Where is everyone? Aren’t they a first place team??? #thingspeoplealwayssaidaboutourcrowds (Photo and caption courtesy of Dave Willis)
Where is everyone? Aren’t they a first place team??? #ThingsPeopleAlwaysSaidAboutOurCrowds (Photo and caption courtesy of Dave Willis)

There are three types of people in this world:

  1. Those who see an accident ahead, but just keep driving forward.
  2. Those who see an accident ahead, and feel the need to rubberneck.
  3. Those who see an accident ahead, feel the need to rubberneck, then instantly regret their decision.

Friends, I’d put myself into category number three. I willingly watched as Jake Odorizzi gave up for homers in four plus innings. I willing watched as the Orioles put together their 49th multi-homer game of the season — they’re now 39-10 in those games. And I willingly watched as the Rays hitters did nothing with the scoring opportunities they put together against Chris Tillman. Four plus innings (and eight runs) later, I regretted my decision and turned on Bizarre Foods as penance.

It should be noted: watching Andrew Zimmern eat is not for the faint of heart. The very sound of him chewing resembles that of a hog wallowing in his or her own slough. I digress.

BA made mention that the Orioles were sitting on both Odorizzi’s fastball and change-up. And since Odorizzi wasn’t willing to throw his slow curve into the mix, to — in the least — throw Baltimore off, the Orioles slug happy hitters were more than willing to time up Jake, and punish him for his mistakes. And rightly so, after all there is a reason Baltimore leads the league in home runs. Interestingly enough, the Orioles’ sluggers have been good for a 12.6% HR/FB (overall) this season. Of course their HR/FB numbers are prone to fluctuations. With that in mind, four of the fly balls Nick Markakis, Steve Pearce, JJ Hardy, and Delmon Young put in play off Odorizzi Monday night were home runs — good for a 44% HR/FB. All this is to say, you can blame it on poor sequencing or on he not having his stuff, Odorizzi wasn’t able to keep the wolves at bay — as evidenced by his 4 IP/11 H/8 ER/1 BB/ 3 K slash line, and his pitch outcome chart (below).

Jake Odorizzi at-bat outcome chart. (Courtesy of Brooks Baseball)
Jake Odorizzi at-bat outcome chart. (Courtesy of Brooks Baseball)

The New What Next

Onward to Tuesday night’s game, when Alex Cobb assumes the role of stopper against Wei-Yin Chen and the Orioles. The Rays have had a fair amount of success against Chen (13-4, 3.76) this season. In his first start against the Rays, Chen held Longoria and company to one run on five hits. Yet the Rays beat Chen and the Orioles twice since, both times by a 5-4 margin. In the case of his most recent start against Tampa Bay, Chen gave up five runs on seven hits, including three homers. One thing is certain, with a 12% HR/FB the fly ball pitcher does give up his fair share of homers. You can read about the pitching matchup in our series preview.

Rays 8/26/14 Starting Lineup

Jennings CF
Zobrist LF
Forsythe 2B
Longoria DH
Myers RF
Escobar SS
Loney 1B
Hanigan C
Rodriguez 3B
Cobb RHP

Noteworthiness 

  • The Rays have activated C Ryan Hanigan from the DL, responding by optioning Curt Casali Casali to Class-A Stone Crabs so he can return Monday — the 10-day rule is trumped by the end of the minor-league season (Charlotte is done Sunday).
  • Jake Odorizzi is the first pitcher in Rays history to allow back-to-back homers twice in one game.
  • Your tweet of the day:

  • At least one Rays’ affiliated clubs can claim victory. Congrats to the Durham Bulls for becoming the International League South Division Champions:

 

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