While Monday’s 6-1 loss to the Nationals was disappointing overall, the Rays had some excitement as Randy Arozarena came off the bench to homer for the fourth time in his first seven games since being called up.
As a reward, the speedy and powerful outfielder will be in the lineup for tonight’s finale of the two-game series, first pitch 6:05 p.m.
“He’s tough to get out — get out of the lineup and get out when he’s hitting,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We just want to see. We’ve got an opportunity to find out some things about a lot of guys. And Randy, in fairness, is right at the top of the list.”
Arozarena, acquired in January from the Cardinals, was called up Aug. 30 after the trade of Jose Martinez and has made an impressive debut.
Lefty Ryan Yarbrough will start on the mound for the Rays, having spent the minimum 10 days on the injured list after leaving his Aug. 28 start with groin tightness. The Rays don’t have a set limit on his workload for tonight, given that he skipped only one start, and liked what he was doing in his last one, throwing 6-2/3 shutout innings in Miami.
Here is the Rays lineup vs. Nats starter Anibal Sanchez, who has been having a rough season:
Meadows dh
B. Lowe 2b
Arozarena lf
Choi 1b
Tsutsugo 3b
Margot rf
Kiermaier cf
Adames ss
Perez c
Yarbrough p
And the Nationals lineup, with Juan Soto back from an elbow issue:
Robles cf
Eaton rf
Turner ss
Soto dh
Suzuki c
Cabrera 1b
Harrison 2b
Holt lf
Kieboom 3b
Sanchez p