X-Rays Spex

A Below Average Rays Fan Blog

Tampa Bay Rays 9/16/17 starting lineup and pregame notes

By Leave a Comment

Hurricane Hechavarria struck again Friday night, hitting a sixth inning homer that extended the Rays lead to three. (Photo Credit: Will Vragovic/Tampa Bay Times)

After a frustrating six hour and five minute 13-6 loss to Boston on Friday night, the Tampa Bay Rays look to bounce back this afternoon. Tampa Bay has dropped six of eight games after getting back to the .500 mark.

As Neil Solondz (Rays Radio Blog) noted, Kevin Kiermaier did homer for the third straight game, tying the longest streak of his career. Wilson Ramos had his first multi-homer game with the Rays, and gave the Rays 23 homers from their catchers, adding to the franchise’s single-season record. Kiermaier also flashed his Gold Glove defense last night.

The New What Next

Alex Cobb (11-9, 3.59 ERA, 4.16 FIP) will get the start for the Rays, pitching opposite of Rick Porcello (9-17, 4.64 ERA, 4.56 FIP).

Cobb has won his last two outings and has delivered quality starts in each of his last three, the most recent of which came against Boston. The right-hander held the Red Sox to just one earned run, although it took him 93 pitches to navigate five-plus innings. Cobb is 6-3 with a 3.32 ERA in 13 career starts against Boston, and 23-18 with a 3.07 ERA in 57 career starts at the Trop.

Porcello kept the Red Sox in the game last time out although he lost, allowing two runs on five over innings against the Rays.  Porcello enjoyed a strong outing overall, although it was tarnished in the fifth inning when he allowed a pair of runs on four hits and a walk. He ran up his pitch count and did not return for the sixth, marking the second consecutive outing in which he failed to complete six innings. While it was an improvement on the seven runs he allowed in his previous turn, the sinkerballer has still allowed 14 runs over 21-2/3 innings in his last four outings. In five starts vs. Tampa Bay in 2017, Porcello is 1-4 with a 4.91 ERA. Key Matchups: Peter Bourjos (2-7), Curt Casali (3-10), Danny Espinosa (1-3, HR, 2 RBI), Evan Longoria (15-58, 6 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 4 BB), Brad Miller (11-34, 4 2B, 5 HR, 9 RBI, 2 BB), Logan Morrison (10-34, 3 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB), Steven Souza Jr. (9-30, HR, RBI)

You can read about the series in our preview.

Rays 9/16/17 Starting Lineup

Kiermaier CF
Souza Jr. RF
Longoria 3B
Duda 1B
Ramos C
Dickerson DH
Hechavarria SS
Miller 2B
Smith LF
Cobb RHP

Noteworthiness

— The Durham Bulls became the second Rays affiliate to win a championship last night, joining the Hudson Valley Renegades. The Bulls beat the Yankees affiliate 6-4 to win the International League title 3-1.

It marked the first time in eight years that the Rays had two title winners in one season.

INF Jake Bauers was named Finals MVP, while INF Daniel Robertson homered and drove in four runs. The Bulls will play on Tuesday in the Triple-A National Championship in Scranton, PA against either Memphis or El Paso.

Rays 9/15/17 pregame notes, Faria activated, Hurricane Irma food drive

By Leave a Comment

Corey Dickerson and the Rays provided first responders with food this afternoon for their long hours on the beat following Hurricane Irma. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)


The Tampa Bay Rays will begin a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox tonight at Tropicana Field.

Matt Andriese (5-3, 4.66 ERA, 5.02 FIP) will get the start for the Rays, pitching opposite of Chris Sale (16-7, 2.76 ERA, 2.20 FIP).

Andriese was knocked out in the second inning after he allowed eight runs (six earned) in his last start against the Red Sox. One had to question his sequence of pitches in the first inning at-bat vs. Dustin Pedroia. He followed a dust-off pitch with a heater that was up and over the inner third of the plate — right in Pedroia’s juice zone. From there, things spiraled out of control for the Rays, who appeared to be no match for the very aggressive Red Sox. Expect Andriese to be on a very short leash Friday night.

Sale will face the Rays for the sixth and final time this season. Boston took a lead in the first inning last weekend against Tampa Bay, which was more run support than Sale would need — allowing him to easily collect his 16th victory of the season. The southpaw has fared well against Tampa Bay thus far, going 4-1 with a 2.06 ERA in 2017, although he’s pitched even better Tropicana Field over his career, going 3-3 with a 1.75 ERA. Sale is 9-5 with a 2.72 ERA in 17 road starts this season. Key Matchups: Curt Casali (3-7, 2B, HR, RBI), Danny Espinosa (2-5), Kevin Kiermaier (4-11, HR, 3 RBI, BB), Logan Morrison (5-15, HR, RBI, 2 BB), Trevor Plouffe (15-52, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 4 BB), Wilson Ramos (3-8, 2B, HR, 3 RBI)

You can read about the series in our preview.

