A win is a win, is a win. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

Jacob Faria and Jordan Zimmerman found themselves locked up in a pitching duel Monday night, although the Tampa Bay Rays rallied in the top of the ninth to take a go ahead lead. In spite of a shaky ninth by the “A” bullpen, the Rays edged out the Detroit Tigers, 3-2 — their ninth win in 10 days.


Source: FanGraphs

Faria became the first Tampa Bay hurler to pitch eight full innings in a ball game since Alex Cobb in July of 2017. After a first inning walk of the number two hitter, Jeimer Candelario, the right-hander coaxed a ground ball double play and went to work. Faria was sharp over the balance of his start, mixing fastballs and off speed stuff, while limiting deep counts, and maintaining a quick pace.

Faria also managed to pick off JaCoby Jones, and avoided the self inflicted wounds that at other times put his starts in peril.

All told, he pitched eight scoreless innings and allowed just three hits and one walk. Faria fanned six, relying heavily on his four-seam fastball to set up his splitter, which he got most his whiffs on.

Tampa Bay finally got on the board in the top of the ninth against Shane Greene, the third pitcher of the night for Detroit. Denard Span started the rally with a nine pitch at bat that culminated in a walk. Greene then fell behind C.J. Cron, 2-0, before he grooved a 95 mph fastball over the outer third of the plate, which Cron powered to right-field for a two-run home run.

Two batters later, Brad Miller went yard with the bases empty, giving the Rays a three run lead.

That insurance run proved important in the home half of the ninth.

Alex Colome apparently was unavailable to close out the game, since he pitched on Sunday, so Rays skipper Kevin Cash turned to Chaz Roe. At times the right-hander has no idea where the ball is going — he has said as much — and this happened to be one of those nights. Roe fanned the first batter before he plunked Jones with a fastball that ran inside. Candelario followed with a base hit to put runners at the corners with one out.

Roe appeared to sharpen his repertoire, getting ahead of Nicholas Castellanos 0-2, but then he hit the outfielder with a fastball, consequently loading the bases. Cash had seen enough and pulled Roe in favor of southpaw Jose Alvarado and his 10 K/9. Alvarado has inherited twelve runners this season, yet only two have come around to score. That changed Monday

Unfortunately the first batter, Victor Martinez, hit a ground ball just past Alvarado to score two runs, putting the Rays up by just one. After James McCann flew out to left, Alvarado walked John Hicks to re-load the bases, bringing Dixon Machado to the plate. With a 2-2 count, Alvarado coaxed a weak grounder to short to end the game, giving the Rays their 13th win of the season; finishing the month of April with a 13-14 record after starting the season 1-8.

The New What Next

Chris Archer (2-1, 6.61 ERA) will get the start Tuesday, opposite of Matthew Boyd (0-2, 2.74 ERA).

Chris Archer allowed four earned runs on 11 hits while walking one and striking out seven over 5-1/3 innings on Thursday, allowing him to earn the win against the Orioles. Still, it was another rough outing for the Rays ace as he continued his undesirable streak of allowing a home run in each of his starts. On the positive side, he did fan seven and coaxed 19 whiffs, showing that he still has plenty of deception in his stuff. Both his BABIP and strand rate indicate that things should improve over time, although his current stat-line remains unsightly.

Matthew Boyd gave up four runs on seven hits and three walks with three strikeouts over just 3-2/3 innings to take a loss Wednesday against the Pirates. Boyd finally showed weakness after opening the season with three fantastic outings. He was undone by a three-run homer off the bat of Jose Osuna in the second inning, and struggled with his control all day. Boyd threw just 12 first-pitch strikes to 21 hitters and walked three batters over the span of his outing, needing 94 pitches to get just 11 outs. This season he has relied primarily on his 90 mph four-seam fastball and an 80 mph slider, while also mixing in a 73 mph curveball with good glove side movement, a 78 mph changeup, and an 88 mph sinker. He has started just one game against the Rays since 2015, and is 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA after he allowed three runs on three hits and two walks over five innings. Key Matchups: Rob Refsnyder (2-3, 2B, RBI)

You can read about the series in our series preview.

The New What Next: Rays vs Tigers — a series preview

Rays 5/1/18  Starting Lineup

(Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

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