After last night’s disappointing series opening loss to the Texas Rangers, the Tampa Bay Rays record dropped to 51-46 and they fell into a tie for the top Wild Card spot with the New York Yankees as well as second place in the American League East. The Rays still hold a two game lead over the Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins for the second Wild Card spot.

Starting Pitchers

Chris Archer has been turning in quality performances seemingly every time out as of late. They are terrific or great outings, but they’re solid. Over his past four starts, he has allowed a total of 11 in just under 25 innings pitched. His last time out came on the 16th in Los Angeles where he held the Angels to two runs on five hits, while he walked five and struck out nine over six innings pitched.

Andrew Cashner has been decent for the Texas Rangers this year, better than in 2016 but not among career best years from 2013 to 2015. In 12 of his 15 starts this year, he has allowed three earned runs or less, while he’s averaging just under 6 innings per start. His last appearance came on the 17th in Baltimore where he allowed three runs on six hits — one homer — while he walked two and struck out three before leaving with two outs in the 7th inning.

Cashner has been outperforming his peripherals in 2017 immensely as his ERA (3.58) is one full point below his FIP (4.57). Opponents has a .280 BABIP off him, while Cashner is struggling to strikeout opponents like never before (11.6 K% compared to a career rate of 18.8%). One thing seems like he is allowing less homers.

Starting Lineups