Rays and Nationals meet, winner claims 3-game series

Jun 21, 2026, 06:01 pm

Washington Nationals (40-37, third in the NL East) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (42-31, second in the AL East)

St. Petersburg, Florida; Sunday, 1:40 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Nationals: Andrew Alvarez (1-0, 3.49 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 31 strikeouts); Rays: Nick Martinez (6-2, 2.60 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 50 strikeouts)

LINE: Rays -136, Nationals +113; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Rays and Washington Nationals play on Sunday with the winner claiming the three-game series.

Tampa Bay is 42-31 overall and 25-10 in home games. Rays hitters are batting a collective .256, the third-best team batting average in MLB play.

Washington has a 24-15 record in road games and a 40-37 record overall. Nationals hitters have a collective .321 on-base percentage, the eighth-ranked percentage in the NL.

The matchup Sunday is the third time these teams match up this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Junior Caminero leads the Rays with 27 extra base hits (12 doubles and 15 home runs). Jonathan Aranda is 12 for 40 with a double, a home run and seven RBI over the past 10 games.

James Wood has 18 doubles and 20 home runs for the Nationals. Nasim Nunez is 13 for 32 with two doubles, two triples and six RBI over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 4-6, .266 batting average, 4.02 ERA, outscored by two runs

Nationals: 6-4, .268 batting average, 5.01 ERA, outscored opponents by eight runs

INJURIES: Rays: Jesse Scholtens: 15-Day IL (wrist), Gavin Lux: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Steven Wilson: 60-Day IL (back), Manuel Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jon Heasley: 60-Day IL (elbow), Michael Grove: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jake Fraley: 10-Day IL (groin), Ryan Pepiot: 60-Day IL (hip), Edwin Uceta: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

Nationals: Jacob Young: day-to-day (upper body), Josiah Gray: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jake Irvin: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Max Kranick: 60-Day IL (elbow), Trevor Williams: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ken Waldichuk: 60-Day IL (forearm), DJ Herz: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.