Baseball can teach a valuable lesson every now and then. No matter the immense expectations placed on the Rays 2014 season, or the obvious advantage Alex Cobb had over Drew Hutchinson, you’re inevitably going to lose some games. And it just so happened that Tampa Bay’s first loss of the year came in the second game of the season, by a score of 4-2. Alex Cobb followed David Price’s outstanding 7-1/3 inning outing Monday, with a buggy 5 IP/4 H/4 ER/4 BB/3 K/1 HR affair Tuesday evening. But oh, did they ever make it exciting in the bottom of the ninth.
All is not lost however; the bullpen looked incredible, Evan Longoria made a dazzling play to end the top of the ninth, and we got to see the umpire crew — by way of the video crew, in New York — review not one but two questionable plays.
Despite showing flashes of adjustment — especially in the second through fourth innings — Cobb just didn’t have his best stuff. After getting in trouble with two on and two outs in the first, Cobb left a pitch up to Adam Lind… A pitch which unfortunately found its rightful home in the deepest part of center field. Lind’s three-run shot represented all the runs Toronto needed. As DeWayne Staats noted in the telecast, prior to Lind’s home run, Alex Cobb hadn’t given up a homer wRISP since September of 2012 — his third homer wRISP overall. The other two came against Jacoby Ellsbury (referenced above) and Albert Pujols in August of 2012.
This isn’t to say the Rays righty wasn’t able to make adjustments, especially the second time through the order. Case in point, Lind’s second at-bat. Determined to not allow Lind beat him again, Cobb kept the ball down for the entirety of his second at-bat. Cobb got Lind chasing after “the Cobb” to end the inning. There was also a beautiful sequence of pitches to Colby Rasmus which culminated in a swinging strikeout. Cobb threw breaking pitch in the dirt, after breaking pitch in the dirt, only to get Rasmus chasing after a change-up. And despite his struggles, Cobb still maintained a healthy 9-to-4 GB-to-FB ratio. In the end though, Cobb’s overall lack of command and pitch inefficiency found him getting the hook after five innings of work.
Heath Bell, Josh Lueke, Cesar Ramos, and Jake McGee followed Cobb and put together four innings of one hit, one walk, four strikeout baseball. I was particularly impressed with Cesar Ramos’ outing. Ramos was able move the ball all over the zone, leaning on his sinker, slider, and change-up. The Blue Jays, at most, made weak contact. And when they didn’t ground out (twice, including a double play) or fly out (once), Ramos made the Jays’ batters look silly by inducing whiffs at pitches that disappeared before their eyes — rather, beneath their bats.
Offensively, the Rays struggled to put anything together against the 23 year-old RHP Drew Hutchinson. Still, Wil Myers and Desmond Jennings each doubled for the second straight game, and Matt Joyce continued to look good at the plate (extending back to Spring Training) after going 2-3 with a walk and a run. It would be an exaggeration to say the Rays were flush with scoring opportunities, but at 1-11 wRISP, there were opportunities to tag the Jays for more than two runs in the fifth and sixth innings. They picked up a run in the eighth inning after a Wil Myers double, and though Tampa Bay made things interesting in the ninth, the Rays were unable to get the crucial hit they needed as Yunel Escobar struck out looking with men on second and third and two-out.
A few other game peripherals…
In the Blue Jays half of the ninth, Evan Longoria made a diving stop on a hot shot down the line, throwing from his knees to get Melky Cabrera by a step.
With two outs and Desmond Jennings on second and Sean Rodriguez on first, the Rays speediest runners each moved up a base uncontested.
Instant replay was used twice Tuesday night. Marc Topkin wrote Wednesday, it was used, “Once when it didn’t seem necessary, at the umpires’ discretion on a long foul ball by Toronto’s Colby Rasmus in the seventh inning that after more than 31/2 minutes was confirmed as foul. And once in the ninth on a challenge by Jays manager John Gibbons that after 1:20 was confirmed as an out at first after a dazzling play by Evan Longoria and James Loney. Maddon earlier again considered a challenge on a play at second but after a sign from bench coach Dave Martinez (“a sad face,” Maddon joked), he declined to pursue it.
Overall, Maddon said the process worked. “All protocol was attended to,” he said. “The umpires did everything right.”
The New What Next
Matt Moore will his first start Wednesday, opposite of Mark Buehrle. Moore is hoping a little change in his mechanics will make a big difference during the season. You can read about the pitching match-up in our series preview.
Rays 4/2/14 Starting Lineup
Jennings CF
Myers RF
Zobrist 2B
Longoria 3B
Forsythe DH
Loney 1B
Rodriguez LF
Molina C
Escobar SS
Moore LHP
Noteworthiness
- “C Chris Gimenez was designated for assignment by Texas,” writes Marc Topkin, “and if he clears waivers expect the Rays to push to sign him for depth at Durham.”
- Update: if you haven’t heard by now, the Rays and Chris Archer agreed to a six year, $25 million contract extension, Tuesday. You can read more about it here. Per Roger Mooney of the Trib, the Rays will be making an announcement today at noon. No details have been released, but the press conference will be held in the same place where the Rays announce contract extensions. There’s been speculation that the Rays have agreed to a six-year extension with RHP Chris Archer, in the range of $25MM. In this scenario, his new deal would begin this season and include two club options.We’ll keep you posted as the news breaks.