An update on Jalen Beeks’ injury is located below, in Noteworthiness.
You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life, the facts of life.
— The Facts of Life
Hunter Renfroe and Manuel Margot went back-to-back, while Tyler Glasnow racked up 13 punchouts, as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday, 4-2. Unfortunately, it would also appear that the injury bug bit the Rays once again, as southpaw Jalen Beeks was pulled from the game in the ninth inning with an apparent forearm injury.
The Rays ended the night nine games over .500, in first place in the AL East by one game, and with a 99.5% chance of a playoff berth according to FanGraphs.
Glasnow got the start Tuesday and fanned a career-high 13 over seven dominant innings — the longest start by a Ray this season. He allowed the first run of the ball game on a two-out first-inning home run down the left-field line, that just cleared the 162 Landing, off the bat of Renato Nunez — his sixth homer of the season. Then, with one out in the fourth, Ryan Mountcastle flicked a ball into right with a pair on, scoring a run. Glasnow coaxed a comebacker from Mason Williams before he struck Pat Valaika out, ending the threat. And from there the righty really dialed it in.
Nine of Glasnow’s punches came on the curveball (48 thrown, 13 swings and misses), while he struck out nine the last 10 hitters, and retired the final 11 batters he faced. Glasnow threw 72 of 96 pitches for strikes (75% strike rate) and induced a career-high of swings and misses; 24 of 72 strikes for a 33% SwStr%.
Meanwhile, the Rays took the lead for good against Tommy Milone. After Jose Martinez reached on a throwing error by Pat Valaika (the first of two) on a grounder to short, Hunter Renfroe crushed a 436 foot home run to left that registered 112 mph off the bat. Then two pitches later, Manuel Margot belted his first home run of the season, a 417 foot shot to left making it 3-1.
Tampa Bay did have a chance to blow things open in the inning. After Mike Zunino was hit by a pitch, Mike Brosseau hit an infield single, putting two on with one out. Yandy Diaz flew out to right though, and Brandon Lowe grounded to first, ending the inning. From there, Milone retired 11 of 12 and allowed just an infield single to Diaz.
Tampa Bay was able to tack on an insurance run in the sixth inning, following Valaika’s second error (which also spelled the end of the day for Milone). Margot walked against reliever Travis Lakins Sr., and Yoshi Tsutsugo loaded the bases on a single to left. Pinch-hitting for Zunino, Ji-Man Choi hit a sac-fly to right, capping the scoring and pushing the lead to 4-2.
Jalen Beeks followed Glasnow and worked around a two-out single to Nunez in the eighth. Then in the ninth, Hanser Alberto looped a single to center to start the Frame. In the next at-bat, Beeks got pinch-hitter, Ramon Urias, to ground out to third. But things went downhill for the left-hander with an 0-2 count, as Beeks winced after a pitch by Mountcastle was fouled off. Beeks immediately signaled that he felt some discomfort and was taken out of the game after a quick chat on the mound.
That’s a big one for us. He’s so versatile for us. Whether it’s eating bulk innings or coming in late, he’s such a big piece for us in our bullpen and allows us to do so many things. You can only hope for the best news. It’s a big blow, but hopefully, everything is OK.
— Mike Zunino
Beeks will be examined by doctors Wednesday morning, although the initial news isn’t exactly uplifting. Rays manager Kevin Cash said that the injury was to the elbow and forearm region, which is similar to Andrew Kittredge’s injury before it was revealed that he would miss the remainder of the season due to a UCL sprain.
It’s unfortunate. There’s no denying that. No explanation, either. It’s unfortunate. They’re all coming here in bunches, it seems like. You just wish that Jalen, when he goes and sees the doctor, gets some type of promising news. We just have to wait to see what they see.
— Kevin Cash
If Beeks lands on the Injured list, he will become the 10th Rays pitcher sidelined due to an injury. He is enjoying the best season start of his career, and he had become an important part of the Rays’ bullpen. As Juan Toribio (MLB.com) noted, Beeks’ expected ERA is in the 94th percentile in the Majors, and he has seen his strikeout percentage go from 19.2 percent last season to 33.3 in 2020.
After Beeks exited the game, Edgar Garcia entered and struck out Mountcastle, then got Williams to ground to first. Garcia becomes the ninth different Ray to earn a save this season.
The New What Next
Trevor Richards (0-0, 5.94 ERA) will get the start Wednesday, pitching opposite of Asher Wojciechowski (1-3, 4.84 ERA).
Trevor Richards relieved John Curtiss in the second inning of Thursday’s win over the Yankees, allowing two earned runs on four hits over three innings. He struck out two. The only run he allowed came via an RBI groundout by Gleyber Torres, although the right-hander was also dinged with one run on Gio Urshela’s two-run homer off Diego Castillo, making it five times in as many appearances that Richards has been charged with multiple runs this season.
Asher Wojciechowski allowed three runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out four across 3-2/3 innings of work. Wojciechowski was coming off his first win of the season in his previous start, but he was unable to replicate his success against the Red Sox. The right-hander allowed a season-high seven hits and needed 88 pitches to retire just 11 batters. Wojciechowski’s ERA rose to 4.84 with the rough outing while his WHIP spiked to 1.34. He relies primarily on a whiffy 92 mph four-seam fastball, a 79 mph worm-killer slider, and an 87 mph cutter with heavy sink, while also mixing in a firm 85 mph changeup with slight cut action and a lot of backspin. He is 0-1 with a 5.00 ERA in three starts against Tampa Bay. Key Matchups: Austin Meadows (3-8), Joey Wendle (2-4, 2B)
You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup is below.
Rays 8/26/20 Starting Lineup
- Meadows DH
- Lowe 2B
- Wendle SS
- Choi 1B
- Tstutsugo 3B
- Kiermaier CF
- Renfroe RF
- Perez C
- Margot LF
Noteworthiness
— Jalen Beeks was placed on the 45-day Injured List with a left elbow sprain. His season is done. Beeks becomes the tenth pitcher on the team’s IL and the fifth who will not pitch the remainder of the year, joining Jose Alvarado, Nick Anderson, Yonny Chirinos, Oliver Drake, Andrew Kittredge, Brendan McKay, Charlie Morton, Colin Poche, and Chaz Roe. Anderson and Roe could return this weekend while Morton and Drake are improving.
The Rays did not announce a treatment plan for the left-hander, although the presence of a sprain indicates some degree of stretching or tearing within the elbow. For what it’s worth, elbow sprains do not typically necessitate surgery.
Beeks had thrown 19-1/3 innings across 12 appearances this season, finishing his campaign with a 3.26 ERA and 1.76 FIP, along with a 32.1% K%, and a 4.9% BB%.
LHP Ryan Sherriff has been selected from the alternate training site in Port Charlotte to take Beeks’ place on the roster. He will join the Outlaw for one of the weirdest player combinations in baseball. I digress. You can learn more about Sherriff at the link here, courtesy of Neil Solondz, and Rays Radio.