…And it came down to the 11th and 12th innings.
The 11th and 12th Innings
Josh Lueke last appeared against the Yankees Sunday, relinquishing the two hits which gave New York a four-run advantage — CJ Riefenhauser was charged with the runs. Fast forward to Wednesday when Lueke took the hill in the eleventh inning, with the game knotted up. Tasked with holding the Twins at four, Lueke quickly got Chris Herrmann to fly out to left on four pitches. He then got ahead of Eduardo Escobar, but with a 2-2 count, the Twins short stop doubled to right. With a runner in scoring position, Lueke came back to get Sam Fuld (swinging), and followed by inducing an inning ending Brian Dozier groundout.
Ben Zobrist, Desmond Jennings, and Sean Rodriguez went down quietly, in order, in the Rays half of the 11th.
Lueke came back out in the 12th and gave up a single (to short) to Joe Mauer. Next up was Trevor Plouffe, who worked a full count, and doubled to left — advancing Mauer to third. The Twins’ newest hero, Chris Collabello, followed by sending a two-RBI single to center, giving the Twins the go ahead two-run advantage.
Evan Longoria, James Loney, and Wil Myers quietly went down quietly, in order, in the Rays half of the 12th. The Rays dropped their second extra inning game in a week, this time by a score of 6-4.
The New What Next
Day Game after a night game — the Rays will return to the Trop early Thursday when they take on the Twins in the final game of their home stand. Tampa Bay looks to hit the .500 mark once more, while preparing to head to Chicago on a wave of momentum.
The Rays had a fresh bullpen going into Wednesday night’s game, however it would be safe to say the relievers’ arms are tired at the moment. Jake Odorizzi lasted a bullpen taxing 3-1/3 innings. Joe Maddon was asked to describe the state of the bullpen, following the game Wednesday, to which he said, simply, “tired.” Maddon also acknowledged he hadn’t heard from Andrew Friedman regarding the potential for a roster move, which likely would come at the expense of Brandon Gomes since he still has options remaining — that is, unless they were willing to part ways with Josh Lueke.
Enter Erik Bedard, the starter in Thursday afternoon’s game. Joe Maddon had Bedard on a short leash in his 4 R/6 H/3.2 IP last Friday, and one would assume he’d be on a short leash in this, the final game of the series. If there was ever a time for the lefty to step up and eat innings, it’s now. Assuming Bedard doesn’t fare well, the Rays should have Juan Carlos Oviedo, Heath Bell, Jake McGee and Joel Peralta available. Brandon Gomes (threw 32 pitches over his 1-2/3 innings), Grant Balfour (threw 31 pitches over two innings), and Josh Lueke (threw 40 pitches in two innings) won’t be available. You can read more about the pitching match-up in our series preview.
Rays 4/24/14 Starting Lineup
Zobrist 2B
Jennings CF
Joyce LF
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Myers RF
DeJesus DH
Escobar SS
Molina C
Bedard LHP
Noteworthiness
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- I’d reckon it’s somewhat unfair to place all of the blame for the loss on Josh Lueke — after all, the Rays had an ample opportunity to break tie with the bases loaded in the fifth inning, and another bases loaded opportunity in the eighth. One extra run, literally, would have changed the course of the game. In the end however, the Rays had only a run to show for their efforts. Tampa Bay went 1-7 wRISP on the night, driving in only one two-out run. Run your cursor over the peaks in the corresponding innings (below, in the interactive chart) to see for yourself — that is, unless you were one of the frustrated, like me, who sat through those innings at the Trop.
Source: FanGraphs
- I live blogged Wednesday night’s game from section 143. You can read a (almost complete) blow-by-blow account of things at our Tumblr page.
- The Rays, “expect to see Bedard do better, and do things a little differently based on some suggested changes,” writes Marc Topkin. The Rays beat writer goes on to say, “Without getting into too much detail, Maddon said one suggestion was for Bedard to use his fastball that tops out at 90-92 mph “in other ways.'” Though he isn’t fighting for his job per se, it was mentioned that if Bedard doesn’t improve, the Rays would look to Triple-A Durham for help.