Game Preview: Colome v Masterson

The Rays have split the first two games in Fenway so it's down to Alex Colome to help right the wrong of last night's injustice by the Rays offense. Drew Smyly got the loss, yet two-hit the Red Sox through seven. Kill the win.

Tonight in Fenway, the Rays will square off against Justin Masterson, and Steven Souza Jr. will get a scheduled off-day. So no injury concerns there.

Lineups:

Back-to-back series W's vs. @RedSox on the line. @AlexanderColome gets the ball on @SunSportsRays, @620wdae, @MLBTV. pic.twitter.com/WYhW6dDDEH

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 6, 2015

#RedSox v #Rays: Betts CF, Pedroia 2B, Ortiz DH, Napoli 1B, Sandoval 3B, Craig LF, Holt RF, Bogaerts SS, Swihart C, Masterson P

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) May 6, 2015

Justin Masterson is a groundball pitcher unless he's using his slider, in which case it does the opposite. It's that slider, which sweeps across the zone and gets varied results, that becomes his go-to whenever he's ahead or sitting on two-strikes. Currently, the only other glaring tendency is if a left handed batter is ahead, then you can think greenlight on a fastball. That's new as of joining the Red Sox. Before this season, Masterson was far more likely to use his sinker in most any count but it's been seen far more sparingly in 2015.

For more on what we might see out of Alex Colome tonight, check Ian's analysis of his first start here.

Go Rays!