Gameday Preview: Channel Flipping Required For Monday's Rays Game in Oakland
OAKLAND, Calif. — It's baseball after hours on Monday night, when the Tampa Bay Rays head west to start at three-game series with the Oakland Athletics.
It's also baseball on a different TV station than what you are used to. Monday night's game is on Bally Sports Florida instead of Bally Sports Sun, because of a conflict with the Tampa Bay Lightning's NHL playoff game.
The Rays, who got thumped twice over the weekend by the Minnesota Twins, are turning to Drew Rasmussen to quickly turn things around. He was spectacular in his last start, pitching six scoreless innings and allowing just two hits in a win over the Seattle Mariners. He also struck out nine hitters, a career high.
“He threw the ball really well, and I’d like to see that separation between those two breaking balls again,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said of Rasmussen. "He got a lot of swing and miss, more than he had shown in quite some time. He’s got his pitch count built up, so we’re getting close to that point where these guys are good to go.''
Here's how to watch Sunday's game, with gametime and TV information, the starting lineups, bios and, of course, our great daily dose of newsy nuggets.
How to watch Rays at Athletics
- Who: Tampa Bay Rays (12-10) at Oakland Athletics (10-12)
- When: 9:40 p.m. ET, Monday, May 2
- Where: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, Calif.
- TV: Bally Sports Florida
- 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 176 (A's broadcast; Rays online only)
- Announcers: Andy Freed and Dave Wills.
- Latest Line: Tampa Bay is favored at minus-167 on the money line according to the SISportsbook.com website opening line as of Monday afternoon. The A's are plus-140. The over/under is 6.5, the lowest number of the season.
Athletics-Rays history
- Athletics vs. Rays all-time series history: Oakland holds a 116-81 edge in the series dating back to 1998. The Rays are just 34-62 in Oakland. at Tropicana Field. Last year, Tampa Bay went 3-4. They split a series 2-2 in St. Petersburg from April 26-29, and the A's won two of three from May 7-9 in Oakland.
- Athletics vs. Rays last meeting: Oakland came to St. Petersburg in the second series of the season and took three of four games from the Rays. The only game the Rays won was a 9-8 slugfest, with Manuel Margot hitting the game-winning single in the 10th inning.
Athletics-Rays most recent games
- Twins 9, Rays 3: For the second straight day, the Tampa Bay Rays got knocked around by the Minnesota Twins, allowing five first-inning runs and losing 9-3 to lose the three-game series. Now comes a long 10-game West Coast road trip for a team that's scuffling right now. CLICK HERE
- Guardians 7, Athletics 3: Oakland got swept at home against Cleveland for the first time in 22 years last weekend, with the capper being a 7-3 loss on Sunday. A's starter James Kaprielian got roughed up early, giving up four runs in two innings
Projected starting pitchers
- Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen: Drew Rasmussen had his best start as a big-leaguer last Wednesday, throwing six scoreless innings and allowing just two hits while striking out nine. All were career highs. He is 1-1 on the season with a 3.50 ERA. Not known for being a swing-and-miss pitcher, he had 19 misses on Wednesday, and has 18 strikeouts in 18 innings of pitching this season.
- Athletics right-hander Daulton Jefferies: Daulton Jefferies is 1-3 on the season, but he has a solid 3.26 ERA for Oakland. The Rays did not see him in that April series at Tropicana Field. He's pitched well, but hasn't gotten any run support. The A's have scored only two runs in four starts.
Projected lineups
- Rays lineup: Yandy Diaz 1B, Wander Franco SS, Randy Arozarena LF, Brandon Lowe 2B, Harold Ramirez DH, Kevin Kiermaier CF, Manuel Margot RF, Taylore Walls 3B, Mike Zunino C, Drew Rasmussen P.
- Athletics lineup: Tony Kemp 2B, Spencer Neuse 3B, Jed Lowrie DH, Sean Murphy C, Steven Piscotty RF, Seth Brown 1B, Chad Pinder LF, Elvis Andrus SS, , Christian Pache CF, Daulton Jefferies P.
Newsy Nuggets
- Nugget No. 1: This is the first of a 10-day, 10-game road trip for the Rays, and it's a big one for a team that's 12-10 and hasn't really caught fire yet, especially offensively. They play three with the A's, four in Seattle, and three against the Los Angeles Angels.
- Nugget No. 2: The Rays haven't done a very good job of getting off to good starts in their series thus far. They are just 2-5 in series openers, and are 0-2 on the road, losing both starts in Chicago against the White Sox and Cubs.
- Nuggets No. 3: Defense has always been a staple of success for the Rays, but it's been an issue so far this season. The Rays are 8-3 in errorless games so far, but are just 4-7 otherwise. The Rays have made 15 errors so far, including six in the last six games.
- Nuggets No. 4: Baserunning issues have been a problem too for the Rays, also something abnormal. They have had 15 runners thrown out on the bases so far, by far the most in the majors. The New York Mets are second with 12
