The Tampa Bay Rays will start a stretch of eight road games in the next nine days, beginning with the opener of a three game set with the Baltimore Orioles Monday. Chris Archer will get the start, taking on Ubaldo Jimenez, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05. Coverage on WDAE begins at 6:00 with The Inside Pitch, presented by Sykes Lakeland.
Rays Starting Lineup
Dickerson DH
Kiermaier CF
Longoria 3B
Miller 2B
Souza RF
Morrison 1B
Beckham SS
Peterson LF
Norris C
Orioles Starting Lineup
Smith RF
Jones CF
Machado 3B
Davis 1B
Trumbo DH
Castillo C
Kim LF
Schoop 2B
Hardy SS
WEATHER COULD BE A FACTOR: The Baltimore-are is expected to see rain both Monday and Tuesday, and the probability that the teams could experience at least delays during the series seems extreme;ly likely. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweeted out this picture of the weather radar from his phone.
SOUZA NAMED AL PLAYER OF WEEK: In addition to Monday being his 28th birthday, Rays OF Steven Souza Jr. learned that he has been named the American League Player of the Week for the week ending on April 23.
For the week, Souza went 12 for 29, hitting .414/.433/.759 with two doubles, a triple, two home runs and nine RBI. He tied the league lead on the weeks in his, extra-base hits and RBI.
The Rays outfielder joined MLB Network's Kelly Nash on The Rundown Monday afternoon to discuss the award and what's changed to improve his play at the plate.
Souza is the first Rays player to win the Player of the Week award since Evan Longoria did so for May 30-June 5, 2016, and the 39th player in franchise history to take home the award.
Photo: Getty Images