Both clubs have real stakes attached to this stretch. San Diego has been jockeying for the National League's last wild-card spot, holding a slim edge over Arizona, while Tampa Bay has spent the summer running the AL East rather than chasing a wild card. Neither team can treat a Sunday getaway-day game as an afterthought.
San Diego enters having won 3 of its last 5, a stretch that includes taking 2 straight from Minnesota before splitting the first 3 of a set with Pittsburgh. Tampa Bay is also 3-2 over its last 5, having taken 2 of the first 3 from Detroit. Both teams still have 2 games against each other before Sunday, so whoever shows up for this one will have absorbed whatever those games do to the bullpen and lineup mix.
Ray's own season has had a strange middle chapter — he reportedly rode a 7-0, 2.12 ERA unbeaten stretch before struggling in his San Diego debut, a start where he issued 5 walks and struck out only 2. His overall numbers are still strong, but it's worth watching whether that command hiccup was a blip or a sign of an adjustment period. Rasmussen, meanwhile, has been arguably the best story in the Rays' rotation, working deep into games and missing bats without missing a beat down the stretch.