Right-hander Ben Lively, who has allowed more than three runs in only two of his 15 starts this season, will try for his ninth win of the season when he takes the field for the American League Central-leading Cleveland Guardians in a three-game rubber game with the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Lively (8-4, 3.59 ERA) allowed three runs over four innings in his only previous start against Tampa Bay, back in 2018 when he was a member of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Right-hander Ryan Pepiot (5-5, 4.20) will start for the Rays, who will try for their seventh series win in their last eight tries. A win would also give Tampa Bay a .500 record at the All-Star break.
Cleveland snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory Saturday afternoon when newcomer Jhonenci Noel hit a two-run, pinch-hit, go-ahead home run in the eighth inning.
With one out and after receiving a pinch-hit single off Tyler Freeman's broken bat, the 6-foot-3-inch, 250-pound Noel, nicknamed “Big Christmas,” hit an 0-1 slider from reliever Garrett Cleavinger into the 424-foot-deep bleachers in left-center for his fourth homer in just 35 major league at-bats since being called up June 26 from Triple-A Columbus.
“The big Christmas is here again,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “Ever since he's come on, the quality of his at-bats has been off the charts. And when he gets his pitch, he doesn't miss it.”
“It was exciting to come off the bench and hit the ball,” said second baseman Andres Gimenez, who had two hits and an RBI.
Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said he liked the matchup between the left-handed Clevinger and the right-handed Noel.
“Cleve has done a great job for us all season,” Cash said. “He got past him and then Noel saw a good shot (and) jumped on it for the biggest hit of the day.”
It was just Cleveland's third road win in their last 11 attempts. The win, along with Baltimore's 5-1 loss to the New York Yankees, means the Guardians are set to go into the All-Star break with the best record in the American League.
Tampa Bay, which won the series opener 2-0 on Friday behind seven shutout innings from Taj Bradley, put up eight hits (including a triple and two doubles) in Saturday's loss. But the Rays are 0-11 when runners are in scoring position. The Rays are also 1-16 when runners are in scoring position in Friday's win and are just 8-72 in that category in their last eight games.
“It's a trend,” Cash said. “We've got to get over that trend. You feel it in the dugout, you feel it throughout the game. We're capable of having big hits. They're just not coming. Hopefully we can reset it a little bit before the break tomorrow.”
–Field Level Media
