ARCHIVE April 21, 2026
April 21, 2026 · AL East

Cincinnati Reds vs Tampa Bay Rays

April 21, 2026Tropicana FieldDome 72°F · 0 mph, None
AWAY
Cincinnati Reds
16-8
12
vs
HOME
Tampa Bay Rays
12-11
6

Starting pitchers

AWAY · CIN
Chase Burns
Chase Burns
IP 5.2
HOME · TB
Steven Matz
Steven Matz
IP 3

Lineups

AWAY · CIN
  1. 1 Dane Myers 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 Richie Palacios 2B
  8. 8 Hunter Feduccia C
  9. 9 Taylor Walls SS

Box score

  123456789 R
CIN 220014201 12
TB 000002004 6

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 −0.02 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 4.01 vs actual lineup 4.03
  • Player execution +7.97 R/G Players exceeded the lineup's 4.03 projection by 7.97 (scored 12)
  • Game variance +7.99 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Hayes HR from the 9-hole

HOME · Tampa Bay Rays
  • Manager lineup cost −0.06 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 2.70 vs actual lineup 2.76
  • Player execution +3.24 R/G Players exceeded the lineup's 2.76 projection by 3.24 (scored 6)
  • Game variance +3.30 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Simpson 0-for-4 batting 1st

COUNTERFACTUAL

Optimal lineups projected 4.0 – 2.7 — actual was 12 – 6.

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.