Looking for a way to get right-handed reliever Griffin Jax back on track, Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash is starting him against the team that traded him last summer, the visiting Minnesota Twins, in their series finale on Sunday.
Jax was one of the American League’s top setup relievers when he was obtained on July 31 for starter Taj Bradley. But Jax is off to a slow start this season (1-2, 8.00 ERA), allowing six earned runs in seven innings pitched in April, and has allowed at least one earned run in two of his last three appearances.
It will be the second time Jax has faced his old team. He pitched two shutout innings of relief in a 4-1 win over the Twins in Minneapolis on April 5, allowing two hits and a walk.
Right-hander Jesse Scholtens (1-1, 2.93) will handle the bulk role as the Rays go for the series sweep and their fourth straight win.
Scholtens is 0-3 with a 9.64 ERA in three career appearances (one start) against Minnesota, all of which came in the 2023 season with a Chicago White Sox team that lost 101 games.
Scholtens made the start in a 6-1 loss to Cincinnati on Monday and allowed five runs, including a two-run homer to Sal Stewart in the first inning, on seven hits over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out six and didn’t walk a batter.
The Twins, who have lost four straight games and eight of their last nine, will start right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson (0-3, 5.96), who is 0-0 with a 3.31 ERA in three career starts against the Rays.
Woods Richardson will try and cool down a Tampa Bay offense that has hit five home runs in the first two games of the series, all of which have traveled more than 400 feet.
Junior Caminero and Jonathan Aranda both belted two home runs in Friday’s 6-2 victory, with one of Caminero’s landing over the batter’s eye in center field and measuring a career-long 450 feet.
Jake Fraley hit a two-run shot 401 feet to right-center off Bailey Ober in the fourth inning to highlight Saturday’s 6-1 victory.
“This lineup is dynamic,” Fraley said. “If we’re having trouble driving the baseball, we’re able to lean on ‘small ball’ a little bit. We’ve got a lot of guys in the lineup that are able to do it well. And then these last two games, we were able to put it in the stands.”
Left-hander Shane McClanahan, who has missed the last two seasons due to Tommy John and left triceps surgeries, picked up his first win at Tropicana Field since 2023, allowing three hits and striking out seven over five shutout innings.
“I was happy for him,” Cash said of the two-time All-Star. “Want to see that continue to build. We all know how special Shane can be in our rotation, and he’s working hard to get to that point. Today was another good step for him.”
The Twins, who have been outscored 25-13 in their last four games, wasted a quality start by Ober, who allowed two runs on three hits over six innings. Reliever Taylor Rogers was roughed up for three runs in the seventh without registering an out. Jonny DeLuca greeted him with a leadoff pinch-hit double into the left field corner and Ben Williamson followed with an RBI triple to the wall in left-center. Rogers then walked Cedric Mullins with a pitch to end his appearance.
Minnesota batters were just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Royce Lewis broke up the shutout with two outs in the ninth with a bloop single to center, driving in Luke Keaschall, who had been hit by a pitch.
“We’re not worried about this group,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “It’s the ebbs and flows of baseball.”
Despite the recent rough stretch, the Twins are third in the American League Central, just 2 1/2 games behind the first place Cleveland Guardians.
–Field Level Media
