitching seven scoreless innings out of the bullpen and allowing just two hits.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays have won two straight series, and they'd love to get a third on Thursday afternoon when they close out their three-game set with the Seattle Mariners.

The two teams square off in a matinee at Tropicana Field, with first pitch at 1:10 p.m. ET

The Rays are using an opener again, for the fifth time this season. Left-hander Jeffrey Springs gets the call, his first for the Rays. He's been very good so far, pitching seven scoreless innings out of the bullpen and allowing just two hits. This was scheduled to be Corey Kluber's day to pitch, but with two recent off days, Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash thought it was best to give each starter an extra day of rest.

He's looking forward to seeing Springs in this role, and feels like he's well suited to handle it.

“He’s tough on lefties, but he’s tough on righties as well with the way he balances out all of his pitches,'' Cash said of the 29-left-hander from Belmont, N.C. “Any time we feel we’re in a good enough spot to give a starter, or the rotation, and extra day, we’re going to do that. With the off day, we could do that. We’ve been fairly clean these last two (Shane McClanahan and Drew Rasmussen starts), so we felt we’d go to the bullpen (Thursday) and look for Kluber to give us a good start on Friday. 

Here's how to watch Wednesday's game, with gametime, lineups, bios and the usual great newsy nuggets.

How to watch Mariners at Rays

• Who: Seattle Mariners (11-7) at Tampa Bay Rays (10-8)
• When: 1:10 p.m. ET, Thursday, April 28
• Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Fla.
• TV: Bally Sports Sun
• Stream: Fubo.tv CLICK HERE
• Announcers: Dewayne Staats (play-by-play), Brian Anderson (color commentary) and Tricia Whitaker (in-game reporter).
• Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM; SiriusXM Channel 181
• Announcers: Andy Freed and Dave Wills.
• Latest Line: Tampa Bay is favored at minus-150 on the money line according to the SISportsbook.com website opening line as of Thursday morning. The Mariners are plus-125. The over/under is 7.5.

Rays-Mariners history

• Rays vs. Mariners all-time series history: Tampa Bay is just 81-108 all-time against the Mariners, a .428 winning percentage. They have a losing record at Tropicana Field as well, going just 40-52 since 1998. They have never met in the postseason. Last year, the Mariners went 6-1 against the Rays, sweeping a four-game series on June in Seattle, and then winning two of three games in St. Petersburg in August. The Mariners were the only team the Rays didn't beat at least twice last season. The 2022 season series is tied at 1-1. 

Rays-Mariners most recent games

• Rays 3, Mariners 2: Tampa Bay finally got a win against Seattle, with Drew Rasmussen pitching six scoreless innings in the best start of his career and Kevin Kiermaier hitting another two-run homer, his second in four games. For the complete game story, CLICK HERE

Projected starting pitchers

• Mariners right-hander Chris Flexen: Chris Flexen makes his fourth start of the season for Seattle. He's 1-2 on the year with a 3.63 earned run average. He lost his first two starts to Houston and Minnesota, but pitched well last Friday in a 4-1 win over Kansas City. He pitched seven innings and allowed just one earned run. He broke into the majors with the New York Mets and pitched there from 2017 through 2019. He started 31 games last year and had a 14-6 record with a 3.61 ERA.
• Rays left-hander Jeffrey Springs: Jeffrey Springs, a 29-year-old from Belmont, N.C., is the ''opener'' for Tampa Bay on Thursday. He's been spectacular so far this season, pitching seven scoreless innings and allowing just two hits. This is Springs' first start with the Rays and third of his major-league career. He started twice in 2018 while with Texas. This will be the fifth time this season the Rays will use an opener, all in a stretch of 10 games since April 17, and they are 3-1 so far, with the only loss coming Tuesday night when Seattle scored seven unearned runs in their 8-4 win. The Rays used an opener 21 times last season and went 14-7 when doing so.

Projected lineups

• Mariners lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Ty France 1B, Jesse Winker LF, Eugenio Suarez DH, J.P. Crawford SS, Abraham Toro 3B,  Julio Rodriguez CF, Jarred Kelenic RF, Luis Torrens C, Logan Gilbert P.
• Rays lineup: Manuel Margot RF, Wander Franco SS, Yandy Diaz 1B, Brandon Lowe 2B, Harold Ramirez DH, Josh Lowe LF, Tyler Walls 3B, Brett Phillips CF, Rene Pinto C, Jeffrey Springs P.

Newsy nuggets

• Nugget No. 1: Rays opener Jeffrey Springs is one of four Tampa Bay pitchers who have thrown at least six innings without giving up a run this season. He's pitched 7 innings. J.P Feyereisen and Jalen Beeks have pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings so far, and Ryan Thompson has gone 6 1/3 innings unscathed,.
• Nugget No. 2: The Rays are trying to win their third straight series on Thursday. They went 2-1 against both the Cubs and Red Sox, and are hoping to do the same against the Mariners. The Rays were just 1-6 against Seattle a year ago.
• Nugget No. 3: The Rays have a 3.21 ERA this season, eighth-best in the majors, and they have a 2.12 ERA in their last six games and a 2.61 ERA over their last 11 games. The Rays have yielded two earned runs or fewer in four straight games, their longest streak since July 7-10, 2021. The Rays have yielded three runs or fewer 10 times this season, tied for third in the American League behind the New York Yankees (12) and Toronto Blue Jays (11).
• Nugget No. 4: Don't forget the Rays are home all weekend, too. They play Rocco Baldelli's Minnesota Twins on Friday night, and Saturday and Sunday afternoons.