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Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Clobber the O’s 8-0, Take the Series

June 9, 2013 By Schmitty Leave a Comment

On a day aptly titled the Goddamn Deluge, the Tampa Bay Rays jumped all over the Baltimore Orioles in a four hit shutout shellacking, demoralizing their AL East foes by a score of 8-0. Tampa Bay has been able to leapfrog Baltimore in the standings, now claiming sole ownership of third place by a half game. Just two-and-a-half games behind the AL East leading Boston Red Sox, the Rays will look to sweep their second consecutive series against the Orioles Sunday afternoon.

RHP Jeremy Hellickson truly earned his fourth win of the year, after putting together a solid six inning outing where he gave up only four hits, and nothing else. With the exception of a pair of inefficient 23-pitch innings — the first and fifth — Helly was downright deadly. It should be noted that even in those two shaky innings, Helly was able to get out of those jams unscathed.

Hellickson led with his fastball, throwing 25 of 40 for strikes. From there, he leaned on his secondary pitches to keep a dangerous Orioles lineup off balance — throwing a very good change-up for strikes almost 69% of the time, and his curveball for strikes 75% of the time. Maintaining his composure, Hellickson was able to quelch a pair Orioles uprisings in the first and fifth innings.

Helly gave up a couple of singles to Manny Machado and Adam Jones in the first inning. But with two on and two outs, the Rays righty was able to get Chris Davis to pop out to Evan Longoria, getting out of the inning. Hellickson also gave up a pair of base hits to Matt Wieters and JJ Hardy to start off the fifth. However, he was able to strike out Chris Dickerson, induce a Ryan Flaherty fielder’s choice, and get Nate McLouth to fly out to left to get out of the inning, maintaining the integrity of the shutout.

True, Hellickson went deeper into the game in his only other shutout of the year — a game where he pitched up to the eighth inning against the Athletics. However, this outing was significant, because it’s the first time he has been able to avoid that big run scoring inning in over a month and a half. It’s a huge esteem builder for the righty, especially since he’s now strung together three quality starts in four previous outings.

And how about the pen?! Alex Torres, Jamey Wright, and Kyle Farnsworth (yes that Kyle Farnsworth) were literally un-hittable, combining for three innings of four strikeout ball. Torres was again impressive, striking out both Chris Davis and JJ Hardy on a pair of nasty change-ups. Torres got out of the seventh inning cleanly after throwing only 10 pitches (eight for strikes). The Rays lefty has now posted 11-1/3 innings of scoreless ball, striking out 14 batters along the way.

Offensively, after scoring only seven runs over the course of three previous games, the Rays’ bats once again woke up, tagging rookie Kevin Gausman for seven runs on eight hits and three walks. The Rays went 6-13 w RISP, while Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist drove in a pair of two-out RBI. Speaking of Zobrist, Ben had a monster day at the plate.

Zobris went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a pair of runs. Not to be outdone, both Jose Lobaton and Yunel Escobar were productive, teaming up to go 6-for-8, plating a pair of runs. Lobaton also crossed the plate on a Ben Zobrist single in the second inning. Even Luke Scott did something productive, shooting — no pun intended — a three RBI triple to deep right-field, giving the Rays a 7-0 lead in the fifth. Notable mentions to Desmond Jennings, James Loney, and Evan Longoria: The trinity each scored runs, while both Longo and Loney plated a pair.

The New What Next

Matt Moore will take the bump for the Rays Sunday against Chris Tillman and the Orioles. Moore will attempt to bounce back from a disappointing two-inning outing against the Tigers Tuesday. If the Rays win, they’ll pull a game-and-a-half in front of the Orioles, ahead of a big series against the Boston Red Sox. You can read about the pitching match-up here.

Rays 6/9/13 Starting Lineup

Joyce RF
Zobrist 2B
Johnson LF
Longoria DH
Loney 1B
Jennings CF
Roberts 3B
Molina C
Escobar SS
Moore LHP

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Archer Goes Seven Strong in Rays Win Over the Orioles

June 8, 2013 By Schmitty Leave a Comment

Rays starter Chris Archer allows one run over seven innings for his second career win. (Edmund D. Fountain/Times)

By: Michael Nazzaro

This game was about Chris Archer. No one else, well maybe Desmond Jennings, but we’ll get to that. Archer, after getting touched for five runs in four innings against the Indians, came out swinging. After hitting Nate McClouth to start the game, Archer settled down and induced two ground balls, from the next two batters, the second being an inning ending double play. He cruised through the first two and two/thirds innings before hitting a rough patch, the only one he would hit all night, walking Chris Dickerson, then walking Nate McClouth followed by a line drive to center field by Manny Machado, scoring Dickerson for Batlimore’s only run. After that, he coasted through the next four innings, allowing only one more hit on a misplay by Jennings in center.

