Zach Eflin was sharp across four innings, as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Twins, 7-4, at the Trop on Tuesday.
Eflin was scheduled to throw 45 pitches or four innings — whichever came first. Instead, the right-hander worked efficiently and exceded that framework, surrendering two runs on two hits (including a two-run home run) in a four-inning, 47-pitch (29 strikes, 62% strike rate) outing. He struck out four and walked none.
He looked really good. You can tell, just a lot of late life, a lot of soft contact. Credit that to just having that stuff that’s right around the plate, not always right in the zone, but he just gets extra movement with that criss-cross cutter and sinker combination.
— Kevin Cash
Ever the perfectionist, Eflin was critical of his outing while — in the same breath — conceding that during Spring Training it’s more about how you feel than how well you pitched.
I threw a few too many balls in my mind, but it felt good…I had some swing-and-misses, tried to mix in some offspeed when I was behind in the count, so everything felt pretty good. There’s some stuff I can still sharpen up, but I thought it was a good day at work, and it’s good to get to those four innings and get the arm going again.
— Zach Eflin
Right-hander Calvin Faucher, previously on the shelf due to an oblique strain, took the mound in the sixth inning and struck out all three batters he faced in his 13-pitch (10 strikes, 77% strike rate) spring debut Tuesday.
He’s filthy. We need to bottle that up and see if we can hold it right there.
— Kevin Cash
His slider had, as the scientists say, a shitload of movement, and paired well with his mid-90s heater. You knew you were in for a show after he struck out the first batter he saw on four pitches: slider (strike one), slider in the dirt (strike two), 95 mph fastball (fouled back), slider (whiffy strike three). Against the last batter of the frame (see above), Faucher got ahead 0-1 and overpowered the batter with a 96 mph fastball (swinging strike) for strike two, before he caught him looking on a nasty slider.
Ryan Thompson also got some bump time, putting together a scoreless seventh inning on nine pitches (six strikes, 66% strike rate), coaxing three ground outs.
The Rays will face Atlanta tomorrow at the Trop.