The Tampa Bay Rays split the difference with the Baltimore Orioles Friday, taking the first game of their double header by a 5-2 margin, while dropping the second 4-1. The Rays hitters, who were able to put together good at-bats in the first game, looked listless and lethargic at the plate in the second game. For me, the story of the night surrounded Jake Odorizzi. He certainly didn’t have his A-stuff, in fact Odorizzi missed his spots all night, especially up in the zone. We’d later find out that the Rays righty had a fingernail issue on his throwing hand, which made it hard for him to throw — much less command — anything but his fastball (which he threw 92 times). And despite the fact that he left his pitches in very hittable locations, the Orioles’ big boppers couldn’t tag him for more than one run. The O’s comically whiffed at 12 letter high fastballs — some that were put there intentionally, some which were accidents that the Orioles couldn’t pounce upon. In the end, Odorizzi was able to induce a 14% swinging strike rate, which is very good for a fastball.
A friend and I discussed Odorizzi’s outing last night, and we came to the consensus that it felt like David Price’s 2012 start against the Yankees. Price lasted only five innings in that game, but he held the Yankees down, and allowed the Rays to be competitive throughout. Similarly, Odorizzi was in trouble from the get go in his 100+ pitch outing, yet he walked away in the fifth after relinquishing only one run. His start was even more remarkable considering that Odorizzi was essentially a one pitch pitcher. The tight rope walker somehow held the O’s to only one run on six hits and four walks, striking out six along the way. In the first five innings, Baltimore was 1-9 wRISP, having stranded nine base runners — including six in a pair of bases loaded situations in the second and fifth innings.
Odorizzi has now given up two runs or fewer in each of his last four starts. It’s rather comforting that a bad outing from Jake Odorizzi now means two runs or fewer over five innings.
Unfortunately Odorizzi’s tight rope antics were for not; Juan-Carlos Oviedo quickly gave up a solo shot — and the lead — to Nick Hundley in the sixth, while Joel Peralta followed by giving up a leadoff double to Adam Jones, and a two-run shot to Nelson Cruz in the seventh. After a streak of 22 consecutive home run free outings, Oviedo has been hammered for three long-balls in his last 5-2/3 innings of work.
The New What Next
BA confirmed what I made mention of in the series preview; no one has run away with things in the AL East, making an 85 win playoff berth seem reasonable. But there isn’t any wiggle room. Because of it, I’d imagine that Erik Bedard will be watched very closely in his outing this afternoon against Wei-Yin Chen. The Rays were able to cull their only other win against the Orioles when Chen took the mound on the 16th. Much like Erik Bedard, Chen tends to operate on a pitch count, and the Rays will have an opportunity to see a lot of pitches and knock Chen out of the game early. You can read about the pitching matchup in our series preview.
Rays 6/28/14 Starting Lineup
Jennings CF
Zobrist SS
Guyer LF
Longoria DH
Loney 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Forsythe 2B
Hanigan C
Kiermaier RF
Bedard P
Noteworthiness
- Kevin Kiermaier bunted twice in the second game. His first attempt bounded up the third base line, but Manny Machado, who sniffed out the bunt, was playing in and threw him out comfortably. “That wasn’t a smart play,” mentioned BA in the telecast. Kiermaier dragged the second bunt up the first base line. He was initially called out, but upon review the call was reversed and he was given the hit.
- Longoria didn’t have a bad day, going 3-4 in the second game.