The Tampa Bay Rays have spent the entire 2023 season at-or-near the top of the American League East while the Colorado Rockies have resided in the doldrums of the National League West all year. This dichotomy has been evident during the first two games of their lone road series in Tampa, as the Rays beat-up Colorado in game one before the Rockies suffered a late-inning collapse to drop game two. Overall, Colorado has been outscored 18-9 in the series and struck-out a staggering 26 times. But they’ll try their luck one more time against the Rays’ on a bullpen day in the final game of the series.
Peter Lambert will take the hill for Colorado, making his eighth start of the season. After a rough start to the month of August, Lambert has strung-together consecutive strong appearances with four runs allowed over his last 13 IP. He delivered a career-best seven innings in his previous outing against the Chicago White Sox, permitting one run on four hits while striking out five.
Opposing Lambert and the Rockies will be Shawn Armstrong. The veteran has bounced around the league in his nine-year career and is in his second season with Tampa Bay. He has mostly pitched out of the bullpen in 2023 — appearing in relief in 20 of his 24 games this season — but has been asked to take on an opener role on occasion, which will likely be the case again today. His last start came on August 12 against the Cleveland Guardians, where he tossed two scoreless innings before giving way to the bullpen.
First Pitch: 11:10 AM MDT
TV: AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)
Lineups:
Interesting lineup on a getaway day in St. Pete’s. pic.twitter.com/1euY33W0of
— Purple Row (@PurpleRow) August 24, 2023
#Rays lineup vs. #Rockies, with Armstrong opening on a bullpen day pic.twitter.com/YBxujkNCpc
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) August 24, 2023
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