As I wrote on our Tumblr page, Henderson Alvarez put the death knell on the Rays, capping their worst road trip in franchise history with an 88-pitch, complete game, 1-0 shutout — his third consecutive shutout against an AL team in Interleague Play since he joined the Marlins (extending back to his no hitter in final game of the 2013 season against the Tigers). The Rays ended their road trip without a win, while their frustration was exacerbated by an 0-22 wRISP stretch, and the three momentum killing double plays they grounded into Tuesday night.
If there is a common theme among many — Joe Maddon and Chris Archer included — there really aren’t any words that can sum things up succinctly, expletives withstanding.
As Joe Maddon said in his post game presser,
“You have to hide a few of your blemishes. There’s got to be some Clearasil out there somewhere for us.”
A hope remains that the offense can tighten up over the course of their home dominated month of June.
What follows is a game recap in pictures/screenshots, with a few words peppered in here and there. Note: the spikes, peaks, and valleys in the Fangraphs generated Leverage Index correlate with the top of the second, third, fifth, seventh, and eight innings scenarios beneath (all courtesy of ESPN).
Source: FanGraphs
Game Peripherals
- Yunel Escobar tried steal second in the fifth inning, when Henderson Alvarez had the ball in his mitt with his back turned. Escobar was ultimately called out, though Maddon challenged the play which was judged inconclusive. Though Escobar was emphatic in his reaction, there really wasn’t a clear angle to definitively determine whether he got in ahead of the tag or not.
- Chris Archer put together an excellent 7 IP/5 H/1 ER/2 BB/8 K outing, throwing 93 pitches (65 strikes) and coaxing eight ground outs — including a crucial double play — in the process. He impressively registered 21 (of 26) first pitch strikes, and worked ahead in the count all night. He, unfortunately, relinquished the lone run on a bases loaded walk in the sixth inning. Joel Peralta came on in relief in the eighth inning, and put down the Marlins in order on 13 pitches (12 strikes), striking out two and forcing a groundout. In short, they don’t deserve the fate of the one run loss.
The New What Next
The Rays head back to the Trop Wednesday to continue their four game set against the Marlins. David Price will attempt to put together another quality start against Tom Koehler. The Rays last faced Koehler a year ago when he posted a very good 8 IP/7 H/3 R outing, resulting in a Marlins’ loss. Though he’s coming off a pair of losses, his last start resulted in a seven inning, three-run quality outing. You can read about the pitching match up, and much more, in our series preview, and I’ll post the starting lineup when it becomes available.
Rays 6/4/14 Starting Lineup
DeJesus DH
Zobrist 2B
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Jennings CF
Joyce LF
Escobar SS
Kiermaier RF
Molina C
Price LHP
Noteworthiness
- Your tweet of the day comes courtesy of Marc Topkin,
Infield single for #Rays Escobar, then Molina bunts into a double play. Yes, you read that right. 1-6-3
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) June 4, 2014