ARCHIVE April 18, 2026
April 18, 2026 · NL Cent

Tampa Bay Rays vs Pittsburgh Pirates

April 18, 2026PNC ParkCloudy 81°F · 17 mph, Out To LF
AWAY
Tampa Bay Rays
12-8
8
vs
HOME
Pittsburgh Pirates
12-9
7

Starting pitchers

AWAY · TB
Drew Rasmussen
Drew Rasmussen
IP 3.2
HOME · PIT
Paul Skenes
Paul Skenes
IP 4

Lineups

AWAY · TB
  1. 1 Chandler Simpson LF
  2. 2 Junior Caminero 3B
  3. 3 Jonathan Aranda 1B
  4. 4 Yandy Díaz DH
  5. 5 Jake Fraley RF
  6. 6 Cedric Mullins CF
  7. 7 Richie Palacios 2B
  8. 8 Hunter Feduccia C
  9. 9 Taylor Walls SS
HOME · PIT
  1. 1 Oneil Cruz CF
  2. 2 Brandon Lowe 2B
  3. 3 Bryan Reynolds LF
  4. 4 Ryan O'Hearn RF
  5. 5 Marcell Ozuna DH
  6. 6 Nick Yorke 3B
  7. 7 Spencer Horwitz 1B
  8. 8 Konnor Griffin SS
  9. 9 Henry Davis C

Box score

  12345678910111213 R
TB 0000500000102 8
PIT 2002000100101 7

Manager comparison

Both managers grade B- / C- entering this matchup.

AWAY · TB
Kevin Cash
B- Lineup 0.9 R Bunts 2.4 R IBBs 2.1 R
HOME · PIT
Don Kelly
C- Lineup 2.3 R Bunts 0.3 R IBBs 0.8 R

Recent form

AWAY · TB
8-2 L1 +17 run diff
LWWWWWWWLW
HOME · PIT
5-5 W2 +1 run diff
WWLWWWLLLL

Season series: 1-2 with TB listed first across 3 prior meetings.

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 · Tampa Bay Rays
  • Manager lineup cost +0.06 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 3.09 vs actual lineup 3.02
  • Player execution +4.98 R/G Players exceeded the lineup's 3.02 projection by 4.98 (scored 8)
  • Game variance +4.91 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Lineup spots out of order vs season production

HOME · Pittsburgh Pirates
  • Manager lineup cost +0.04 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 3.20 vs actual lineup 3.16
  • Player execution +3.84 R/G Players exceeded the lineup's 3.16 projection by 3.84 (scored 7)
  • Game variance +3.80 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Lowe 0-for-5 batting 2nd

COUNTERFACTUAL

Optimal lineups projected 3.1 – 3.2 — actual was 8 – 7.

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.