Rays' Taj Bradley hopes to build on great outing vs. Marlins

The Tampa Bay Rays' recent climb in the standings has centered around their strong pitching, and suddenly everyone is chipping in.

A key component of the American League East club's surge, starting pitcher Taj Bradley will be on display Saturday afternoon when the team continues its three-game series against the Miami Marlins in Tampa.

In the series opener Friday afternoon, Tampa Bay led by three late, held on and got a perfect ninth inning from closer Pete Fairbanks in a 4-3 win, the team's fourth straight, all at home on the six-game homestand.

Fairbanks' save was his 12th in 13 tries. The Rays won for the 11th time in the past 12 home matchups and are 13-3 in their past 16 outings.

The Rays hope Bradley (4-5, 3.95) has hit his stride as he prepares to make his 13th start and second against Miami in three weeks.

That start in South Florida did not go well for the Los Angeles native, who was ambushed for five runs and six hits in four innings and took the loss in the Marlins' 9-4 rout.

However, the right-handed Bradley has posted a 1.80 ERA over the 20 innings of his past three starts, though his record in that span is just 1-2.

In his most recent outing in Houston on Sunday, the third-year hurler turned in his best performance this season, firing seven stout innings and yielding just one unearned run on three hits. He fanned a season-high 10 Astros and walked two in a hard-luck 1-0 defeat.

"It felt like one of his better fastball days," said manager Kevin Cash. "He had everything going and just impressed with the way he navigated through that lineup.

"They showed a lot of aggression, and Taj had a lot of answers."

Bradley is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in two starts against Miami.

The Marlins have had to rebound from one of the lowest points in the majors by any club this season -- being swept at home by the lowly Colorado Rockies, who began the series with a 9-50 record.

Colorado secured its first three-game sweep in the series in Miami since it earned three wins over the San Diego Padres in May 2024.

Ryan Weathers (1-1, 2.49) will start for Miami. The left-handed son of former Marlins' pitcher David Weathers will make his first appearance against the Rays.

The last-place National League East squad will be getting help soon as 22-year-old right-hander Eury Perez (right elbow soreness) is set to make his season debut after working into the fifth inning in Jacksonville while pitching for the Triple-A Jumbo Shrimp.

"Everything seems to be on track for Eury to join us on this road trip (to Pittsburgh)," Miami manager Clayton McCullough said. "Excited for that and him, that he's continued to respond well and recover well after his outings. The stuff has been good, and he's built a good foundation."

The organization placed right-handed started Max Meyer (left hip impingement) on the 15-day injured list Tuesday, opening a rotation spot that may be taken by Perez next week.

Top slugger and run producer Kyle Stowers (hand soreness) was a late scratch Friday as Miami lost its fifth straight tilt.