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After winning the series with victories over the New York Mets, the Tampa Bay Rays look to keep the streak going. The Rays will play host to the Detroit Tigers in a three-game stretch.
Proving Worthy of An All-Star
More than momentum on the season for the Rays, this series will give catcher Wilson Ramos a chance to show why he’s heading to the All-Star Game as the AL starting catcher.
A buffalo-sized congrats to @WRamosC3! #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/kISSqmFH7h
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) July 8, 2018
The heavy hitters for Tampa Bay will have to show out to win the series against the Tigers. Tampa Bay is loaded with batters, namely Matt Duffy, who leads the team with a .306 batting average. C.J. Cron enters with 17 home runs, the most on the team thus far. The newly-elected all-star Ramos leads the team in RBIs with 47, and Duffy leads the front on hits with 88, while boasting a .358 on-bat percentage.
Let's give some love to the big guy on his @AllStarGame start!
-Leads all AL C with 79 hits
-Leads all AL C with 47 RBI
-Batting .347 with RISP, tied for 8th-best in the AL
-On pace for 22 HR & 87 RBI
-2 HR shy the franchise record among catchers for an entire season pic.twitter.com/Orfj4tcMeV— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) July 9, 2018
The Rays are entering this game riding a two-game winning streak, both against the Mets and both wins were shutouts. After the series, the MLB All-Star Game rosters were revealed, and had one noticeable omission from the list: Blake Snell.
@snellzilla11 NO I KNOOOO THEY LYIN…. boy u better be on that all star team!!!!! 🤬🤬🤬
— Odell Beckham Jr (@obj) July 8, 2018
https://twitter.com/brent_honeywell/status/1016107727544832001?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1016107727544832001&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fraytank.mlblogs.com%2Fmedia%2Fd8d12eb796aaacfa467ceebad493fe43%3FpostId%3De0a8ce9c923b
2nd in AL wins? @snellzilla11
1st in AL ERA? @snellzilla11
2nd in MLB ERA? @snellzilla11
14/19 quality starts? @snellzilla11
He not a replacement, he’s not an alternate, he is a NO DOUBT All-Star.— Jacob Faria (@JDFaria34) July 9, 2018
The MLB world and Snell’s teammates are still in shock by the snub. Recording 12 wins, a 2.09 ERA and 132 strikeouts, Snell seemed destined to make the All-Star Roster. However, voters did not believe that Snell was worthy.
With the frustration of the snub, Snell is going to look for revenge against the Tigers. The Rays also currently ride a 45-44 record in the league and third in the AL East. The key to victory for Tampa Bay is going to come down to the heavy-hitters of the team, as well as the added motivation of being left off the All-Star roster for Snell.
Where Can I Watch the Game?
The opening game of this series will take place on Monday night from Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Tampa Bay Rays look to extend their streak to three against the Detroit Tigers. Detroit is coming off a series win of their own against the Texas Rangers over the weekend. Finally, stick with ESPN 98.1 FM – 850 AM WRUF as coverage for the matchup will begin at 6:30 p.m.
