Dodgers and Rays meet in 2020 World Series rematch

After dropping the Los Angeles Dodgers in the six matches of the 2020 World Cup a Tampa Bay Rays they had to wait a good two years to clear their palates

Tampa Bay will finally get a chance to do that Friday night when they open a three-game series against the team Dodgers in St. Petersburg, Fla

Neither team has skipped a beat since they met two years ago in the Fall Classic, the Rays In 2021, they had the winningest season in franchise history (100-62), and Los Angeles had the second-most wins in National League history a season ago (111-51).

Both teams are now in first place in their respective divisions as the season creeps toward the two-month mark, with Tampa Bay leading the majors with a 37-15 record.

THE Rays they did particularly well at home, going an impressive 24-5 at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay took three of four games from the Blue Jays to start the week, closing out the series with a 6-3 win on Thursday and improving to 5-2 on their current 10-game homestand.

Toronto could not provide an answer to the question Rays on the bases in the finale, Tampa Bay had a season-high seven steals

“Dangerous lineup. Not just from a hitting standpoint, but running the bases, being on the bases.” Rays right-hander Zach Eflin said of his team. “That’s what we do when we’re going well, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.

Left-hander Jalen Beeks (1-2, 4.68 ERA) will ensure Tampa Bay continues to dominate at home when he gets the opener on Friday.

Beeks last pitched on Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers. He allowed one run on one hit with two walks and three strikeouts in two innings.

In its unique appearance, the Dodgers, Beeks went 4 2/3 innings on May 21, 2019, allowing five runs on eight hits. He walked two and fanned four

Right-hander Noah Syndergaard (1-3, 5.88) will face Beeks looking for his first win since April 30.

Syndergaard’s last no-decision came against the St. Louis Cardinals last Saturday after allowing three runs on four hits over five innings. He gave up one hit, hit one batter and totaled four hits.

In two career starts a RaysSyndergaard is 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA

Although Los Angeles is coming off Wednesday’s 4-3 loss to the Braves, the Dodgers they were still able to take two out of three games from Atlanta

Despite Wednesday’s setback, Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts remained proud of his team’s response to a terrible four-game series against the Cardinals in which the Dodgers dropped three games and lost 32-23

“We’ve been on the road for seven straight days. The time lag and all that. The way we bounced back, collectively, I thought we did a fantastic job,” Roberts said. “For me, the effort, the way we played, we won two out of three … like I said, very good signs.”

The series is against it Rays Los Angeles, which is 14-13 on the road this season, is closing out a 10-game road trip.

— Field Level Media