7.1 IP/1 H/0 R/2 BB/10 K 111 pitches (70 strikes). He easily bested Price, with the lone hit coming in the fourth — a deflected shot off the bottom of his cleat, with the speedy Altuve hustling up the line. (Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays)
Jake Odorizzi was dominant in his 7-1/3 IP outing, giving up one lone hit in the fourth inning — a deflected shot off the bottom of his cleat, with the speedy Altuve hustling up the line. (Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays)

The Tampa Bay Rays have been able to do something during this 10-game stretch, that they haven’t, well…all season: bounce back from a loss. Jake Odorizzi and the Rays bounced back from a disappointing, yet winnable, game Friday in dominant fashion, crushing the Houston Astros by a score of 8-0. No, it wasn’t a perfectly executed game — then again most aren’t. Tampa Bay was able to take advantage of a struggling Jake Buchanan, while Odorizzi put up zero after zero.

Two starts after what was called his best start of the season, Jake Odorizzi not only bested himself, he bested David Price who pitched night before. In short, he was dominant, slashing 7.1 IP/1 H/0 R/2 BB/10 K on 111 pitches (70 strikes), while keeping the Astros off balance by effectively changing speeds and locations.

Jake Odorizzi at-bat outcomes chart. (Courtesy of Brooks Baseball)
Jake Odorizzi at-bat outcomes chart. An addendum to the chart, there never was a double. (Courtesy of Brooks Baseball)

Odorizzi, impressively, stayed away from the heart of the plate, pitching to all quadrants of the zone while inducing the majority of his 10 strikeouts (nine swinging) on the fringes. Odorizzi was one hit away from a no-no — a fourth inning deflected shot off the bottom of his cleat, with the speedy Jose Altuve hustling up the line. In fact, the only trouble he faced came in the fourth when he allowed back-to-back base runners on the aforementioned hit, and a George Springer walk. But the Rays righty worked around Houston’s only threat, ending the inning with a swinging strikeout of Jon Singleton, and a Matt Dominguez fly-ball out to center. The other key to Odorizzi’s impressive outing, he was able to pitch ahead of Houston’s hitters. Odorizzi tossed 20 out of 25 first pitch strikes, falling into a three-ball count only five times. A huge stat mentioned by DeWayne Staats, Jake Odorizzi struck out everyone in the Astros lineup (at least once), with the exceptions of Dominguez and Altuve.

Brad Boxberger and Kirby Yates followed, combining to put down the last five Astros in order.

Offensively, the Rays scored all the runs they’d need in the first inning, yet tacked on six more insurance runs in the fifth and eighth innings. Jake Buchanan didn’t have his best stuff from the get go, and Tampa Bay took full advantage. Ben Zobrist got the ball rolling with one out in the first, shooting a liner to right, and the Outlaw, Kevin Kiermaier, responded with a liner to right — an RBI double giving the Rays a lead they’d never relinquish. Evan Longoria followed with the third consecutive liner to right, moving Kiermaier to third. James Loney was next, plating the second run of the inning on a base hit up the middle. From there however, the bats went cold until the fifth.

My only criticism: with one out in the first, and runners on first and second, the Rays failed to tag Buchanan for a few more runs. Sure, Brandon Guyer was able to move Loney to second on a sac-bunt. But, because that bunt was hit right back to the pitcher, Longo couldn’t come home. Then, after Matt Joyce loaded the bases on a walk, Yunel Escobar hit a soft, inning ending grounder to first. In the scheme of things, that they didn’t bury Buchanan in the first was ultimate irrelevant — they buried him in the fifth. However, it speaks to the Rays inconsistent ability to drive in runs when opportunities presented themselves. Hindsight is 20/20, making the what ifs more glaring. What if Odorizzi wasn’t dominant, and the Astros were able to come back? What if the Rays weren’t able to put up crooked numbers in the fifth and eighth innings, respectively? Their inability to sink the proverbial battleship early could have proven costly. And it all comes back to the Rays inability to consistently play small ball this season. Thankfully, they were able sink the Astros in the fifth and eighth innings (see below).

Rays fifth and eighth innings scoring summary. (Courtesy of ESPN)
Rays fifth and eighth innings scoring summary. (Courtesy of ESPN)

The New What Next

Erik Bedard will try to bounce back from a pair of crappy outings this afternoon, when he faces Dallas Keuchel and the Astros in the final game of the season series. Make no mistake, Keuchal has been very good this season, thanks to the fact that he’s been a ground ball inducing machine. It could be said that Keuchal has an almost pathological avoidance of the high strike. A caveat for Keuchel: Tampa Bay has tagged the 26 year-old LHP for eight runs in a pair of starts last season. However, his losses, this season, have been sparing — with his last coming in a four run, 5 IP start against the Nats, Tuesday. He has been able to bounce back in his starts following a loss. Because of it, if you’re a Rays fan, pray that Tampa Bay can force mistakes and find the Keuchel of yore. You can read about the pitching matchup in our series preview. If anything, this ooks to be a key start for LHP Erik Bedard and rehabilitating RHP.

Rays 6/21/14 Starting Lineup

Jennings CF
Zobrist RF
Guyer LF
Longoria 3B
Sands DH
Escobar SS
Rodriguez 1B
Forsythe 2B
Molina C
Bedard LHP

Noteworthiness

  • Joe Maddon is going with the “C” lineup Sunday, giving Molina the start behind the plate and hitting ninth, and Forsythe the start at second, hitting eighth.
  • Speaking of Forsythe, Marc Topkin wonders whether he would be better off playing regularly and rebuilding his confidence in Triple A, with the Rays being better off with lefty-swinging INF Cole Figueroa?
  • Per Baseball America, the Rays are “looking like strong favorites” to sign elite Dominican SS prospect, who is expected to get around $3 million after July 7, when he turns 16.
  • Of David Price, Marc Topkin wrote, “It has become increasingly obvious that the Rays likely — if not absolutely, positively — are going to trade Price over the next 51/2 weeks until the July 31 deadline. They can’t afford to keep him long term. They’re not going to win with him this year (the thought that they would was part of the reason he wasn’t dealt over the winter). And every five days they wait to trade him reduces his value because that means one fewer start he makes for his new team.” Topkin went on, “There’s also this: Price’s frustration with the Rays’ overall situation — the team unexpectedly losing so much, the again constant trade speculation, his reluctantly accepting the reality that he’s likely going to leave a place he truly loves — has become obvious daily. His media interviews have become painfully awkward. And hearing a clubhouse leader saying, “We’re the worst team in baseball” — albeit true record-wise — isn’t exactly inspiring.”
  • It’s common knowledge, the Rays won’t make a move unless the right offer presents itself — that’s “going to be the driving force more than any public perception or perceived pressure,” writes Topkin. Former GM Jim Bowden wrote of five potential trades in his recent column for ESPN:
  1. Angels: 1B C.J. Cron, 2B Alex Yarbrough
  2. Blue Jays: RHP Aaron Sanchez, RHP Alberto Tirado
  3. White Sox: 2B Micah Johnson, RHP Erik Johnson, RHP Chris Beck
  4. Yankees: C Gary Sanchez, RHP Luis Severino, C Peter O’Brien
  5. Braves: LHP Alex Wood, RHP Lucas Sims, additional pitching prospect

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