Don’t forget to bring some donations for those effected by Hurricane Irma. The Rays will host a food drive all weekend. Per the team’s press release: 

The Tampa Bay Rays and Rays players are asking fans to help with hurricane relief efforts. You can donate by going to youcaring.com/raysirmarelief. To continue Roberto Clemente’s legacy of care and compassion, the Rays will be hosting the Feeding Tampa Bay Food Drive, supported by First Class Moving, all weekend long. All fans who donate unopened cans and non-perishable food items will receive a voucher for two complimentary tickets to a 2018 Rays home game (some exclusions apply).

Items of greatest need include canned, ready-to-eat items with pull-tops (e.g. vegetables, fruit); protein in pouches or pull-top cans (e.g. tuna, beef stew, chili, canned chicken); snacks (e.g. protein bars, granola bars, etc.); peanut butter; toiletries, paper goods, diapers; and cleaning supplies (e.g. mops, mop buckets, brooms, bleach wipes, bleach, garbage bags, bug spray). Donations can be dropped off to collection areas outside of Gate 1, inside Gate 1 and inside Gate 3. Rays Season Ticket Holders will also have a special collection area inside the Republic Bank Draft Room. Season Ticket Holders who donate in the Draft Room will receive Rays Rewards Points. Thank you for your support – together, we can make a difference.

Rays 9/15/17 Starting Lineup

Kiermaier CF
Souza Jr. RF
Longoria 3B
Plouffe 1B
Hechavarria SS
Ramos C
Bourjos LF
Puello DH
Espinosa 2B
Andriese RHP

Noteworthiness

— The Rays have activated RHP Jake Faria activated from the 10-day DL. He will be available tonight out of bullpen, likely pitching behind Matt Andriese who will be on a short leash.

— After making a rather distasteful jab at the Rays and Logan Morrison, the New York Yankees will donate $500,000 to Hurricane Irma relief efforts, with $250,000 going to Red Cross, and $250,000 to Salvation Army. Being someone effected by Irma, I can safely say that the Yankees can shove their money up their own asses.

Sweaty in St. Petersburg

By Leave a Comment

Due to Randolph and Mortimer Duke’s gross incompetence, and inability to inspire their workers, X-Rays Spex is sleepless and sweaty in St. Petersburg, as we are still without electricity. Therefore, we will not be updating the site today. There’s always tomorrow, when we (hopefully) will be back to full power … a higher being willing of course.

Tampa Bay Rays announce the 2018 regular season schedule

By Leave a Comment

(Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

On Tuesday afternoon, the Tampa Bay Rays released the 2018 schedule — a handy tool for those of you already looking forward to next season. … take that how you want. The Rays will kick things off at home against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday, March 29, which is noteworthy because every team will open the 2018 season on the same day for the first time since 1968.

Additionally, the American League East will square off against is National League counterparts in Interleague play, which includes an away series against the Braves in their recently opened Sun Trust Park.

Some other interesting tidbits and anomalies follow below:

— The typical four-game home/away “Citrus Series” will instead be a pair of three-game sets before and after the All-Star game, for a grand total of six games against the Marlins.

— The Rays will face the Red Sox in 10 of the first 28 games next season, six of which will take place in Boston. Additionally, Tampa Bay will face both Boston and New York exclusively over the first 11 games of the season.

— There are five off-days built into the first five weeks of the season, also oddly including Tuesday, April 3 and Friday, April 6 while they are on the road.

— The Rays will play 10 games against the Blue Jays in the month of September.

— As Jason Collette (The Process Report) pointed out via Twitter, Tampa Bay has 16 home games in September when all everyone does is laugh at the September attendance each year.

— They will close out the home schedule with a seven-game home stand against New York and Toronto (September 24-30).

— No road trip will last longer than nine games in length, and will feature just one game on the west coast the day after a home series, when they travel from one bay area to the other on May 28th.

— For the conspiracy theorists out there, the fact that the Rays put the face of the franchise on the header should quiet this offseason’s trade rumors.

LBWMF: Rays and Odorizzi falter in Queens, drop first game of the series, 5-1

By Leave a Comment

(Photo Credit: Robert “The Party Animal” Peters)

The Tampa Bay Rays started off well Monday night, but the Yankees took control in the fourth inning against Jake Odorizzi — and due to a crucial fielding error by Trevor Plouffe — as they rolled to a 5-1 victory.

Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead in the second inning against C.C. Sabathia, after Lucas Duda drew a leadoff walk and Adeiny Hechavarria shot a two-out triple to left-center, scoring a run.

