Tampa Bay Rays at Cleveland Guardians
CLEVELAND (Interstat) — Tampa Bay and Cleveland meet Saturday at Progressive Field in Game 4 of their playoff series, with the Rays as the visiting team and the Guardians at home. Cleveland leads the series 2-1 after a 3-2 victory in Game 3. Tampa Bay won Game 2 3-1, and Cleveland took Game 1 7-3.
Tampa Bay enters at 102-66, while Cleveland is 90-80. The Rays list Nick Martinez, 15-6, and Shawn Armstrong, 2-1, as probable pitchers. The forecast at game time calls for 52 degrees Fahrenheit.
Tyler Wells is a player to watch for Tampa Bay. In Game 3 at Cleveland, Wells pitched two scoreless innings, allowed one hit and struck out four. In Game 2 against the Guardians, he allowed two earned runs on two hits over one-third of an inning. Chandler Simpson drove in two runs for the Rays in Game 3, and Steven Matz added two scoreless innings with two strikeouts.
Gavin Williams is a player to watch for Cleveland. In Game 3 against Tampa Bay, Williams worked five innings, allowed two earned runs on two hits, walked one and struck out nine. In his previous start against the Chicago White Sox, he pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowed one hit, walked two and struck out 12. Williams also struck out 11 over five innings against the White Sox and worked seven scoreless innings with nine strikeouts against the Athletics. Cade Smith pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts in Game 3, and Petey Halpin homered and drove in two runs.
Tampa Bay’s most recent result was the 3-2 loss at Cleveland in Game 3. The Rays also won 3-1 at home against Cleveland in Game 2 after a 7-3 home loss in Game 1. Cleveland’s most recent result was the 3-2 home win against Tampa Bay in Game 3. The Guardians won 2-0 at home against the White Sox in their previous game before that.
Tampa Bay has won six of nine meetings between the teams this season, including two of three in the regular season at Progressive Field in late April.
Interstat’s game simulator projects Tampa Bay 9, Cleveland 6. Interstat’s ELO system gives Tampa Bay a 51.4 percent probability to win. Tampa Bay is installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5, and the over/under is 6.5.