Rays' Matz Shines in Sweep Bid

0:00It's April 29th. From your city to your ears, this is Tampa Bay News today, powered by AI. The Tampa Bay Rays are straight fire right now. The hottest squad in baseball as they head into the series finale against the Cleveland Guardians. They're chasing a second straight sweep on a six game winning streak that kicked off with a victory over the Cincinnati Reds and powered through against the Minnesota Twins. Those first two games versus Cleveland were pure thrillers, squeaking out wins by 3-2 and 1-0. This marks their second straight series against an American League central foe, and the Rays have kept the momentum rolling without missing a beat. Spotlight's on veteran, lefty Steven Mats in that opener, who bounced back huge after a rough start against the Reds where he gave up four earned runs. And three homers in just three innings, facing a team though likely battle for playoff spots, Mats went seven strong innings, his longest since October 1st, 2021, allowing just two runs on a two run homer in the fifth.

1:03The Rays scratched across three runs late, with key hits from Ryan Velade and a solo shot from Jonathan Aranda to seal it. Mats signed a two-year $15 million deal this off season amid some doubts about him as a full-time starter, but he's delivering exactly what? Tampa Bay needs length for an overworked bullpen. In six starts, he's logged 31 in two-thirds innings with a 4.31 ERA and 27 strikeouts, going at least six innings, in half his outings. Manager Kevin Cash has reliable innings from the back of the rotation, fueling this hot streak as they eye that sweep today and keep climbing the standings.