That’s not to discredit Jason Hammel for a fairly decent outing. Though he lacked some command on the breaking stuff tonight, he kept the Rays offense in check for the most part. Hammel came into the game with a 5.43 ERA, though he had a 7-3 record. On the road however, Hammel was undefeated, going 6-0 with a 4.17 ERA. Unusual, but also signified that the O’s could score behind him. Hammel held the Rays to no runs and three hits through six innings. It was the seventh that would be his unraveling. After going 0-2 on Loney, Hammel hung one in there and Loney lined it to center for single. The very next pitch, Desmond Jennings would see right down the middle and he took advantage of it, hitting his sixth homerun of the season, his first since May 21st, giving the Rays the lead. Hammel would get Scott to ground out and Molina to strike out before surrendering a single to Escobar. This would be the end of his night. Troy Patton came on next and got Zobrist to fly out to center to end the inning.

The Bulldog would come in to the bottom of the O’s line up and did not disappoint, getting Dickerson to pop out and Flaherty to strike out. The next batter, McClouth, He pitched well against, and seemed to have gotten him to strike out looking on a 3-2 pitch, but the home plate umpire, Lance Barrett, disagreed and gave McClouth the pass. Peralta would come back to Machado to pop up to third on the next at bat, ending the top of the 8th.

The Rays put up an uneventful bottom of the 8th, going down in order, but this led to “Rodney Time” as Fox Sports Florida called it. I’ve been nervous every time Rodney has come on this season, especially against the middle of the line up, but I needn’t fret tonight. Rodney came in and pitched. Two pitches to Markakis and he grounds out to third on a nice stop by Longo, for pitches to Jones and a strike out, three pitches to the ever dangerous Chris Davis and a strike out.

The Good

Archer made an amazing bounce back tonight. Throwing 84 pitches over seven innings, Archer allowed only two hits and two walks (both in the third inning), while relenting only one run. Even late, he was throwing well, hitting 97 MPH on the gun in the seventh. He threw 94 pitches through 4 innings his last time out, en route to a loss. If this is the Archer we’re going to see, I like it.
Loney looked great again at the plate. I swear, this dude continues to be one of the most pleasant surprises this season. I remember when the Rays signed him, I was completely indifferent. He went 2-4 tonight with a single and double. His season average is .332.
2013 Rodney looked like 2012 Rodney. He threw 9 pitches, 8 for strikes, 4 swings and misses, and 2 looking. He baffled the three batters he faced, when they expected fast, they got slow and vice versa. He had excellent command. Hopefully this is the road to correcting his season (Editors note: Rodney’s strung together 7-1/3 consecutive scoreless innings, relenting two walks and a hit in that span).
It’s also worth mentioning that over the past ten games, the Rays bullpen has a 1.88 ERA. If that isn’t a good sign, I don’t know what is.

The Bad

The Rays offense scored twice. This is the third time in four game the Rays have scored two runs or less. And this is against a guy who just doesn’t have that good stuff. Whatever is going on needs to be corrected and quick, because our pitching can’t always hold up these close games.
Longoria looked, well, bad at the plate. Either he was swinging for the fences on pitches and missing or was treading lightly and grounding out. If there’s someone we need to hit, it’s him and his power bat.

Line for Archer: 7.0 IP 2H 1R 1ER 2BB 2SO 84 Pitches

Line for Hammel: 6.2 IP 6 H 2 R 2ER 2 BB 3 SO 1 HR 105 Pitches

The New What Next

Jeremy Hellickson will attempt to string together his second consecutive victory Saturday, when he takes the hill opposite of the highly touted Kevin Gausman. You can read about the pitching match-up here.

Rays 6/8/13 Starting Lineup

Joyce RF
Zobrist 2B
Johnson LF
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Jennings CF
Scott DH
Lobaton C
Escobar SS
Hellickson RHP

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Lose to the Tigers 5-2, Enter the Orioles

June 6, 2013 By Schmitty Leave a Comment

Joe Maddon and head athletic trainer Ron Porterfield talk with pitcher Jake McGee after he was hit in the leg by a ball hit by Miguel Cabrera in the seventh inning. McGee was pulled from the game with a left shin contusion. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)

Tampa Bay dropped the rubber match of the Tigers series Thursday by a score of 5-2, in gem of well pitched game by Max Scherzer. The same culprits that killed the Rays throughout the course of the series — Victor Martinez, Prince Fielder, and Miguel Cabrera — were responsible for Detroit’s five runs, while the Rays offense couldn’t muster enough umph in a game where a win was obtainable — at least when former Ray Joaquin Benoit took the mound in relief.

