Lowe and Meadows hit home runs, Rays beat Red Sox 5-4
Brandon Lowe and Austin Meadows homered and the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays beat the last-place Boston Red Sox 5-4SEPTEMBER 13, 2020 • ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bregman gets big hit as Astros rally past Dodgers
SEPTEMBER 12, 2020 • ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rays start all-left-handed lineup and beat Red Sox 11-1
Nate Lowe hit two homers and drove in four runs as Tampa Bay fielded a lineup of all lefties and beat the Boston Red Sox 11-1SEPTEMBER 12, 2020 • ASSOCIATED PRESS
Reaches thrice in loss Meadows went 1-for-3 with an RBI ground-rule double and two walks in a loss to the Red Sox on Thursday.
Impact Meadows' productive night was a particularly welcome sight for a player that had come into the game mired in a 2-for-27 slump. The brief reprieve from the abysmal stretch was partly blemished by the fact Meadows whiffed on the two occasions in which he did make an out, pushing his September strikeout total to 15 over 35 plate appearances.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 • ROTOWIRE
Dalbec homers for 5th straight game, Red Sox beat Rays 4-3
Rookie Bobby Dalbec homered for his fifth consecutive game, Rafael Devers homered and drove in three runs and the AL-worst Boston Red Sox beat the AL-best Tampa Bay Rays 4-3SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 • ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mired in extended slump Meadows went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts in a loss to the Nationals on Tuesday. and he's now hitting just .074 (2-for-30) with zero extra-base hits and 13 strikeouts over 30 plate...
Impact Conventional wisdom based on the outfielder's prior body of work would seem to indicate Meadows is going to break out in a fairly substantial way at some point, but the issue at hand is an abbreviated 2020 season that's coming to a close in less than three weeks. It isn't difficult to pinpoint where Meadows' current troubles stem from, considering he sports a mammoth 43.3 percent strikeout rate during the aforementioned seven-game sample. As far as a season-long view is concerned, his atypical inability to make consistent contact still appears to be the main culprit, considering he owns a career-high 32.0 percent strikeout rate and isn't saddled with what would be an overly low BABIP (.279). The one other number that does stand out is Meadows' career-high 52.1 percent flyball rate, which has contributed to more of the balls he puts in play finding gloves.
SEPTEMBER 9, 2020 • ROTOWIRE
Hitless in return to action Meadows (thigh) went 0-for-4 in a loss to the Yankees on Tuesday.
Impact The outfielder was returning from a two-game absence due to the thigh issue, and manager Kevin Cash opted to slot Meadows into the cleanup spot in the order for the first time all season. The 25-year-old couldn't get extend his modest three-game hitting streak, dropping his season line to .233/.313/.430.
SEPTEMBER 2, 2020 • ROTOWIRE
Returns from thigh injury Meadows (thigh) is back in the lineup Tuesday against the Yankees, Neil Solondz of the Rays Radio Network reports.
Impact Meadows will bat cleanup and play right field after missing the last two games with thigh soreness. He hasn't been at his best this season, though his .244/.326/.451 slash line certainly isn't terrible.
SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 • ROTOWIRE
Glasnow overpowers Yanks as Rays go to 7-1 vs NY this season
Tyler Glasnow flummoxed the Yankees for six innings, Ji-Man Choi and Kevin Kiermaier homered off Gerrit Cole, and the Tampa Bay Rays extended their mastery of New York with a 5-3 v...SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 • ASSOCIATED PRESS
Battling minor thigh issue Meadows' absence from the lineup for Monday's game against the Yankees is due to thigh soreness, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Impact The injury explains why the lefty has been on the bench against two straight righties. He's hitting a decent .244/.326/.451 this season, though that's well below the .291/.364/.558 line he managed last year. Meadows has been receiving fairly frequent off days recently, but it's possible they were primarily due to the thigh issue and not due to his relatively mediocre performances.
AUGUST 31, 2020 • ROTOWIRE
Benched against righty again Meadows is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Yankees.
Impact Coming off a .922 OPS in 2019, Meadows looked to be locked in one of Rays' few true everyday players, but manager Kevin Cash's lineups over the past week and change may suggest otherwise. Meadows, whose OPS is down 145 points from its 2019 mark, will now head to the bench for the fourth time in nine games, including both of the past two days. The lefty-hitting Meadows hasn't dealt with any reported injury during that time, and he'll be sitting against a right-handed pitcher (Gerrit Cole) for the second game in a row, so his absences from the lineup haven't purely been platoon-based. Manuel Margot will pick up the start in left field in place of Meadows.
