The outcome of last night’s tough 8-0 loss at the hands of Luke Hochevar, a career 5.33 ERA pitcher, who was also 1-2 with a 7.25 ERA against the Rays prior to last night, was heartbreaking. However a few people quelled my worried mind by reminding me of a few things.

First, the offense went 0-7 wRISP while leaving six on base. That being said, would it really have mattered whether the Royals scored one or one hundred runs? Not really. Also, with the exception of his five run, seven hit third inning, Cobb did a good job holding things down. And you’ve really got to give it to Cobb for taking one for the team. Cobb gave a tired Rays bullpen some well needed rest by going the distance…even when getting hammered for eight earned runs. The Rays ultimately played like a team that was very tired, and can you blame them? They played 27 innings of baseball in the span of 30 hours, then arrived in KC early yesterday morning.

Yesterday brought at least some good news for the Rays. In his Rehab stint in Durham, Luke Scott drove in four runs and scored three times in a 14-10 victory against the Buffalo Bison. Scott hit two homers and a sacrifice fly on the day. Scott could be back as early as tomorrow. I wonder where that would find Hideki Matsui upon Scott’s return? Onward to tonight’s game.

Bruce Chen (6-6, 4.81 ERA) will take on Chris Archer (0-1, 1.50 ERA) in what could be the young right-handed pitcher’s last start for the Rays for the foreseeable future. It would be criminal if the Rays could not give Archer any run support tonight. Chen is 4-2 with a 3.75 ERA against the Rays in 11 starts. Beyond that, what is Chen capable of? Well my friends, take a gander at a few charts and graphs below.

Chen’s numbers (courtesy of ESPN.com)
Chen by situation (courtesy of ESPN.com)
Horizontal movement by pitch type vs. lefties (courtesy of Fangraphs.com)
Horizontal movement by pitch type vs. righties (courtesy of Fangraphs.com)

In conclusion, with fairly equal splits between righties and lefties, plus his propensity to give up three or more runs per game (Chen’s given up three or more runs in eight of his 15 starts), the Rays have an opportunity to take their frustrations out on a pitcher that tends to leave fastball’s and slider’s up in the zone.

Rays 6/26/12 Starting Lineup

Upton CF
Pena 1B
Keppinger 3B
Matsui DH
Zobrist RF
Rodriguez SS
Jennings LF
Conrad 2B
Lobaton C
Archer RHP

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