10:10 pm
June 17

Rays @ Mariners

Who will WIN this matchup?

Tampa Bay Rays (43-26)

@ Seattle Mariners (34-36)

 

Starting Pitchers:

Hill (TB): 5-2; 3.38 ERA

Dunn (SEA) 1-3; 3.91 ERA

 

Current odds:

Tampa Bay Rays: (-170)

Seattle Mariners: (+155)

 

• Rich Hill realizes it’s a sticky situation. Still, the veteran Tampa Bay Rays pitcher, who will start the opener of a four-game series in Seattle on Thursday, had a unique take when asked about Major League Baseball’s new ban on grip-enhancing substances. While baseball is being criticized for instituting the rule in the middle of the season, Hill said there’s plenty of blame to go around.

• MLB announced that, starting Monday, pitchers will be ejected and suspended for 10 games with pay for using illegal foreign substances to doctor balls. Hill’s teammate, Tyler Glasnow, attributed his partially torn elbow ligament to adapting to the new rules.

• It’s been a tough week for the Rays, who not only lost ace Glasnow for an extended period but also dropped two of three games against the host White Sox — including an 8-7 defeat in 10 innings Wednesday afternoon — to fall a half-game behind Chicago and the San Francisco Giants in the race for baseball’s best record. It was the first time Tampa Bay lost a series in more than a month. The Rays rallied from a five-run deficit to force extra innings Wednesday.

• Tampa Bay will attempt to bounce back behind Hill (5-2, 3.38 ERA). The 41-year-old lefty had won back-to-back starts before allowing four runs in 4 2/3 innings during a no-decision against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday. In 12 career appearances against the Mariners, including five starts, Hill is 4-0 with a 2.06 ERA.

• The Mariners, who had a three-game winning streak snapped with a 7-2 loss Wednesday night against the visiting Minnesota Twins, are set to start Justin Dunn (1-3, 3.91 ERA). The right-hander will be facing the Rays for the first time. Dunn, 25, allowed no more than two runs in his five May starts. He missed 12 days due to an inflamed right shoulder, then returned to allow five runs on nine hits in three innings Friday during a 7-0 loss at Cleveland.

5/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Tampa Bay Rays
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