AUGUST 31, 2020 • ROTOWIRE
Resting again Sunday Meadows is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Marlins, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.
Impact Manager Kevin Cash has been liberal about doling out rest to the lefty-hitting Meadows, who will sit for the third time in eight games even with a right-hander (Sandy Alcantara) being on the mound for the opposition. Brian O'Grady will step in for Meadows in left field.
AUGUST 30, 2020 • ROTOWIRE
Yarbrough pitches into the 7th as Rays beat Marlins 2-0
Ryan Yarbrough and two relievers combined on a five-hitter, and AL East leader Tampa Bay won its third game in a row by beating the Miami Marlins 2-0AUGUST 29, 2020 • ASSOCIATED PRESS
On base thrice in win Meadows went 1-for-3 with a double, two walks and a run in a win over the Orioles on Wednesday.
Impact Meadows set the table nicely out of the leadoff spot, getting a welcome taste of success at the plate after coming into the contest in the midst of a 2-for-18 skid that encompassed his last five games. The slump has left Meadows' current season average at a pedestrian .233, although his nine extra-base hits (five doubles, one triple, three home runs) have helped him to a decent .452 slugging percentage.
AUGUST 27, 2020 • ROTOWIRE
Drives in two Meadows went 1-for-3 with a single, two RBI and run scored the 5-4 win over the Blue Jays on Sunday.
Impact The outfielder tied the game at two with a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Tampa Bay took the lead later in the inning and Meadows extended the margin to 4-2 with an RBI single in the seventh. He now has nine RBI while slashing .242/.307/.470 on the campaign.
AUGUST 23, 2020 • ROTOWIRE
Fleming wins big league debut, Rays beat Blue Jays 5-4
Josh Fleming pitched five innings of two-run ball to win his major league debut, and the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4AUGUST 23, 2020 • ASSOCIATED PRESS
Receiving day off Meadows is not in the starting lineup for Saturday's game against the Blue Jays.
Impact With left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu on the mound for the Blue Jays on Saturday, Rays manager Kevin Cash decided to sit the lefty-hitting Meadows. The former 2013 first-round pick is slashing .242/.314/.484 with three home runs and seven RBI across 70 plate appearances this year. He will be replaced in left field by Yoshi Tsutsugo for the day.
AUGUST 22, 2020 • ROTOWIRE
Rays beat Yankees again 4-2; Cole's streak intact after ND
Pinch-hitter Mike Brosseau singled home the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning and the streaking Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees again, taking advantage of a costly erro...AUGUST 20, 2020 • ASSOCIATED PRESS
Smacks third homer Meadows went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a second run scored in Tuesday's 6-3 win over the Yankees.
Impact He took Masahiro Tanaka deep in the fifth inning for his third homer of the season. Meadows has shown little rust despite missing the first 10 games of the season, hitting .271 (13-for-48) since joining the lineup with seven RBI and 12 runs in 13 games.
AUGUST 19, 2020 • ROTOWIRE
Lowe, Meadows lead Rays to a 6-3 win over Yankees.
AUGUST 19, 2020 • ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lowe leads Rays past Yankees 6-3 in series opener
Brandon Lowe homered for the fifth time in six games, Austin Meadows also connected and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the AL East-leading New York Yankees 6-3AUGUST 19, 2020 • ASSOCIATED PRESS
White Sox hit 4 consecutive homers in victory over Cardinals
AUGUST 17, 2020 • ASSOCIATED PRESS
Adames HR gives Rays second win of the day over Blue Jays
Willy Adames hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays, helped by a huge Toronto error, beat the Blue Jays 7-5 to win both games completed SundayAUGUST 16, 2020 • ASSOCIATED PRESS
Blasts homer in suspended game Meadows went 1-for-2 with a solo home run Saturday against Toronto. The game was suspended due to rain.
Impact Prior to 2020, Meadows' homer would have been wiped from the record books due to the game being halted prior to the fifth inning. Under amended rules for this season, however, the long ball will stand and the contest will be made up Sunday morning. Meadows how has two home runs and five RBI in 38 at-bats this season.
AUGUST 16, 2020 • ROTOWIRE
Rays-Jays halted by rain; finish Sunday, then 7-inning game
The Toronto Blue Jays had their game against Tampa Bay suspended in the fourth inning because of rain, a hazard of playing in their temporary outdoor home in BuffaloAUGUST 16, 2020 • ASSOCIATED PRESS