And while the Rays had multiple chances to tack on runs in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth innings, they couldn’t push a runner across the plate. Their best opportunity came in the third inning after Peter Bourjos and Kevin Kieirmaier (swinging) went back-to-back with bunts against a hurler that notoriously has a hard time fielding them.

Sabathia was clearly frustrated, and it appeared that the Rays were on the cusp of breaking things open. Yet with none out and two on, Plouffe struck out looking. Then on a double steal, Kiermaier overslid second bag and was called out. Finally, Evan Longoria grounded out to end the inning.

Sabathia was lifted after 4-1/3 innings, having allowed eight baserunners but just one run. With two on and one out, David Robertson struck out Longoria on a 92mph full count at the bottom of the zone, then fanned Duda to end the fifth. Sound the trombones, the Rays went 0-9 wRISP.

Meanwhile, Odorizzi looked really good the first time through the order. He reverse pitched New York’s batters early in those at-bats, leaning on his curveball (since he didn’t have his splitter), then blew them away with a well located fastball that coaxed a good number of swings and misses. Though he held the the Yankees hitless over the first three innings, they came back to answer big in the fourth.

I’ll let Ian Malinowski (DRaysBay) spin the tale of woe:

Then the second time through the order came around in the fourth inning, and Odorizzi walked Aaron Judge on four pitches, and followed it up by allowing a line drive single to Gary Sanchez. That put runners on the corners with no outs. Danger.

Didi Gregorius sent a fly ball to right that sacrificed home one run, but Odorizzi struck out Starlin Castro, and it seemed like he was going to escape. Matt Holliday hit a grounder down the third base line, and Trevor Plouffe (Longoria was the designated hitter, Plouffe was in the field) had lined up. But the ball went under his glove for a run-scoring E5.

Jacoby Ellsbury reached via catcher interference*, and Todd Frazier hit a no-doubter three-run homer.

*It’s real difficult to see a catcher’s interference from the outfield. Ellsbury hit a foul ball towards us, everyone in front of us stood up, and when they sat back down, Ellsbury was standing at first base rather than in the box. We decided catcher’s interference was the only thing it could be, but it took us a while. “What just happened?” moments are rare when you’re watching on TV. They’re kind of fun.

Odorizzi’s night was done fter after 52-pitch fourth inning. For context Odo threw 43 pitches in the first three innings alone. He went to three-ball counts in just two of the first nine at-bats, but that number blossomed to seven three-ball counts to seven of the last 10 batters he faced.

The bullpen did its job after Odorizzi, although the damage had been done. Chaz Roe, Andrew Kittredge, Ryne Stanek, Chase Whitley and Sergio Romo held the Yankees off the board over the final 5-1/3 innings. Roe was the luckiest of the five, getting away with five consecutive misplaced pitches against Starling Castro and Matt Holiday, but coaxing a weak grounder to third, and a flare to right.

Friends, I’ve tried to stay optimistic and beat the drum for Tampa Bay’s playoff hopes, but with 17 games left to play, one simple truth stands out: this is not a postseason contending team. Just do us a favor, at least look like you’re having fun!

The New What Next

Tampa Bay will play the second game of the series Tuesday night with Blake Snell (3-6, 4.36 ERA, 4.44 FIP) on the mound. He’ll pitch opposite of Sonny Gray (3-4, 2.74 ERA, 4.06 FIP).

Snell allowed six runs on seven hits (including two homers) across four innings in a no-decision against Minnesota on Wednesday. He fanned seven and did not issue a walk. Snell reportedly did not feel like he used his fastball well enough, which resulted in the end of a career-long streak of five consecutive starts lasting six innings or longer. The 7/0 K/BB looks good in theory, however, Snell in the strike zone left a pair of pitches over the plate to Brian Dozier and Ehire Adrianza who made him pay with two homers. Be that as it may, he has posted a respectable 3.92 ERA since the All-Star Break.

Gray allowed one run (unearned) on six hits and two walks in Thursday’s win over Baltimore. He struck out five over 5-2/3 innings. Gray struggled his last time out, yet this time he pitched around eight baserunners to limit the damage. The right-hander — who limited the Rays to two-runs on seven hits over 6-1/3 innings on July 19 — is rebounding from his 2016 campaign with a 3.22 ERA/1.17 WHIP/8.6 K:9. Key Matchups: Corey Dickerson (3-11, HR, 3 RBI), Danny Espinosa (1-3, HR, RBI), Kevin Kiermaier (3-12, 2B, HR, 3 RBI), Evan Longoria (10-26, 4 2B, HR, 3 RBI, BB)

You can read about the series in our preview.

The New What Next: Rays vs Yankees — a home away from home series preview

Rays 9/12/17 Starting Lineup

Kiermaier CF
Duda DH
Longoria 3B
Morrison 1B
Souza RF
Dickerson LF
Ramos C
Miller 2B
Hechavarria SS
Snell LHP