Roberto Hernandez was kind of blah on the mound. He had flashes of good stuff, especially between the last out of the first inning and the second out of the fourth inning, retiring eight consecutive batters on four strikeouts and four ground-outs. However Hernandez only attacked the zone sporadically and — like Jeremy Hellickson — got beaten up when he was forced to throw pitches over the heart of the plate after falling behind in the count.

Scherzer on the other hand was dominant, relenting only one run on a James Loney RBI single in the sixth inning. Scherzer lasted seven strong innings, giving up only four hits and a pair of walks on 100 pitches (66 for strikes). Allowing only one runner to reach scoring position in the front six innings, Scherzer effectively kept the Rays hitters from getting any lift on the ball, inducing five line-outs or ground-outs. Tampa Bay had opportunities to put more runs on the board, however Desmond Jennings played the role of rally killer on this fateful day — striking out to end the sixth inning, and flying-out just a hair shy of a three-run homer to end the eighth inning.

Moving forward. The Rays will welcome the Baltimore Orioles into Tropicana Field Friday, for a three-game weekend series. Tampa Bay has an opportunity to leapfrog Baltimore who sits a game-and-a-half in front of the Rays in third place. It won’t be easy. Like the Rays, the Orioles have won seven of their last 10 games, though they’re coming off a sluggish win and loss to the Houston Astros. Tampa Bay has had success against both Jason Hammel and Chris Tillman, so it’s really incumbent on the Rays starters to keep Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, Chris Davis and the rest of the Orioles bats in check.

Rays and Orioles series starters. Whoops, Jason Hammel’s W/L record should read 7-3

Rays and Orioles offensive production at home, away, and over the last 14 days

Rays and Orioles by the numbers

Jason Hammel: Per Rotowire, “Hammel was ejected from Saturday’s start against the Tigers after hitting Matt Tuiasosopo in the shoulder, MASN Sports reports.” The Rays last faced Hammel on the 17th of May, in a game where they were able to touch him up for seven runs on seven hits and two walks. Since then, Hammel had a couple of quality starts against the Yankees and the Nationals, giving up only two runs in each start. But Hammel lasted only three innings in his very next start, giving up five runs on five hits, including three homers to the Tigers. The 30 year-old RHP has now given up four or more runs in five of his 12 starts. Key match-ups: Kelly Johnson (8-24, 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI), Jose Lobaton (1-2, 2B), James Loney (10-33, 2 2B, 3 HR, 9 RBI), Jose Molina (2-8, 2B, BB), Luke Scott (3-9, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB), Ben Zobrist (4-7, 2B, HR, 2 RBI).

Kevin Gausman: Per Rotowire, “Gausman gave the Orioles six quality innings Sunday, allowing one run on five hits with no walks and four strikeouts against the Tigers.” The Rays have never faced the young 22 year-old who’s described as having, “A 96-98 MPH four-seam fastball which features significant arm side run and sink when located down in the zone.” His fastball frequently touches 99 MPH, even in later innings. When elevated up in the zone, his fastball maintained velocity but flattened out and became hittable. Gausman has a clear preference to keep his fastball down in the zone — where it was most effective — a tendency which may explain his 51.5% ground ball rate this year.

Also, “His changeup is his best offering. He maintains his arm speed on the 82-84 MPH pitch, which features a massive velocity differential from his fastball. The change is not only deceptive, it has exceptional movement. Its drop and fade are so dramatic they mimic a breaking ball.”

Chris Tillman: Per Rotowire, “Tillman went seven innings Tuesday, allowing one earned run on four hits and two walks with eight strikeouts against the Astros, improving to 5-2 on the season.” The Rays have beaten the Orioles twice this season when Tillman has been on the bump. The tall RHP gave up four runs on six hits in five innings of work back in April, following that outing a month later by giving three runs on five hits (including a pair of homers) and a walk. Tillman has been effective with the fastball in two-strike counts during his current three-game win streak. Opponents are 3-for-26 (.115) against Tillman’s fastball in two-strike counts. Key match-ups: Sam Fuld (2-5, 2B, 2 RBI), Kelly Johnson (2-5, HR, RBI), Matt Joyce (4-16, 2B, 3B, HR, 2 RBI, BB), Evan Longoria (8-18, 2B, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB), Ryan Roberts (1-3, HR, RBI, 2 BB), Luke Scott (1-2, HR, RBI).

