The Cleveland Guardians and the host Tampa Bay Rays find themselves in similar situations as they get set for a four-game series that begins Thursday night.
Above .500 for the first time since July 28, the Rays (70-69) will try to avenge a series loss last week in Cleveland, where they dropped two of three.
In the opener of that set, Tampa Bay romped to a 9-0 win behind two Junior Caminero home runs and a stellar start from Ian Seymour, who spun five innings of one-hit, shutout ball in his first major league start.
However, it went south from there for the team from the south.
In his second career start, Cleveland’s Parker Messick blanked the Rays over seven innings for his first win, a 3-0 decision. The Guardians then scored the tying run in the ninth against Tampa Bay closer Pete Fairbanks the next night and won 4-3 in 10 innings.
Since then, the Rays then swept three games from the Nationals in Washington and three more against the visiting Seattle Mariners, an American League wild-card contender they are chasing.
On Wednesday, Yandy Diaz went 5-for-5, his first career five-hit game, as the Rays downed the Mariners 9-4. It was the first five-hit performance by a Tampa Bay player since Tommy Pham achieved the feat in 2019.
“It was one of those crazy days,” Diaz, who is now batting .294, said through an interpreter. “Today was my crazy day. … We’ve had our bad moments, but right now, both offense and defense are connected.”
Added Rays manager Kevin Cash after his team produced a season-high 19 hits to log a sixth straight win, “We definitely feel better where we’re at.”
The Rays and Kansas City Royals are 2 1/2 games behind the Mariners. The Texas Rangers trail Seattle by 1 1/2 games.
Cleveland (69-69) won 8-1 on Wednesday to salvage the finale of a three-game series against the host Boston Red Sox. The Guardians are three games behind the Mariners and a half-game behind the Rays, so plenty is at stake in the upcoming set.
The Guardians saw their postseason hopes dim last month, starting with a three-game home sweep at the hands of the Atlanta Braves. Beginning with that series, Cleveland has gone 6-12 to slip back to .500.
The biggest problem for the Guardians is their an offense.
Cleveland ranks last in the majors in hits and batting average and is 27th among the 30 teams in runs. The Guardians have scored three runs or fewer in 65 of their 138 games.
The bats broke out the past two days, though. On Tuesday, Cleveland erased a 5-1 deficit to take a 7-5 lead against Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet, but Boston wound up winning 11-7.
In an 8-1 Guardians win on Wednesday, Steven Kwan went 3-for-5, Gabriel Arias homered, and pinch hitter George Valera recorded his first hit in the majors, a single off the Green Monster in left field.
“We win games, then no one can stop us, right?” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “We just have to win the games. We’re sitting here, we have an opportunity still. We’re not out of it, and we feel really good about that. We just have to start winning more ballgames.”
Winless since July 29, left-hander Logan Allen (7-10, 4.42 ERA) will start for Cleveland on Thursday. In his lone career start against the Rays, he allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings during a no-decision on Sept. 2, 2023.
Tampa Bay right-hander Ryan Pepiot (10-10, 3.70 ERA) will look to build on an August in which he went 4-1 with a 3.25 ERA. He is 1-0 with a 2.25 in three outings (two starts) against the Guardians.
–Field Level Media
