Rays Pregame:
Chris Archer (1-0; 2.57) gets the ball for Tampa Bay, his second start of the season. He went seven innings on opening day in a win over the Yankees. Last season, Archer faced the Blue Jays on four occasions going 1-1 with two no-decisions. For his career, he is 6-4, 3.23 ERA against the Jays.
Evan Longoria is off to a nice start this season, .313 BA, 2 HR, 5 RBI, but he has not had much success against Blue Jays starter Aaron Sanchez.
Tonight’s Starting Lineup: #Rays #BlueJays pic.twitter.com/4YUGzqipQ6
— The Scrum Sports (@TheScrumSports) April 8, 2017
Blue Jays Pregame:
Sanchez (15-2; 3.00) makes his 2017-debut tonight and he would enjoy nothing more than to continue where he left off last season. He led MLB with a .882 winning percentage, and led the AL in ERA.
The Chris Archer – Jose Bautista matchup will certainly be fun to watch. Bautista has eight hits in 42 career at-bats against Archer, three of them are home runs. Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson has not had much success against the Rays ace either. The slugger has just three hits in 26 trips to the plate. So far this season, Donaldson has struck-out seven times in just 16 AB’s.
Misc. Pregame:
“They’re the best ones of me so far”
No stranger to to figurines in his likeness, tonight is Kevin Kiermaier Gold Glove Bobble-Head night. When asked about the promotion Kiermaier said he was quite happy with how they came out. The first 15,000 fans will take home a special edition keep-sake.
You can enter to win an autographed version of the bobble-head…
Want a chance to win this exclusive signed KK bobble?
1) Snap a pic using this Stay Gold Snapchat filter
2) Save it
3) Tweet it out #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/mtzKDKRbvp— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 8, 2017
First pitch is set for 6:10p
