The Tampa Bay Rays fell to 4-4 on the year, after dropping the first game of a three-game set against Jason Vargas and the Royals, by a score of 4-2. The Rays have now lost seven consecutive games at Kauffman Stadium — extending back to 2012. What’s more, the starting rotation could be down a pitcher (for an unknown amount of time) on the heels of Matt Moore’s early departure from Monday night’s game.
Moore allowed only one run, following a lead off triple by Norichika Aoki (aided by Sean Rodriguez’s poor placement in left field; more on that below), though he was constantly down in the count during the his brief 78 pitch stint on the mound. In short, he was unable to put hitters away with two strikes. Moore started the fifth inning on the verge of turning it around, following a 1-2-3 fourth. He quickly got Alcides Escobar to ground out to first, bringing Aoki to the plate. But with a 2-2 count, Moore grimaced while throwing a changeup subsequently removed from the game. Cesar Ramos came on in relief and finished the fifth.
The southpaw left the game because of elbow soreness — a similar diagnosis that of sixth months prior, when he was placed on the DL for the month of August. Rays trainer Ron Porterfield said this bout with elbow soreness appears less severe than last year’s. Furthermore, the Rays made mention that though the tests were inconsistent, there’s no reason to believe it’s serious at this time. Joe Maddon, as he’s want to do, attempted to lessen the blow, saying Moore felt soreness but did not hear a pop. Whether this is an extenuating issue from quirks in his mechanics is unknown. Eric Hahmann of DRaysBay put things into perspective, “The changeup is an important pitch for him, but if it’s going to give him elbow soreness something will have to change.” Moore will have an MRI, Tuesday.
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As for the rest of the game, Heath Bell hit Omar Infante with a pitch, to the left side of his jaw, in the sixth inning. Bloodied, Infante walked off field, with help from trainers, with a towel on his face. Bell also allowed a bases clearing double in the same inning, putting the Rays in a four run hole. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why he filled the role of long reliever, throwing 2-2/3 innings, while Cesar Ramos worked just one.
On the other side of the coin, the Rays offense failed to come up with the big hit they so desperately needed. Going 1-5 wRISP, Tampa Bay stranded eight men on the bags. Blanked until the ninth inning, Ben Zobrist broke up the shutout with a towering homer to left (his first of the year). I will give them credit for not rolling over and playing dead. The Rays put together a ninth inning rally following BenZo’s shot, ultimately bringing the tying run to the plate. Matt Joyce singled home Logan Forsythe to bring the Rays within two, but David DeJesus whiffed at the final pitch of the game, handing the Rays their second straight loss.
The New What Next
Tuesday! Tuesday! Tuesday! A battle between a pair of power righties: Chris Archer, and the Pedro Martinez-like Yordano Ventura. You can read more about Ventura, in our series preview.
Rays 4/8/14 Starting Lineup
DeJesus LF
Myers RF
Zobrist 2B
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Jennings CF
Joyce DH
Molina C
Escobar SS
Archer RHP
Noteworthiness
- The only two starters to record hits were Ben Zobrist and Evan Longoria, combining to go 5-10 on the night.
- The Rays could have won the game 2-0, hadn’t it been for a pair of unfortunate events. First, Sean Rodriguez misjudged Aoki’s lead off triple (he came around to score) playing him entirely too shallow. Then there was Bell’s three run inning. Sigh…