ARCHIVE April 7, 2026
April 7, 2026 · AL East

Chicago Cubs vs Tampa Bay Rays

April 7, 2026Tropicana FieldDome 69°F · 0 mph, None
AWAY
Chicago Cubs
5-6
9
vs
HOME
Tampa Bay Rays
5-6
2

Starting pitchers

AWAY · CHC
Javier Assad
Javier Assad
IP 5.2
HOME · TB
Mason Englert
Mason Englert
IP 3.2

Lineups

AWAY · CHC
  1. 1 Nico Hoerner 2B
  2. 2 Michael Busch 1B
  3. 3 Alex Bregman 3B
  4. 4 Pete Crow-Armstrong CF
  5. 5 Miguel Amaya C
  6. 6 Moisés Ballesteros DH
  7. 7 Dansby Swanson SS
  8. 8 Michael Conforto LF
  9. 9 Matt Shaw RF
HOME · TB
  1. 1 Yandy Díaz DH
  2. 2 Jonathan Aranda 1B
  3. 3 Jake Fraley RF
  4. 4 Junior Caminero 3B
  5. 5 Chandler Simpson LF
  6. 6 Cedric Mullins CF
  7. 7 Nick Fortes C
  8. 8 Richie Palacios 2B
  9. 9 Taylor Walls SS

Box score

  123456789 R
CHC 022001112 9
TB 000000020 2

Manager comparison

Both managers grade C / B- entering this matchup.

AWAY · CHC
Craig Counsell
C Lineup 1.7 R Bunts 0.4 R IBBs 0.3 R
HOME · TB
Kevin Cash
B- Lineup 0.9 R Bunts 2.4 R IBBs 2.1 R

Recent form

AWAY · CHC
10-0 W10 +27 run diff
WWWWWWWWWW
HOME · TB
8-2 L1 +17 run diff
LWWWWWWWLW

Season series: 1-0 with CHC listed first across 1 prior meeting.

Tactical analysis

RunsLeft separates manager decisions from player execution from game variance. Each card below is the same three-number framework that drives the share cards on the SPA replay page.

AWAY · Chicago Cubs
  • Manager lineup cost +0.04 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 4.84 vs actual lineup 4.80
  • Player execution +4.20 R/G Players exceeded the lineup's 4.80 projection by 4.20 (scored 9)
  • Game variance +4.16 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Busch 0-for-5 batting 2nd

HOME · Tampa Bay Rays
  • Manager lineup cost +0.01 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 4.74 vs actual lineup 4.72
  • Player execution −2.72 R/G Players fell 2.72 short of the lineup's 4.72 projection (scored 2)
  • Game variance −2.74 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Díaz 0-for-3 batting 1st

COUNTERFACTUAL

Optimal lineups projected 4.8 – 4.7 — actual was 9 – 2.

Keep reading

How RunsLeft analyzes games

Standard content on this page comes from the MLB Stats API. Tactical analysis comes from a per-game Monte Carlo: 10,000 simulated games against the opposing starter's ERA, both for the actual lineup the manager wrote and for the optimal arrangement of those nine players. The three numbers — manager cost, player execution, game variance — separate which part of the result was the lineup, the players, or the dice.

Read the full methodology.