ST. LOUIS CARDINALS NOTES:
No team release available.
TAMPA BAY RAYS NOTES:
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY — Tampa Bay fell to St. Louis last night in a 6-4 final…LHP Jalen Beeks started the game and threw 2.0 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and one walk with one strikeout…he was followed by RHP Kevin Kelly, who threw a career-high 45 pitches across 2.0 innings, allowing three runs on a career-high five hits with one walk and one strikeout…CF Jose Siri (2-for-4, 2HR, 3RBI) registered his third career multi-homer game while SS Wander Franco (3-for-3, HR, BB) reached base safely a career-high-tying four times (10x, last: 8/5/23 at DET).
Last night marked the Rays first loss at Tropicana Field when hitting 3+ home runs since 9/15/17 vs. BOS (4HR), snapping a streak of 39 consecutive wins.
EL PATRÓN — Wander Franco has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games, batting .419 (18-for-43) with one triple, 5 HR, 7 RBI and six walks against just four strikeouts…this performance follows a 14-game stretch from 7/8-26 in which Franco hit .118 (6-for-51).
His 448 ft. home run last night was the farthest of his career, surpassing a 431-foot shot against NYY Gerrit Cole on 8/2/23.
NEW ROLE, WHO DIS? — RHP Zack Littell has set career highs in innings pitched over his last two starts, first throwing 5.0 innings on 7/30 at Houston followed by a 6.0 inning-performance on 8/4 at Detroit…in five starts this season, he has pitched to a 2.45 ERA (18.1IP, 5ER) with 14 strikeouts against just one walk.
In 16 appearances since 5/16, he has struck out 29 batters against just three walks… his 9.67 SO/BB during that stretch ranks third in MLB (min. 125BF) behind only SF Ross Stripling (15.50) and SF Jakob Junis (10.00).
RESILIENT — In 12 games since 7/25, Brandon Lowe is slashing .311/.367/.644 (14-for45) with five home runs and 12 RBI…in 27 games since returning from the injured list on 7/4, he is batting .258 (23-for-89) with five doubles and 6 HR after hitting .205 (36- for-176) with five doubles and 9 HR in 50 games prior to his IL stint.
Lowe hit his 99th career home run in Sunday’s win at Detroit, tying Fred McGriff for the seventh-most homers in franchise history…he also recorded his 281st career RBI on Sunday, surpassing Matt Joyce for the ninth-most RBI in club history.
With his next home run, Lowe will become the seventh member of the 100 HR club in team history, joining Evan Longoria (261HR), Carlos Peña (163HR), Aubrey Huff (128HR), Melvin Upton Jr. (118HR), Ben Zobrist (114HR) and Carl Crawford (104HR).
DARK HORSE — Isaac Paredes recorded his 22nd home run in Tuesday’s win vs. St. Louis…his nine home runs since the beginning of July are tied for fourth most in the AL in that span behind NYY Giancarlo Stanton (11HR), LAA Shohei Ohtani (10HR) and HOU Kyle Tucker (10HR).
HOT AND COLD — Jose Siri has homered 21 times in 67 games since 5/1, tied with TEX Adolis García (21HR/85G) for the third-most long balls in the AL during that stretch, trailing LAA Shohei Ohtani (33HR/86G) and CWS Luis Robert Jr. (26HR/84G).
Siri has also struck out in a career-high 20 consecutive games since 7/15, tied for the longest active run in the majors with HOU Chas McCormick…it is the third-longest such streak in club history behind a 23-game stretch from Evan Longoria (7/6-8/3, 2013) and a 21-game run from Steven Souza Jr. (4/10-5/3, 2017).
THIS IS HOW WE DO — Tampa Bay is 14-6 (.700) against left-handed starting pitchers, tied with Atlanta (also 14-6) for the best winning pct. in the majors.
Yandy Díaz is batting .520 (13-for-25) with two doubles, one HR and 6 RBI against left-handed pitchers dating back to 6/14.
Harold Ramírez is 15-for-34 (.441) with two doubles against southpaws since 6/20.
HOMER HAPPY — Tampa Bay has an AL-best 20 HR over its last 11 games since 7/28, ahead of Houston (19HR/12G) and Kansas City (19HR/12G).
The Rays have 82 home runs in 58 games at Tropicana Field this season after having only 71 long balls at home last season.
Tampa Bay has seven players with 15+ homers, including Jose Siri (23HR), Isaac Paredes (22HR), Randy Arozarena (18HR), Yandy Díaz (16HR), Wander Franco (16HR), Brandon Lowe (15HR) and Luke Raley (15HR)…the only other Rays team to complete a season with seven players having 15+ HR was the 2019 club, with Brandon Lowe being the lone player to meet the criteria on both teams.
CLOSE SHAVES — Of Tampa Bay’s 47 losses, 29 have been decided by two runs or fewer…among teams who are currently above .500, the 29 such losses are second most in MLB behind Seattle (30G).
In comparison, the Rays 37 wins by 4+ runs are third most in the majors behind Los Angeles-NL (41G) and Texas (39G).
IN A PINCH — Tampa Bay batters are 17-for-62 (.274) in pinch-hit situations, the third-best mark in the majors behind Miami (.324, 22-for-68) and New York-AL (.275, 14-for-51).
Harold Ramírez is hitting .583 (7-for-12) as a pinch hitter, the highest mark in MLB (min. 10AB), ahead of OAK Aledmys Díaz and BAL Ryan McKenna (both .500).
SUSTAINED SUCCESS — Since becoming the Rays in 2008, Tampa Bay’s .546 winning percentage is fourth best in MLB, trailing only Los Angeles-NL (.584), New York-AL (.571) and St. Louis (.549)…this includes a .587 winning percentage at Tropicana Field, the third-best home winning percentage in MLB since 2008 behind only Los Angeles-NL (.624) and New York-AL (.621).
INTERLEAGUE TALK — Tampa Bay is 20-17 (.541) in Interleague play this season…the Rays began the season 9-1 vs. NL opponents and were 17-10 before a five-game losing skid from 7/4-8…Tampa Bay is 9-5 against the NL Central, winning seven of its first eight before dropping four of its last six.
ALL ABOUT AUGUST — Under Kevin Cash (since 2015), the Rays have been at their best during the month of August, going 139-88 (.612), the highest August winning percentage in the AL over that span while trailing only Los Angeles-NL (.655) and St. Louis (.626).
CLIPPED WINGS — Tampa Bay and St. Louis conclude a three-game series tonight at Tropicana Field…the Rays swept the Cardinals in a three-game set last season from 6/7-9.
Tampa Bay has taken nine of its last 11 from St. Louis dating back to 6/11/14.
TONIGHT’S STARTER: RHP ZACK LITTELL (2-2, 4.04)
TONIGHT’S START — The sixth-year veteran makes sixth start/19th appearance of the season in tonight’s rubber match, including his second start/seventh outing at home…this marks his fourth “true” start of the season after serving in an opener/relief capacity to begin the year…has gone 2-1 with a 1.65 ERA (16.1IP, 3ER) in four outings (3GS) since the All-Star break, striking out 12 while issuing one walk.
LAST TIME OUT — Littell set a career high in innings for the second consecutive start while turning in his first career quality start in Tampa Bay’s 8-0 win over Detroit at Comerica Park on 8/4 (6.0IP, 3H, 0R, BB, SO)… his lone strikeout came against his first batter faced (Matt Vierling)… allowed only one baserunner to advance into scoring position (Miguel Cabrera 2B in 5th inn.)…has earned the win in back-to-back outings for the first time in his career.
REDBIRD BLUES — Littell is 0-1 with an 8.68 ERA (9.1IP, 9ER) across eight career relief appearances against St. Louis, his highest ERA against any NL opponent…Cardinals hitters are slashing .364/.404/.750 (16-for-44) against him with five homers (4.82 HR/9.0IP)…he made five appearances against St. Louis in 2022 while pitching for San Francisco, recording an 11.37 ERA (6.1IP, 8ER) and a 2.05 WHIP.
He is 1-2 with a 4.06 ERA (31.0IP, 14ER) in 30 career relief appearances against the NL Central…excluding his eight appearances vs. St. Louis, he owns a 2.08 ERA (21.2IP, 5ER) against the other four members of the division.
Ten of his 18 appearances (2 of 5GS) this season have come against NL opponents…he is 0-1 with a 5.65 ERA (14.1IP, 9ER) in those games.
THE ARSENAL — Littell primarily relies on a fastball/slider combination, throwing one of those two offerings 73.6 pct. of the time…added a sweeper to his repertoire this past offseason and has recorded a 30.8 pct. whiff rate on the offering…has a 14.1 pct. usage rate on the sweeper over his last two outings compared to 2.1 pct. in his first 18 appearances this season… opponents are batting .313 (30-for-96) against his fastball/slider and .229 (11-for-48) against his splitter/sweeper.
ODDS AND ENDS — Littell’s 1.65 ERA (16.1IP, 3ER) since the All-Star break ranks fifth in the AL (min. 15.0IP)…he has issued just one walk in his last 10 appearances spanning 27.0 innings; his 0.09 pct. walk rate in that span (since 6/21) is the lowest in the AL (min. 100BF), trailing only SF Ross Stripling (0.07%) in all of MLB…the first three spots in the opposing order are batting .241 (14-for-58) against him, but 4-9 hitters are batting .318 (28-for-88).
He is 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA (18.1IP, 5ER) in five starts this season and 0-1 with a 5.71 ERA (17.1IP, 11ER) in 13 relief appearances…this includes a 1.88 ERA (14.1IP, 3ER) in his three “true” starts (i.e. excluding starts as an opener).
Littell has traditionally been at his best in the second half of the season — in his career, he is 2-5 with a 5.27 ERA (94.0IP, 55ER) in 82 appearances (5GS) before the All-Star break compared to 13-2 with a 2.66 ERA (105.0IP, 31ER) in 75 outings (4GS) following the break.
SEASON RUNDOWN — Littell signed a minor league contract with Texas on 2/3 and was a non-roster invitee to Rangers Spring Training…made eight Cactus League appearances before opening the season with Triple-A Round Rock, going 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA (12.0IP, 3ER) in eight relief outings… was dealt to Boston in exchange for cash considerations on 5/5 and subsequently added to the 40-man roster the following day…after pitching in two games for the Red Sox, he was designated for assignment on 5/10 before being claimed by the Rays off waivers on 5/12.
Littell made four appearances between 5/16-22 before the Rays placed him on the 15-day injured list on 5/24 with right shoulder fatigue…completed a rehab assignment with Triple-A Durham from 6/6-11 and was activated on 6/14…has recorded a 3.07 ERA (29.1IP, 10ER) since returning from the IL compared to an 8.10 ERA (3.1IP, 3ER) in four games as a Ray prior to his IL stint.
