The Rays got off to a slowish start, finding themselves dead last in the AL East on May 1, but have since ridden an 11-game winning streak all the way to the top of the division.
Simple! Their offensive success is a little surprising since as a whole, the Rays are not a good-hitting team: they have a .229 batting average, have struck out a league-worst 667 times, and also have gotten caught stealing more than any other AL team, for good measure.
On the pitching side, Tampa Bay managed to lose two of its best starters from 2020 over the offseason and still have the second-best team AL ERA in 2021, at 3.32, with the fourth-most total strikeouts, too.
Tonight, the Rays are starting lefty Ryan Yarbrough, whose 3-3 record and 3.95 ERA look a little better than they would if he were based in Camden Yards: Tropicana Field is a notoriously pitchers-friendly park, and Yarbrough’s defense has picked him up a bit, too .
But whether it’s his stuff clicking, or him thriving in a starting role, Akin has been immensely better when starting: in two starts totaling 9.2 innings, he’s 0-0 with a 0.93 ERA and eight strikeouts.