Tampa Bay Rays hurler Nathan Karns hit a solo shot on Tuesday which accounted for the only run in a 1-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. A visibly sick Karns and five relievers combined for a four-hitter, as the Rays snapped their two game skid, and improved to 48-48 on the season.
The Rays found themselves in scoring position early on after John Jaso hit a leadoff double in the first inning, yet the team couldn’t take advantage — Steven Souza Jr. (0-4 in his return game) struck out looking, Evan Longoria went down swinging, and James Loney grounded out to second end the inning. The meat of the order — Souza, Longoria, Loney, and Logan Forsythe — combined to go 1-20 in the game, while the team went 0-4 wRISP.
With the game knotted at zero in the third inning, Nathan “the Rays offense” Karns belted a first-pitch fastball into the left field seats. It was the first hit by a Rays pitcher since July 23rd of last year, when Alex Cobb hit a double against the Cardinals. It also was just the second homer ever by a Rays pitcher, as Karns joined Esteban Yan as pitchers for Tampa Bay who homered. It also made Major League history. Before Karns Tuesday night, no pitcher — AL or NL — had ever homered, accounting for the only run of a 1-0 victory in interleague play.
After that, the Rays didn’t get another runner beyond second base.
On the mound, Karns worked around leadoff walks in the first and second innings, and got plenty of help defensively. After a walk in the second, Kiermaier gunned down Cody Asche as he attempted to go from first to third on a Domonic Brown single. Then in the fourth, Longoria made a terrific catch in foul ground on Ryan Howard to end the inning with a runner at third. In the fifth Kiermaier came up big once more, robbing Cameron Rupp of a hit with a diving catch, and James Loney started an excellent 3-6-3 double play to end that frame.
Karns allowed three hits, struck out four and walked two, marking the 14th game in which he has allowed two earned runs or less.
Steve Geltz and Xavier Cedeno combined to put up a zero in the sixth, although they received some help from Rene Rivera, who threw out Cesar Hernandez trying to steal to end that inning.
In the seventh, Jake McGee allowed a hit and a walk, but struck out Jeff Francoeur to end the Phillies’ uprising. Prior to his at-bat, Francoeur had been 8-16 as a pinch-hitter this season.
Kevin Jepsen put up a 1-2-3 eighth with a pair of strikeouts (both swinging) of Odubel Herrera and Galvis, and Brad Boxberger was credited with his 24th save of the season after working a 10 pitch (nine strike) 1-2-3 ninth.
Karns spoke on the defense, and how Kiermaier and company helped him out, among other things, after the game:
The New What Next
Jake Odorizzi (5-6, 2.80 ERA) will start get the start in the series finale, opposite of left-hander Adam Morgan (1-2, 3.91 ERA). Odorizzi looks to bounce back a less than optimal start last Friday in which he allowed a career-high-tying five walks, and a season-high six earned runs. He is 3-3 with a 3.51 ERA in seven career Interleague starts. Morgan has allowed two or fewer runs in three of his first four starts, and he has pitched more than six innings in two of his last three. You can read about the pitching matchup in our series preview.
Rays 7/22/15 Starting Lineup
Guyer CF
Souza RF
Longoria 3B
Forsythe 2B
Butler LF
Beckham SS
Elmore 1B
Rivera C
Odorizzi RHP
Noteworthiness
— How much history can you take? Per ESPN, Karns homer was just the sixth time in baseball history that an American League pitcher homered in a 1-0 game. Before Tuesday, the last time was April 18, 1962, when Milt Pappas did it for Baltimore in a win over the Yankees.
— Injury update (Drew Smyly and Desmond Jennings):
Drew Smyly threw 40 pitches in a live batting practice session in Port Charlotte this afternoon. He threw fastballs and breaking pitches, with his fastball velocity topping out at 89 mph. Smyly told Josh Vitale (Suncoast Sports Now) that he “felt great” during the session, although he doesn’t know what his next step will be just yet. As I wrote yesterday, the next step should be a rehabilitation assignment.
As for Desmond Jennings, the outfielder told Vitale that his surgically repaired left knee is “feeling good,” although he’s still trying to get the knee back under him. When asked when he would like to begin his rehab assignment, Jennings said “tomorrow,” yet he doesn’t know when that will begin.