Rays Set for Interleague Matchup Against Padres

After splitting their series with the Oakland Athletics, the Tampa Bay Rays will stay in sunny California and travel 500 miles along the coast for an interleague matchup against the San Diego Padres.

How do the two match up against one another?

The Rays are the first team in the MLB to reach the 50 win threshold with their victory against the A’s Thursday. The team is on pace for a franchise-record 112 wins this season. The Padres, on the other hand, are barely staying afloat in the NL West and are fourth in the division with a 33-35 record.

https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1669473105616551936?cxt=HHwWgIC-5be8lKsuAAAA

San Diego has held a common theme of inconsistency throughout the season. Evident by their record, it seems like every time the Padres take a step forward, they take one back.

They are in the bottom 10 of MLB teams in runs and 16th in slugging percentage. Though, they’ve been saved by their pitching that has the fourth-best batting average against and the fifth best ERA.

Juan Soto on why the offense can't be consistent: "I don't think I'm the guy to respond to that question. I think we have those guys down there. They know better than me. I don't know. I really don't know what is going on…"

(via @MartyCaswell) pic.twitter.com/lOOOBpiOJi

— Talking Friars (@TalkingFriars) June 5, 2023

The Padres rotation is in top form, but it will certainly be tested against Tampa Bay’s potent offense.

The Rays are top five in every hitting statistic other than triples and six players on the team have hit double digits in home runs. Infielder Brandon Lowe and designated hitter Harold Ramirez are just one shy of that mark with nine each. Tampa Bay has also found a way to create runs with its elite base running. The Rays have 91 stolen bases, which is 21 higher than second-place Cincinnati who has 70 stolen bags this season.

Game 1

The first game of the series begins at 9:40 p.m. Friday. Left-handed pitcher Shane McClanahan will make the start for the Rays, and right-hander Yu Darvish will make the start for the Padres.

McClanahan enters Friday’s matchup as the leading Cy-Young candidate in the American League. The lefty boasts a 2.18 ERA on the mound — good enough for second in the MLB — and leads all pitchers in wins with 10 on the season. The only deficiency in McClanahan’s performance so far is his 3.1:1 K/BB ratio, which is certainly not bad relative to MLB standards but is nearly half of what it was last season.

As we get closer to the second half, here are https://t.co/Z3s2EphcSH's Top 10 starting pitchers right now.

(MLB x @SageUSAmerica) pic.twitter.com/TNH8qeLp9O

— MLB (@MLB) June 15, 2023

Yu Darvish, on the other hand, hasn’t see nearly the same success McClanahan has this season. The right-hander is 5-4 in his 12 starts made this season and has a 4.30 ERA on the mound. His main struggles have come against left-handed hitters — who are getting on base at a .331 rate. Darvish has walked double the percentage of lefties faced as he has against righties.

Game 2

The second game of the series will feature a matchup between Rays right-handed starter Zach Elfin and former Tampa Bay pitcher Blake Snell. Elfin has had quite an impressive season with an 8-2 record and 3.28 ERA on the mound. However, he struggled his last time out when he faced Oakland. Elfin threw one out shy of five innings and surrendered four runs. The uncharacteristic start resulted in his second loss of the season, but he’ll look to bounce back Saturday against a struggling San Diego offense.

Zach Eflin is 8-2 with a 3.28 ERA

I watched Covey for the fifth time last night. pic.twitter.com/Aj05Duzqzq

— Hunter Brody (@Brodes81) June 13, 2023

The Rays traded Snell Dec. 29, 2020, for catchers Francisco Mejia and Blake Hunt and pitchers Cole Wilcox and Luis Patino. It was a puzzling move for many Rays fans. The lefty was a major piece in Tampa Bay’s 2020 World Series run and also won a Cy Young award in 2018. Though, since making the move, Snell has been only a shadow of what he was with the Rays.

The Cy Young belongs to Zilla. #CyZilla | #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/jrLl1Kpo1d

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) November 14, 2018

The lefty has a 3.79 ERA in three seasons with the Padres and has a career-worst winning percentage this season with a 2-6 record on the mound. He is a potential trade-asset for contending teams this year with one-year, $16 million left on his contract.

Game 3

The Rays haven’t announced who will start on the mound for Sunday’s game, and Joe Musgrove is expected to be the starter for the Padres in the series finale. Musgrove is 4-2 on the mound this season with a 4.37 ERA.

Start Times

Friday, June 16 – 9:40 p.m.

Saturday, June 17 – 7:15 p.m.

Sunday, June 18 – 4:10 p.m.