Noteworthiness

Tampa Bay leads the season series 5-4. The Rays lead the overall series 70-63 at the Trop.
The Orioles have won 11 of their past 16 games.
Chris Davis is making his own run at the Triple Crown, leading the league in homers (20), second to only reigning AL MVP Miguel Cabrera in batting average (.357) and RBIs (52).
LHP Wei-Yin Chen on the disabled list.
The Orioles lead the majors with 84 homers.
Baltimore’s staff has a 4.96 ERA over a 16-game stretch, but the Orioles are batting .303 and producing 5.3 runs per game.
Rays LHP reliever Jake McGee was pulled from Thursday’s game with a left shin contusion, after getting hit with a Miguel Cabrera come backer. The injury didn’t seem serious, and he is presumably listed as day-to-day.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays, Cobb Shutout Tigers 3-0

June 6, 2013 By Schmitty Leave a Comment

Fernando Rodney celebrates after recording his 12th save of the year in a 3-0 win over the Detroit Tigers. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)

With a pair of starting pitchers posting +55% ground ball percentages, most of us figured that Wednesday night’s match-up between Alex Cobb and Doug Fister would be a pitching dual of the ages. However, I’m not certain if any of us would have foreseen a double shutout going into the eighth inning. Though one pitcher had to lose, both Cobb and Fister were excellent Wednesday night. If I may, it’s just a damn shame that Alex Cobb couldn’t be credited with the win; after all, Cobb was incredible.

Ultimately posting a 7.2 IP/5 H/0 H/0 R/3 BB/7 K line, Cobb threw 102 pitches (72 for strikes) after coming off a missed start because of a fingernail issue. Cobb was absolutely deadly with his change-up, throwing 34 of 42 for strikes (nine swings and misses). Aptly described as the split-change of destruction, Cobb used this as his put-away pitch for a handful of his seven strikeouts, making sluggers like Prince Fielder look like dear in the headlights. Cobb also impressively kept the ball down, inducing 12 ground-outs.

Joe Maddon called for the intentional walk of Miguel Cabrera on a couple of different occasions — a contentious pair of calls for many (editors note: I thought the strategy was perfect). But the results speak for themselves: twice they walked Miggy — in the sixth and eighth innings — to put runners in scoring position with two outs, and twice they negated the threat posed by Prince Fielder, getting the Tigers slugger to strike out swinging on an Alex Cobb change-up and a Joel Peralta splitter.

In the same manner that the Rays game plan against Detrot was perfect, so too was Fister and the Tigers’ plan against Tampa Bay. The Rays weren’t able to do much against the sinker baller, threatening to score only once between the first and ninth innings. And when the Rays did get on base, Fister was able to induce weak contact forcing the Rays into a pair of double plays. But someone had to score, and in the ninth inning Tampa Bay plated three runs.

Sam Fuld lead off the inning with a hard bunt up the first base line. But when a charging Price Fielder tried to tag Super Sammy, Fuld — somehow — was able slide/dive out of the way to get on base. Ben Zobrist followed that up with a sharply hit single to right, sending Fuld to third. With men on the corners and no outs, Matt Joyce hit a sac-fly to center which plated the Rays go ahead run, while Zobrist moved up to second on an errant throw home. The pressure was on Fister, and he assuredly felt it.

Fister quickly got ahead of Longoria, but yanked a wild pitch which sent Zobrist to third. After a pair of fouls and a ball, Longo shot an RBI double to left-field, giving the Rays an insurance run. Fister’s night was over at that point, but that wouldn’t be the end of the Rays scoring. Drew Smyly came on in relief of Fister, quickly getting James Loney to line out to short. Then with a runner in scoring position and two outs, Desmond Jennings shot a 1-0 triple to the right-center gap, giving the Rays a three-run lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Fernando Rodney came on to close the game out. Rodney was a bit shaky — something that could be blamed on having a few days off between outings. The Rays closer quickly walked Victor Martinez on six pitches, but was able to follow that up with a Jhonny Peralta swinging strikeout on a nasty 98 MPH fastball. Alex Avila was next, shooting a 1-1 single to right which moved Martinez to second. But Rodney was able to hold it together, striking out Omar Infante on an 86 MPH change-up, and following that with an Avisail Garcia foul-out to end the game. It may have taken 21 pitches, but Rodney was ultimately able to shoot the moon, now stringing together 6-1/3 consecutive innings of scoreless baseball.

