PREVIEW Starts 7:10 PM ET · Daikin Park
July 4, 2026 · AL West

Tampa Bay Rays at Houston Astros

July 4, 20267:10 PM ETDaikin Park
AWAY
Tampa Bay Rays
25-13
@
HOME
Houston Astros
16-23

Lineups

Lineups are usually announced ~90 minutes before first pitch. Check back soon.

Manager comparison

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

AWAY · TB
Kevin Cash
B- Lineup 0.9 R Bunts 2.4 R IBBs 2.1 R
HOME · HOU
Joe Espada
D+ Lineup 2.8 R Bunts 0.7 R IBBs 0.4 R

Bullpen availability

AWAY · TB
  • Available 6
  • Limited 2
  • Rest required 1
  • Inactive 1
HOME · HOU
  • Available 7
  • Limited 0
  • Rest required 0
  • Inactive 1

Recent form

AWAY · TB
8-2 L1 +17 run diff
LWWWWWWWLW
HOME · HOU
5-4 W1 -2 run diff
WLWLWWLLW?

Tactical preview

Kevin Cash (B-) faces Joe Espada (D+). Lineup decisions are the largest single category of cost in the RunsLeft model.

AWAY · TB
B-
Lineup cost 0.9 R · Bunt cost 2.4 R · IBB cost 2.1 R
HOME · HOU
D+
Lineup cost 2.8 R · Bunt cost 0.7 R · IBB cost 0.4 R

Lineups not yet announced. They typically post ~90 minutes before first pitch.

Bullpen availability for both teams is in the section above. Full tactical analysis (manager cost, player execution, counterfactual outcome) will appear here after the game ends.

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.