Number three starter, Tyler Glasnow, tossed six terrific innings on Friday in the first road game of the season, as the Tampa Bay Rays held on to beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-2. The Rays are off to a 6-2 start to the 2019 season.

The Rays got off to a quick start, hitting a string of four consecutive extra-base hits — two doubles followed by two home runs — with two outs in the top of the first. Ji-Man Choi started the rally against Dereck Rodriguez with a double to left field. Brandon Lowe followed with a double of his own, to right field, on an 0-2 pitch, putting Tampa Bay on the board. Yandy Diaz was next, hitting a strong-man broken-bat homer (his second of the season) to left on a 1-2 pitch.

https://twitter.com/FOXSportsFL/status/1114268884754882560

Kevin Kiermaier capped the rally with a 437-foot blast to deep right-center, putting the Rays up by four.

It was The Outlaw’s second homer this season.

Glasnow went to work in the bottom of the frame, with a plate appearance by the former face of the franchise, Evan Longoria, looming in the hole. The right-hander quickly disposed of the first two batters on five pitches, bringing Longoria to the plate.

Glasnow promptly got ahead in the count before he spotted up a well-placed curveball on the inner third of the plate, locking up Longoria.

The first at-bat against the former face of the franchise culminated in a punch out, as the 1-2-3 first set the tone for the afternoon against the tall right-hander.

All told, Glasnow scattered three singles and allowed a walk, while striking out six. He threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of 23 batters (74% first-pitch strike rate), and 59 of 82 pitches overall for strikes (72% strike rate).

Favoring a fastball (51 thrown, 38 strikes, 6 whiffs)/curveball (25 thrown, 19 strikes, 4 whiffs) combination, Glasnow allowed runners to get into scoring position just twice across two innings. In the second, he loaded the bases with two outs, but got Rodriguez to ground to first. Then in the sixth, Glasnow struck out Brandon Crawford looking with Brandon Belt at second.

The Rays tacked on a run in the seventh after Michael Perez doubled off Travis Bergen. Later that inning, Perez came around to score on Austin Meadows’ double off Nick Vincent, capping the scoring for Tampa Bay.

Yet the Giants made things interesting late in the game. San Francisco plated two runs in the seventh, tagging Wilmer Font with a pair of two-out RBI doubles from pinch-hitter Pablo Sandoval and Steven Duggar. However, Rays manager Kevin Cash called on Adam Kolarek (for the left-on-left matchup), who got Belt to bounce out to short, limiting the damage.

Then in the eighth, a Lowe error (the second of the day and the season for Tampa Bay), Buster Posey’s double to right, and a Crawford hit by pitch loaded the bases with none out. Kolarek caught Gerardo Parra looking for the first out of the frame before Cash called upon Diego Castillo.

Four pitches later, Castillo got Kevin Pillar to ground to Robertson — who entered the game in the double switch — into a 6-4-3 twin killing, ending the threat.

Finally, in the ninth, Jose Alvarado allowed what was ruled an infield hit by Joe Panik which Yandy Diaz couldn’t handle cleanly at third. Diaz dropped the ball upon the transfer, allowing Panic to reach. Then pinch-hitter Yangervis Solarte walked on five pitches, bringing the tying run to the plate. Duggar grounded into a fielder’s choice with Solarte forced at second for the first out, yet Duggar moved into second on a wild pitch. However, Alvarado struck out Belt for the second out, and Longoria flew out to right, ending the game with the Rays sixth “W” of the season.

The New What Next

The Rays and Giants will play game two of three on Saturday. Tampa Bay will use an opener Ryne Stanek (0-0, 0.00 ERA), likely followed by Yonny Chirinos (1-0, 1.29 ERA), opposite right-hander Jeff Samardzija (0-0, 0.00 ERA).

Yonny Chirinos gave up one run on two hits with no walks across seven innings of a win over the Astros on Sunday. He struck out six and walked none. The lone run he relinquished came on a third-inning Jake Marisnick homer with two outs. Otherwise, the tall right-hander coaxed a ton of weak contact to pair with his strike-throwing (88 pitches, 60 strikes, 68% strike rate) which kept the Astros’ bats at bay.

Jeff Samardzija came away with a no-decision in his season debut against the Padres after allowing an unearned run over five innings on Sunday. He is 1-0 with a 2.35 ERA in three career appearances against the Rays. Samardzija relies primarily on a 92 mph sinker with arm-side run, while also mixing in a 92 mph fly-ball coaxing four-seam fastball, an 89 mph cutter with “rising action” and slight cutting action, a whiffy 77 mph curveball with 12-6 movement, an 84 mph slider with little depth, and an 84 mph splitter with cut action and backspin. Key Matchup: Kevin Kiermaier (3-6, 2 3B)

You can read about the series in our preview.

Rays 4/6/19 Starting Lineup

Noteworthiness

— Home plate umpire, Kerwin Danley, didn’t have the best day behind the dish yesterday. Let’s just say his strike zone was a touch liberal.

Balls are green, strikes are red.
Balls are green, strikes are red.

— Congrats to Tommy Pham, for setting the Rays franchise record for most consecutive games on base, with 40. Johnny Damon who?

Leave a comment