As the idiom goes, the third time’s a charm; a saying that held true for the Tampa Bay Rays Wednesday night. Jake Odorizzi took the hill against the Baltimore Orioles and allowed only three base runners in 6-2/3 superb innings of work. Meanwhile the relievers were able to preserve the lead, allowing the Rays to earn a combined 2-0 shutout win — the first of the Kevin Cash era.
Since I am simultaneously working on the Rays/Marlins series preview, what follows are a few highlights from Wednesday night’s contest. Dying for a full summation of Wednesday night’s action? Charlie Poliseno (DRaysBay) put together a nice recap of the game; it’s worth your time.
— Jake Odorizzi was in control the instant he took the mound. Odorizzi allowed just two hits over 6-2/3 shutout innings, striking out seven while hitting a batter. The tall righty faced just two over the minimum, allowing only one runner into scoring position in the third inning on a one-out double to Ryan Lavarnway. Odorizzi followed by plunking Jonathan Schoop, however, he got Alejandro DeAza to line to right and followed with strikeout of the dangerous Steve Pearce to end the threat. Of the seven strikeouts Odorizzi collected, six came courtesy of his very Alex Cobb-like change up (six swinging).
BA an Dewayne discussed the 15 pounds of muscle Odorizzi put on during the offseason, and it was their opinion that it would make the hurler a stronger, more durable, pitcher over the long haul. Whether that had an instantaneous impact on Odorizzi is hard to say, however, he consistently hit 94-95 with his fastball, and topped out at 96 when needed — this after averaging a low 90’s fastball in 2014. Draw your own conclusion. The extra velocity provided a greater differential to his 83 mph split change-up, a pitch that had the Orioles baffled all night. Of the 29 cobbers thrown, 23 were strikes (73% K/BB) and 10 were whiffs.
Odorizzi was pulled relatively early, I dare say because he threw 94 pitches, not because he lost command of his stuff. Still, it would have been incredible to see him put down Chris Davis (who was on deck when Jake got yanked) once again after fanning him in both of his previous at-bats. His leash will naturally get longer as the season progresses, especially if he continues to pitch as well as he had Wednesday.
Jake spoke about his outing with Rays Radio after the game:
— Jeff Beliveau got the final out of the seventh inning, coxing a Chris Davis fly-out. Kevin Jepsen came on in the eighth and worked around a two-out walk to fan the side. Brad Boxberger allowed an infield hit against the shift to start the ninth but then fanned strike the heart of the Oriole’s order (Steven Pierce, Travis Snider, and Adam Jones) to earn his first save of the year.
— To put things into perspective, the Rays allowed only four hits while striking out 16 in the 16 innings that followed Nathan Karns’ two poor innings of work, Tuesday.
— The Rays finally got on the board in the sixth inning when Miguel Gonzalez and reliever Brian Matusz combined to walk four batters, with the final walk to Logan Forsythe culminating in a run. They tacked on the insurance run in the eighth when Evan Longoria (who reached three times on a double and two walks) doubled to left field off Brad Brach. Desmond Jennings followed with an RBI single to center, plating Longoria.
— Congratulations are in order to Kevin Cash for earning his first managerial win. After a beer shower, something that’s typically reserved for pitchers who earn their first win, Cash told the media the celebration was something he’ll never forget: