ARCHIVE April 20, 2026
April 20, 2026 · AL East

Cincinnati Reds vs Tampa Bay Rays

April 20, 2026Tropicana FieldDome 72°F · 0 mph, None
AWAY
Cincinnati Reds
15-8
6
vs
HOME
Tampa Bay Rays
12-10
1

Starting pitchers

AWAY · CIN
Rhett Lowder
Rhett Lowder
IP 6
HOME · TB
Jesse Scholtens
Jesse Scholtens
IP 5.2

Lineups

AWAY · CIN
  1. 1 TJ Friedl CF
  2. 2 Matt McLain 2B
  3. 3 Elly De La Cruz SS
  4. 4 Sal Stewart 1B
  5. 5 Eugenio Suárez DH
  6. 6 Spencer Steer LF
  7. 7 Tyler Stephenson C
  8. 8 Rece Hinds RF
  9. 9 Ke'Bryan Hayes 3B
HOME · 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 Nick Fortes C
  8. 8 Richie Palacios 2B
  9. 9 Taylor Walls SS

Box score

  123456789 R
CIN 201002100 6
TB 100000000 1

Manager comparison

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

AWAY · CIN
Terry Francona
B- Lineup 0.9 R Bunts 0.8 R IBBs 0.8 R
HOME · TB
Kevin Cash
B- Lineup 0.9 R Bunts 2.4 R IBBs 2.1 R

Recent form

AWAY · CIN
1-9 L8 -46 run diff
LLLLLLLLWL
HOME · TB
8-2 L1 +17 run diff
LWWWWWWWLW

Season series: 2-1 with CIN 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 · Cincinnati Reds
  • Manager lineup cost −0.06 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 3.44 vs actual lineup 3.49
  • Player execution +2.51 R/G Players exceeded the lineup's 3.49 projection by 2.51 (scored 6)
  • Game variance +2.56 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Lineup spots out of order vs season production

HOME · Tampa Bay Rays
  • Manager lineup cost −0.06 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 4.75 vs actual lineup 4.81
  • Player execution −3.81 R/G Players fell 3.81 short of the lineup's 4.81 projection (scored 1)
  • Game variance −3.75 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Díaz 0-for-3 batting 4th

COUNTERFACTUAL

Optimal lineups projected 3.4 – 4.8 — actual was 6 – 1.

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.