Marlins vs. Rays: Start time, how to watch, game thread and Fish Picks—September 4, 2020

Welcome to Friday’s Marlins (16-16) vs. Rays (26-12) game thread. The Citrus Series always promises to be a fun time (except for last weekend—that sweep was brutal to watch).

Fish Picks is BACK and better than ever! Our free-to-play daily prop bets contest is open to all fans. Courtesy of a new Fish Stripes partnership with Fantom Drip, weekly points leaders will win their choice of a Marlins face covering (five different varieties available) or the exclusive Fish Stripes design. The 2020 full-season points leader gets their pick of two new Marlins-themed t-shirts.

Miami Marlins Brian Anderson 15 Face Cover

• $12

• $12 at Fantom Drip

The Fish Picks leaderboard will update daily to let you know where you stand.

Marlins Lineup

1. 2B Jon Berti
2. CF Starling Marte
3. 1B Garrett Cooper
4. DH Jesús Aguilar
5. 3B Brian Anderson
6. SS Miguel Rojas
7. LF Corey Dickerson
8. C Jorge Alfaro
9. RF Lewis Brinson

P Pablo López (2.10 ERA, 2.26 FIP, 22.5 K%, 30.1 Hard Hit% in 34.1 IP)

Baseball Savant

Notes: One week after Yimi García was reinstated from the injured list, right-hander Ryne Stanek is back on the active roster for tonight’s contest, giving the Marlins bullpen much-needed firepower. Stanek has been disappointing since arriving in last year’s trade, but perhaps the familiar surroundings of Tropicana Field will do him some good—he’s posted a 2.79 earned run average with 102 strikeouts in 77 ¹⁄₃ innings here.

Rays Lineup

1. 1B Ji-Man Choi
2. 2B Brandon Lowe
3. 3B Joey Wendle
4. LF Austin Meadows
5. SS Willy Adames
6. DH Yoshi Tsutsugo
7. RF Manuel Margot
8. CF Kevin Kiermaier
9. C Michael Perez

P Josh Fleming (1.74 ERA, 3.23 FIP, 23.1 K%, 32.1 Hard Hit% in 10.1 IP)

Baseball Savant

Notes: Coincidentally, Nick Anderson—who was part of the same trade as Stanek—is also making his return from the injured list (forearm strain)...Fleming frustrated the Fish in their previous matchup. That’s part of a larger, troubling trend as the club has lost eight of the last nine games when facing left-handed starting pitchers.

How to watch/listen/follow

The first pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET. Watch on FOX Sports Florida and via MLB.TV or listen on 940 WINZ. All Marlins team broadcasters will remain in South Florida, calling the game remotely.

Fish Picks

Please comment below or tweet to @fishstripes with your picks for the following props. The contest locks at first pitch.

1. Which team scores first? (Marlins/Rays)
2. Over/Under 25.5 changeups thrown by Pablo López? (Over/Under)
3. Over/Under 0.5 errors for the Rays? (Over/Under)
4. Will Jorge Alfaro get a hit? (Yes/No)
5. Who wins? (Marlins/Rays)