The Dodgers’ interleague home game will feature the Rays as the middle opponent, with Tampa Bay coming to Dodger Stadium for the first time since 2019. This time, it’s a weekend series that begins Friday night.
Players on the 2019 Rays team included Tyler Glasnow, Kevin Kiermaier and Anthony Banda, all current Dodgers. Kiermaier was the only one of the three to play at Dodger Stadium in that 2019 series, going 0-for-5 in his two games played.
After playing 13 straight days, the Dodgers had an off day on Thursday and have another on Monday after that series. Combined with Blake Treinen coming off the injured list on Wednesday and a Dodgers relief corps at its best of the season, there could be some aggressive bullpen use by the home team this weekend.
That’s not just because Bobby Miller starts the Series opener on Friday night, still searching for the control that raised high hopes for this season that has been a disaster for the second-year right-hander. He missed 10 weeks with shoulder inflammation, and although his first start of the year included 11 strikeouts in six scoreless innings, Miller still has an 8.02 ERA in his eight major league starts.
Dodgers-Rays schedule
| day | Time | Jugs | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| day | Time | Jugs | TV |
| Fri | 19:10 | Miller vs Alexander (L) | SNLA/MLBN* |
| So | 18:10 | Kershaw vs Bradley | SNLA |
| Sun | 13:10 | Stone vs Baz | SNLA |
Miller, who filled in for the out-of-work Glasnow, has gone five innings twice in his last seven Major League and Triple-A appearances. Last Saturday in St. Louis, he allowed four runs in 4⅔ innings.
Clayton Kershaw and Gavin Stone round out the weekend roster on the mound for the Dodgers, with Stone setting a career-high 10 strikeouts in seven scoreless innings against Seattle on Monday.
Tyler Alexander starts the series opener for the Rays, by Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Alexander is the first left-handed starting pitcher to face the Dodgers in 11 games. Tampa Bay will send right-handers Taj Bradley and Shane Baz to the mound for the final two games this weekend.
The Dodgers have an 11-9 record in interleague games against the Rays, including 5-2 at Dodger Stadium. Tampa Bay won two of three games against the Dodgers at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg in May of last season.
