An air of frustration has permeated the Rays Republic. Evan Longoria is pressing at the plate, Wil Myers looks clueless in the box, and the fans — those who choose to attend games — have more in common with the population of New York, as exemplified in Ghost Busters II. (Editor’s note: if you didn’t “get” the Ghost Busters II reference, I recommend watching Ivan Reitman’s masterpiece) Last night’s contest wasn’t fun on the field or in the stands. Tampa Bay was shutout for the second time in three games last night, and they’ve now won only five of their last 15 games. The Rays have scored just 46 runs in those games, an average of (roughly) three runs per.
The story is clichéd and trite by now; a lefty who they hadn’t previously faced shut down the Rays lineup. Though he lasted only five innings — akin to his previous two starts — Pomeranz allowed just five base runners, with the bulk (three) coming in the third inning. An aside, thanks to the Rays, Pomeranz has lowered his ERA from 1.14 to 0.94. I digress.
Down 3-0, Tampa Bay put together a major bases loaded threat that inning, juicing the bags with one out, on two singles and a walk. With the bases (as BA likes to say) juiced, Desmond Jennings came to the plate. Yet Pomeranz did what he had all night: spotted his fastball well. Jennings saw seven pitches in his at-bat, only to ground into an inning ending double play. Granted that play was reviewed when it appeared as though he beat the throw to first, which would have put the Rays on the board. But the play was ruled inconclusive, and the initial call stood. Tampa Bay challenged once again in the eighth inning, putting men on the corners with one out. Jennings came to the plate again and, as luck would have it, grounded into another double play.
All of the A’s runs came in the second inning. Jake Odorizzi imploded with one on and two-outs, allowing three runs to score on a pair of singles, and an RBI double by Coco Crisp. To be fair, Odorizzi was not terrible, yet two factors weighed heavily on his outing: a seeming inability to put hitters away in an efficient manner, and giving a free pass to the A’s hitters. All but one of his five walks came when there were two strikes on the hitter, while the opposing hitters touched the Rays’ righty for 31 foul balls. On the subject of Odorizzi, Eric Hahmann of DRaysBay wrote an assessment of his outing that I firmly agree with,
“What really cut his night short was the 39 pitch fourth inning. He didn’t allow a run, but it was a perfect microcosm of his season. He started off the inning by walking Derek Norris in a 14 pitch at bat and followed that up by using 10 pitches to strike out Nick Punto. The results weren’t terrible, but he was terribly inefficient in getting there.”
The relievers were the highlight of the night. Cesar Ramos, Juan Carlos Oviedo, Brad Boxberger, and Josh Lueke combined for 4-1/3 scoreless innings, while striking out six. Oviedo continued to prove his worth in his 1-1/3 innings of work, striking out two and coaxing a big inning ending ground ball with runners in scoring position — lowering his ERA to 1.98 in the process. Oviedo has looked sharp since relinquishing three earned runs against the Red Sox back on April 29th, and he’s proving to be valuable piece in the ‘pen — especially considering he hadn’t pitched since 2011.
The New What Next
Erik Bedard will attempt to continue his streak of solid pitching when he toes the rubber, opposite of Tommy Milone, Wednesday night. The Rays have a love affair with Milone. The 27 year-old LHP has gone 1-2 with a 7.13 ERA in his last three starts against Tampa Bay. Milone features some fairly standard stuff, including a very hittable mid-70′s changeup which he throws primarily to righties. You can read about the pitching matchup in our series preview.
Rays 5/21/14 Starting Lineup
Myers RF
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Guyer LF
Rodriguez 2B
Escobar SS
Jennings CF
Forsythe DH
Hanigan C
Bedard LHP
Noteworthiness
- At 0-4 on the night, it would have been a stretch to call Logan Forsythe an apt choice for DH. Yet, there he sat last night, hitting in the six hole. Meanwhile, Kevin Kiermaier, who started the game on the bench, got on base with a pinch hit single in the eighth inning. Forsythe had nothing to show for the 21 pitches he saw, while Kiermaier saw all of three pitches before reaching safely. You do the math.
- The Rays made the official announcement that Alex Cobb would be activated for the start Thursday. A big boost for sure, though the team needs to start hitting for any additional changes to matter.
- The Rays have scored in only one of their last 28 offensive innings, 14 runs total in the last seven games.
- Bedard starts tonight not having allowed a homer in 46-1/3 consecutive innings, extending back to 9/16/13.