The New What Next

Tampa Bay will attempt to take it’s third straight series on the road, in the rubber match of the three game set. Roberto Hernandez will take the mound for the Rays, opposite of a very tough Max Scherzer. It won’t be easy — Scherzer has been very good. But we all know how dangerous Hernandez can be when he’s able to locate his sinker and fastball. You can read about the pitching match-up here.

Rays 6/6/2103 Starting Lineup

Fuld LF
Zobrist 2B
Joyce RF
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Jennings CF
Scott DH
Molina C
Escobar SS
Hernandez RHP

Noteworthiness

In seven starts following a Rays loss this year, Alex Cobb is now 5-1 with a 2.01 ERA.
Per MLB Trade Rumors, the Rays have inked a minor league deal with catcher Jesus Flores to a minor league deal. Flores, 28, adds catching depth to the Rays organization, and will report to Triple-A Durham. Flores posted a .451 OPS in 80 plate appearances for Triple-A Albuquerque this season after the Dodgers signed him to a minor league deal in January. The catcher hit .241/.289/.375 over 1014 career PA in the Major Leagues with the Nationals since 2007.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays, Matt Moore Clobbered 10-1

June 5, 2013 By Schmitty Leave a Comment

The walk of shame…

I’m still a bit punch drunk after the Tigers 10-1 shellacking of the Rays Tuesday night. I had the full intention of putting together a complete summary of the game, however I’d reckon it’d be just as easy for you to head to our Tumblr page where we live blogged the debacle in its entirety.

The short and narrow: Matt Moore and the Rays were clobbered, Anibal Sanchez was outstanding, and Alex Torres put together another great outing.

Posting a 2 IP/7 H/6 R/6 ER/6 BB/1 K line, Matt Moore wasn’t able to make it through the third inning cleanly. Simply put, Moore couldn’t put batters away — be it with two strikes or two outs. On multiple occasions Moore got ahead of the batter with two strikes, only to relent a hit or a walk. What’s more, only 48 of his 86 pitches went for strikes, and he matched a season-high by walking six batters. Did I mention that he couldn’t get out of the third inning cleanly?

Anibal Sanchez was the yin to Moore’s yang, only giving up one run on four hits over the course of seven innings. Sanchez impressively posted a 64% K%, mowing over nine Rays. He was also able to induce ground-ball after ground-ball, effectively taking the piss out of any and all Rays threats — that is, with the exception of the second inning. Evan Longoria lead off the second and hit a triple to right-center gap. He was driven home on a Desmond Jennings sac-fly, giving Tampa Bay its lone run.

Where Kyle Farnsworth and Jamey Wright put together a poor outings, Cesar Ramos and (most notably) Alex Torres looked sharp. Torres came on in relief of Moore in the third with the bases loaded and no outs, and was tasked with facing the meat of the order. Torii Hunter was first, and Torres induced a 1-0 ground ball to third. Longo quickly threw the ball home, forcing Pena at the plate. Mr. Miguel “.517 wRISP” Cabrera was up next. After getting behind in the count 3-0, Torres challenged Miggy with a fastball and a pair of nasty change-ups, striking Cabrera out swinging. As a sign of respect, Miggy acknowledged his fellow Venezuelan for the great job he’d done against him.

But the heavy lifting was not done, next up with the bases loaded: Prince Fielder. Torres also fell behind 2-1, though he was able to get get the count back in his favor when Fielder fouled off the next pitch. With a 2-2 count, Torres threw a nasty inside change-up, striking out Prince swinging. Torres came back out in the fourth and induced a pair of groundouts to short, while also striking out Matt Tuiasosopo on — you guessed it — a filthy change-up. Torres threw six change-ups Tuesday night, all going for strikes (three swinging strikes). I’d reckon his change-up a pretty good put away pitch. In ten total innings of work, Torres has given up only one hit while striking out 12.

The New What Next

A pair of ground ballers will take the mound for the Rays and Tigers tonight when Alex Cobb and Doug Fister butt heads. Hopefully Longo and Co. can force a few mistakes out of a very good Fister. You can read more about tonight’s match-up here.

Rays 6/5/13 Starting Lineup

1. Matt Joyce RF
2. Ben Zobrist 2B
3. Kelly Johnson LF
4. Evan Longoria 3B
5. James Loney 1B
6. Desmond Jennings CF
7. Luke Scott DH
8. Jose Lobaton CF
9. Yunel Escobar SS
SP Alex Cobb RHP

Noteworthiness

Wait…A-Roid could be suspended for 100 games, potentially harkening the end of his wonderful (harhar) career?! Tell me more!