Steven Souza Jr. was without a doubt the hero in Tuesday’s contest between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays. Souza got the contest started with a long home run, and then sparked an eighth inning, go-ahead rally with a bunt. The Rays walked out of the Rogers Centre with a 3-2 win; their fourth consecutive W.
Souza opened the scoring in the first with a blast off the facing of the third deck in center-field. ESPN measured the homer at 463 feet — the third longest by a Ray since they began tracking in 2006.
I’ve seen a lot of baseball games here, and that has got to be the furthest ball I’ve ever seen hit, Rays manager Kevin Cash told the media following the game.
The solo shot came on the first pitch Souza saw from rookie Daniel Norris:
It’s fun when it goes like that, Souza said. Have you ever cut butter with a knife? That’s what it feels like.
Souza, who came into the game hitting just .158 on the season (though with a .333 OBP), needed approximately 36 feet to make an impact in the eighth inning. With the score knotted at two, Souza reached on a beautifully bunt single( up the third base line) off reliever Miguel Castro to lead off the frame. One out later, Souza stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Russell Martin. Castro intentionally walked Evan Longoria to face Jennings, however, that strategy didn’t work out too well for Toronto — Jennings drove a tie-breaking sacrifice fly to center, scoring Souza.
Desmond’s at-bat, to me, was as crucial as they come, Cash said in his post game presser. When you fall behind on that type of stuff, it’s really tough to elevate a pitch.
Otherwise, offensively speaking, Tampa Bay was quiet at the plate. The team wasn’t able to pounce on 13 total base runners, ultimately going 0-8 wRISP. Brandon Guyer added a double in the third though he was left stranded, and Evan Longoria walked three times.
Longoria has collected a .382 OBP thus far, due in large part to his ability to work a good at-bat, and take a walk. Because this is still a very young season, any criticism of Jennings might be undue. And to be perfectly honest, this is more of a critique of his placement in the order. In any case, with only two runs batted on the season, I’m not certain if DesJen is the best player to have hitting behind Longo. We’ve seen how devastating he can be on the base paths (accruing four stolen bases in the last two games), and I just wonder if he isn’t better suited for third in the lineup, just before Evan?
On the other end of the spectrum, Matt Andriese made his first big league start and allowed two runs on five hits in 3-2/3 innings. Mind you, all of this came after only working a pair of single innings the Saturday before the season and last Friday, while also not establishing a firm routine between starts. He also didn’t crack the 80 pitch barrier in Spring Training. All of this is to say that a long start wasn’t expected out of Andriese, who isn’t fully stretched out.
Andriese worked through a two on, two-out jam in the second inning thanks to our good friend sequencing. He got ahead of Russell Martin by spotting two well located fastballs at the bottom of the zone (one on the outside corner, and the other on the inside corner). He came back a high fastball, and Martin took the bait; the Jays’ catcher whiffed mightily to end the inning. Andriese was pulled in the fourth after allowing three consecutive base hits, one culminating in a run.
Erik Hahmann (DRaysBay) touched on Andriese’s start:
He certainly has the stuff to pitch in the big leagues, his battle will be harnessing his control. The command is there. The pitches have the necessary life to them. Whether he ends up in a rotation some day, or, more likely, in a bullpen, he should have a decent career ahead of him if he can add a touch more control.
With the exception of an RBI double allowed by Kirby Yates*, the bullpen pitched very well once again. Yates, Steve Geltz, Grant Balfour, and Kevin Jepsen combined to throw 5-1/3 innings of shutout ball, allowing only three hits while striking out two.
Credit should be given to the guys in the field — it seemed like all of the outfielders made excellent warning track snares at some point in the game. Kevin Kiermaier made a spectacular grab to retire Devon Travis for the second out of the ninth, leaping against the scoreboard in right-center.
I feel like if it’s in the air, I’m going to catch it, Kiermaier said following the game. The only way I’m not going to catch it is if it goes out.
Words cannot express how great the catch was. That being said, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the human highlight reel that is The Outlaw. (Cough, click the link, cough.)
Kudos to Kiermaier for hushing his critics after the play, or at least attempting to:
*The run was credited to Matt Andriese
The New What Next
Erasmo Ramirez is slated to get the start Wednesday, opposite of Blue Jays LHP Mark Buehrle. Buehrle, the ultimate thorn in ones side, went 2-0 with a 2.66 ERA in six starts against the Rays last season. The addition will add a fresh arm to the bullpen for the next 10 days. You can read about the match-up in our series preview.
Rays 4/15/16 Starting Lineup
Guyer LF
Souza RF
Cabrera SS
Longoria 3B
Jennings DH
Forsythe 1B
Kiermaier CF
Rivera C
Beckham 2B
Ramirez RHP
Noteworthiness
- I really like this perspective of Souza’s blast to center:
- The Rays are 0-13 wRISP through the first two games of this series, yet they have won twice.
- Hahmann also brought up a good point in his game recap, why does MLB have replay if calls like the one against Desmond Jennings in the sixth inning. He attempted to steal second but was thrown out even though replays appeared to show his hands touching second well before a tag was placed.
- Per Roger Mooney (Tampa Tribune), the Rays have recalled RHP Jose Dominguez; the corresponding move as Tampa Bay optioned Kirby Yates to Triple-A Durham following Tuesday night’s game. Dominguez will wear number 52, while the addition gives the Rays a fresh arm in the pen.
- The team also assigned RHP Ronald Belisario, who was slowed in spring by left shoulder fracture, to Triple-A Durham.
- By the way Toronto, how do you go from 50,000 fans the first night to 17,000 the next (a 66% reduction)? What is, the Trop? Pfft!