Amidst the trade speculation and rumors, the Tampa Bay Rays have quietly put together a run. Winners of their last four, including a 5-1 victory last night against the Minnesota Twins, the Rays have gone 23-12 since June 11. David Price put together another excellent bid to keep Tampa Bay in the thick of things, tossing an eight-plus inning gem for his fifth consecutive victory.
If the name of the game is winning series from here on out — from the middle of June on out, that is — the Rays have done that, now winner seven of their last 11 series’. The results have been noticeable. Tampa Bay now sits 4.5 games behind the Yankees and Blue Jays, who are third in the AL East, and seven games out in the Wildcard race (just a game and-a-half behind the Chicago White Sox).
Below are a few game peripherals and highlights from last night’s game.
Game Peripherals and Highlights
- Joe Maddon called it last night. Before the game, Maddon told several people he really liked Rodriguez’s chances and expected him to hit a homer into the second deck. Low and behold, Rodriguez did just that — following two singles, a double-play grounder by Yunel Escobar and a Jose Molina RBI single, SeanRod hit a mammoth shot into the second deck in left field.
- How about the bottom five batters in the lineup?! James Loney, Logan Forsythe, Yunel Escobar, Jose Molina and Sean Rodriguez teamed up to go 10-23 with five runs. More impressively, the eight and nine hitters (Molina and Rodriguez) were credited with driving in all five runs.
- If the Rays are going to go anywhere, they’re going to need contributions from everyone in the lineup. And if the last two games are indicative of anything, it’s that (most) everyone in the lineup has contributed something. Consider this: Cole Figueroa is the only Ray who hasn’t at least reached base. The big offensive producers (Ben Zobrist, Evan Longoria, and James Loney) have done their part, while the supporting role players (Kevin Kiermaier, Desmond Jennings, Logan Forsythe) have also contributed. Hell, even Molina has come around. Now, if only the relievers could do the same.
- Following the game, Joe Maddon was quoted as saying, “We were talking before the game about how well he’s been pitching and trying to compare it to his Cy Young Award-winning year (2012),” manager Joe Maddon said. “And I’m telling you, he’s right there now.” Well put, skip! Despite lacking fastball command in the first inning, and needing 23 pitches to get through the inning, Price was absolutely dominant in his 8.0 IP/4 H/0 R/0 BB/4 K 119 pitch (87 strikes, 73% K%) outing. 18 of his 87 strikes were whiffs (21%), with 10 coming on the fastball. Price set up the Twins hitters well, coxing swings and misses on pitches well outside the zone.
- My biggest criticism: Besides Brad Boxberger and Jake McGee, the Rays really don’t have a true shutdown reliever. Both Joel Peralta and Grant Balfour have been inconsistent, while Juan-Carlos Oviedo has followed in their footsteps — last night being no different. Oviedo lasted a third of an inning, yielding a run on a hit and a walk. Maddon had to call on McGee to get the final two outs of the game. Taking things back further, in his last five appearances (totaling 4-2/3 IP), Oviedo has given up six runs on nine hits and three walks, while striking out only three. Though Price and Zobrist have dominated the trade rumors of late, I can only hope that Andrew Friedman is looking for someone to bolster the bullpen. That someone could be in Durham — CJ Riefenhauser (1-2, 1.75 ERA) and Jeff Beliveau (0-0, 1.50 ERA) come to mind — or on the market. Whatever the case, if this run is legitimate, something needs to be done to shore up the ‘pen going into August and September.
The New What Next
The Rays took the series last night, and they’ll attempt to put the Twins out of their misery this afternoon with Chris Archer on the bump. Archer will butt heads with Kevin Correia (5-11, 4.61 ERA). The Rays haven’t faced Correia this season, though in his previous two starts against Tampa Bay, they handed the 33 year-old RHP an 0-1 record, with a 4.76 ERA. Then again, Correia’s posted a 2.30 ERA over his last seven starts, compiling a 1.21 WHIP despite a 3-4 record in that span. Over that period, Correia made four starts in which he surrendered just one earned run or less. He changed his pitch selection slightly, cutting back on his cutter and relying more on his curveball and change up after he began the season with a 6.11 ERA and 1.55 WHIP. You can read about the pitching matchup in our series preview.
Rays 7/20/14 Starting Lineup
Jennings CF
Zobrist 2B
Joyce LF
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Guyer DH
Escobar SS
Casali C
Kiermaier RF
Archer RHP
Noteworthiness
- Evan Longoria starts play today 1 RBI and 1 double behind Carl Crawford’s franchise records (592, 215). Ben Zobrist is also at 214 doubles.
- Per Fangraphs, the Rays again increased their playoff odds, this time to 7.7%. Meanwhile, the Red Sox have notched down a tenth of a point, to 7.9%.