How to Watch Saturday’s Rays Game Against the Orioles; Gametimes, Lineups, Pregame Chatter
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Drew Rasmussen was a big pick up for Tampa Bay last May as part of the trade that sent Willie Adames to Milwaukee. He pitched well in his 20 appearances, and he's the Rays' No. 2 starter this spring.
He gets the call on Saturday when the Rays look to beat the Baltimore Orioles for the second straight day at Tropicana Field. Game time is 1:10 p.m. ET
"We're definitely excited to see him out there,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "He came on so strong for us in the second half (of the 2021 season) and was a key for us and we efficient doing it. I'd like to see that efficiency pick up where he left off. We will be very mindful of him. There's some injury history in the past and he didn't start for a while, so we'll keep a close eye on him.''
Prior to the game, Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena will receive his 2021 American League Rookie of the Year award.
"There was probably nobody that had more pressure on them to live up to the hype after what he did in 2020,'' Cash said. "I thought he handled it really well. To win rookie of the year, it says a lot about the talent he has.''
Four Rays will get their first starts today, Ji-Man Choi at first base, Francisco Mejia at catcher, Taylor Walls at third base and Brett Phillips in right field as Cash loads up the lineup with left-handed bats agains Baltimore righty Jordan Lyles.
"It's very important to get everybody out there. Look, everybody wants to play, and if it was up to them, they'd all play 13 straight,'' Cash said. ''We're always going to use our roster to its fullest all season, so we might as well do that right out of the gate.''
Here's how to watch Saturday's game, with gametime and TV information, the latest on the betting line, lineups, bios and some newsy nuggets:
How to watch Orioles vs. Rays
- Who: Baltimore Orioles (0-1) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (1-0)
- When: 1:10 p.m. ET, Saturday, April 9
- Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg
- 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 175
- Announcers: Andy Freed and Dave Wills.
- Latest Line: Tampa Bay is at minus-250 on the money line according to the SISportsbook.com website opening line as of Saturday morning. Baltimore is plus-205. The over/under is 8.5.
Orioles-Rays history
- Orioles vs. Rays all-time series history: Tampa Bay holds a 222-199 edge in the series dating back to 1998. The Rays hold the edge at Tropicana Field, with a 120-92 record. Last year, Tampa Bay went 18-1, tying a major-league record for most wins in a season against an opponent. (Houston over Seattle and Cleveland over Detroit, both in 2019) The Rays lead the 2022 season series 1-0.
- Orioles vs. Rays last meeting: The Rays won 2-1 on Friday in the season opener for both team. Shane McClanahan pitched four-plus scoreless innings and the Rays won with two sacrifice flies, the second coming in the eighth inning off the bat of Francisco Mejia. Wander Franco had three hits for the Rays.
Meet the Orioles-Rays managers
- Meet Orioles manager Brandon Hyde: Brandon Hyde is starting his fourth season as manager of the Orioles. He has a 131-254 record with the Orioles, a .341 winning percentage. He coached in Chicago for former Rays manager Joe Maddon from 2016-18. Hyde is 0-1 this season.
- Meet Rays manager Kevin Cash: Kevin Cash is starting his eighth season as manager of the Rays. He has been named AL Manager of the Year each of the past two seasons. He has a 555-478 record with the Rays, and his .538 winning percent is the best in Rays history. He is the second-longest-tenured manager in baseball behind Cleveland's Terry Francona. Cash is 1-0 this season.
Projected starting pitchers
- Orioles right-hander Jordan Lyles: Jordan Lyles was 10-13 with the Texas Rangers a year ago, with a 5.15 ERA. He made a start against the Rays on April 15 last year, pitching 5 1/3 innings and allowing three runs and five hits. He didn't get the decision in a 6-4 Rangers victory. He has appeared in 289 games in his career, with seven different teams, and has a career record of 54-79.
- Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen: Drew Rasmussen was a big part of the Rays' pitching staff last year after coming over from Milwaukee in the Willy Adames trade. With the Rays, he was 4-0 with a 2.44 ERA in 20 appearances. He made 10 starts, and had a 1.93 ERA, allowing just nine earned runs in 42 innings. Rasmussen is 26 years old and is from Spokane, Wash. He wears No. 57 for the Rays.
Projected lineups
- Orioles lineup: Cedric Mullins CF, Ryan Mountcastle 1B, Anthony Santander LF, Trey Mancini DH, Ramon Urias 3B, Austin Hayes RF, Rougned Odor 2B, Jorge Mateo SS, Robinson Chirinos C, Jordan Lyles P
- Rays lineup: Brandon Lowe 2B, Wander Franco SS, Ji-Man Choi 1B, Randy Arozarena DH, Josh Lowe LF, Francisco Mejia C, Kevin Kiermaier CF, Taylor Walls 3B. Brett Phillips RF, Drew Rasmussen P.
Nuggets to know
- Nuggets to know, Part 1: Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena gets its Rookie of the Year award prior to the game on Saturday. After making a splash in the 2020 postseason, he had a big 2021 campaign, hitting .274 with 20 home runs and 69 RBIs.
- Nuggets to know, Part 2: Rays starter Drew Rasmussen was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks out of Mount Spokane (Wash.) High School in 2014 but opted to attend college at Oregon State, where he pitched the first perfect game in school history. He was selected 31st overall by the Rays in the 2017 draft but did not sign and underwent a second Tommy John surgery in September 2017, which forced him to miss the 2018 season. He signed with the Brewers as a sixth-round pick in the 2018 Draft and spent the 2019 season in the minors.
- Nuggets to know, Part 3: The Rays have won 13 games in a row against the Orioles. They have started the season 2-0 only four times in its history (2002, 2010, 2012 and 2021) and their longest winning streak to open a season is three games. They've done that twice, in 2002 and 2012.
- Nuggets to know, Part 4: Since becoming the Rays in 2008, the team owns the fourth-best record in baseball at 1,182-986 and have made seven trips to the postseason. Over this stretch, only three clubs (Dodgers, Yankees, Cardinals) have reached the postseason more often and only three (Astros, Dodgers, Giants) have competed in more World Series. As the Devil Rays in their first decade of existence, the they had majors’ worst record at 645-972.
