Tampa Bay Rays vs. Washington Nationals Preview

Tuesday night will feature an interleague battle of second-place Eastern teams as the Tampa Bay Rays (47-32) square off with the Washington Nationals (38-38). The Nationals will host this one at Nationals Park, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm ET.

This will be the first of a two-game series between the two teams.

The Rays enjoyed an off day on Monday after taking two of three from the Los Angeles Angels over the weekend. They did drop the finale on Sunday, though, 6-4. In the loss, Brandon Lowe hit his 15th home run of the season.

After splitting a four-game set with the Miami Marlins over the weekend, the Nationals won a makeup game with the New York Mets on Monday, 8-4. Paolo Espino picked up the win while the offense hammered five home runs.

The Tampa Bay Rays are the slight favorites in this one despite playing on the road. They are -113 to win while the Nationals’ moneyline sits at +103.

Pitching Matchup

To start the series, the Rays will turn to southpaw Rich Hill (6-2, 3.52 ERA). Hill picked up the win in his last start, an 8-2 win over the Boston Red Sox, as he pitched five innings of one-run ball.

The Nationals will counter with righty Joe Ross (4-7, 4.12 ERA). Ross also had a win in his last start. In the 7-3 victory over Miami, Ross went seven scoreless innings and struck out eight.

By The Numbers

Tampa Bay has been the stronger of the two teams to this point offensively. They rank sixth in the majors averaging 4.91 runs per game. The Nationals currently rank 26th, averaging 3.89 runs per game (3.31 at home).
Defensively, the Rays once again have the edge. They rank seventh in scoring defense, allowing opponents just 3.84 runs per game. The Nationals rank 12th allowing 4.05 runs per game.

Rays Fighting To Get Back On Top Of Division Standings

After going 4-6 over their last 10 games, the Rays have fallen to second in the AL East, one game behind the Red Sox. In what will be a very competitive division throughout the season, the Rays know every win is crucial.

The Rays have gotten an impressive power display from three of their regulars. To this point, Austin Meadows (16), Mike Zunino (16), and Brandon Lowe (15) all lead the team in home runs. Meadows also leads the team with 54 runs batted in.

Only a couple of players on the team have seen Joe Ross in their careers. In fact, Zunino is the only one who has gotten a hit off of the righty. He is one for three off of him, but the lone hit was a home run.

Nationals Continue To Inch Closer To NL. East Lead

After beating the top-ranked Mets on Monday and going 7-3 in their last 10, the Nationals have pulled within three games of the New York Mets for first place in the NL East. They will look to stay hot as they host the Rays at Nationals Park, a place where they have gone 22-18 thus far.

Kyle Schwarber has been one of the best offseason pickups in the majors thus far. After hitting two more home runs in Monday’s contest, he leads the team with 24 home runs and 52 runs batted in. Through 253 at-bats, he is hitting .253/.337/.569.

Schwarber has been especially hot over the last week. In that span, he has hit six home runs and driven in 10 while hitting .345. He is certainly someone to watch out for in this series with the way he is swinging the bat.

Taking Washington To Win

This one could truly go either way. The Rays probably have the advantage on the mound with Rich Hill, but the Nationals have been playing better baseball as of late.

While you probably can’t go wrong either way, I will take the hotter team, which in this case, are the Nationals. Take Washington at +103.