After dropping two out of three to the Minnesota Twins on the road, the Miami Marlins will continue the road trip against the Tampa Bay Rays in Central Florida. This will be a matchup of two teams heading in opposite directions. The Marlins are heading in the wrong direction, while the Rays have been arguably the biggest MLB surprise so far in 2026.
Sitting at 20-24 after the series in Minnesota, Miami is 10 games back behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League East, but just 1.5 games ahead of the New York Mets, who have seen their last 10 games and are closing in on making a jump in the standings.
As for the Rays, they are in first place in the American League East and have the most wins with 28 in the AL. At the beginning of the season, not many had that on their bingo card for the Rays mid-May record.
Miami will look to get off on a good foot in the series on Friday night. Here is a breakdown of the game, including how to watch, the starting pitchers and injuries.
How to Watch Miami Marlins at Tampa Bay Rays
Time: 7:10 p.m. ET, Friday
Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL
TV: Marlins.TV
Radio: Marlins: WQAM 104.3, WAQI 710
Pitching Matchup
Janson Junk | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Marlins: RHP Janson Junk (2-3, 3.25) vs. Rays: RHP Jesse Scholtens (3-2, 3.29)
Clayton McCullough will send Janson Junk to the mound to open the series. After three strong starts in a row that saw him give up one run over those outings, he was roughed up by the Washington Nationals, allowing seven hits and four runs over six innings on May 9 in an 8-7 Marlins victory. In 44.1 innings, he has 33 strikeouts.
As for Tampa Bay, Jesse Scholtens will be making his third start of the season and seventh appearance overall. He last pitched on May 8 against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, where he lasted just 4.2 innings, allowing two runs on two hits with four walks and four strikeouts.
That is one of the more bizarre lines you are going to see in an MLB game and it’s an even more bizarre line you’ll see in just 4.1 innings. Miami will want to make Scholtens prove he can pound the strike zone consistently.
Marlins Injuries
10-Day Injured List: OF Griffin Conine (hamstring tear).
15-Day Injured List: RHP Pete Fairbanks (nerve irritation), LHP Robby Snelling (sprained left UCL).
60-Day Injured List: RHP Adam Mazur (UCL reconstruction with internal brace), RHP Ronny Henriquez (UCL reconstruction with internal brace), Kevin Defrank (right bicep).
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow
