Tampa Bay Rays at New York Mets 5/18/23
An interleague battle will take place on Thursday afternoon, when the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Mets conclude their series from Citi Field. The Rays (32-12) have split their previous ten games and have seen their lead over Baltimore in the AL East Division trimmed to 3.5 games. Last night, 2B Brandon Lowe homered and scored twice during an 8-7 road loss. Jose Siri added a solo shot for the Rays, who lead the majors with 86 home runs.
Rookie right-hander Taj Bradley (3-0 3.52 ERA) will make his fourth career major league start for the Rays. Bradley, who has been pitching at Triple-A for the last few weeks, has struck out 23 batters and owns a sparkling 0.91 WHIP across 15 plus major league innings.
The New York Mets are a game below .500 at home and have been of the most disappointing teams through the first quarter of the season. On Wednesday, All-Star 1B Pete Alonso sent the New York fans home happy with a towering three-run blast. Rookie C Francisco Alvarez contributed a three-run shot and rookie 3B Mark Vientos connected on a two-run bomb for the Mets (21-23).
New York manager Buck Showalter will turn to twenty-seven year old righty Tylor Megill (4-2 4.02 ERA) on Thursday. In his last start, Megill lasted five innings and allowed two runs (1 ER) during a 3-2 road victory against Washington.
Tampa Bay 3B Yandy Diaz (groin) did not play in Tuesday’s series opener and is listed as day-to-day. Through 44 games, Tampa Bay ranks 1st in OPS and 1st in runs scored. For the season, New York ranks 19th in OPS and 21st in runs scored. Take the Mets to win at home. Final Score Prediction, New York Mets win 5-3.
