Let’s take a trip back in time. We’ll set the time machine to June 7th 2012 when the Rays faced the Yankees in the Bronx, with David Price on the mound. Price faced a formidable challenge on that hot, summer, night — in a game where the Yankees kept their collective feet on the throat of the Rays ace over the course of his outing, yet they would inevitably fall short. And though Price allowed a total of seven base runners on three hits and four walks, he only relinquished one run in his five inning start — a start which condensed all the drama of nine innings into five. The Rays ultimately won that game 7-3. Fast forward to Monday night. Price took the bump against the Orioles and put together another gritty five inning outing which harkened back to the aforementioned game.
It was evident that the Rays ace didn’t have his stuff from the get go. He got himself in trouble throughout the course of his start, ultimately allowing 12 batters to reach base on 10 hits (including a pair of RBI doubles) and two walks, while giving up two earned runs. However, akin to his start a little more than a year ago, he was able to limit the damage and get out of some big jams, stranding 10 base runners — eight in scoring position — and holding the Orioles to 2-11 wRISP.
With one out in the bottom of the second, Steve Pearce stepped into the box with a pair of runners on second and third. The Orioles already scored a run in the inning and threatened to tag on more. Price quickly got ahead of Pearce and induced a liner to left, five pitches later, for the second out of the inning. Brian Roberts was next, but Price got him to fly out to center on one pitch to end the inning. Price got into more trouble in the bottom of the third after Manny Machado and Adam Jones hit a couple of singles. Matt Wieters plated a run on a single to center which moved Jones up to third. In spite of the threat, Price got JJ Hardy to strike out on five pitches and Nick Markakis to foul out on the first pitch — getting out of the RISP jam and the inning.
The Orioles put base runners on in the subsequent innings, including a runner on third scenario in the fourth, but Price avoided any undue damage, while he and Jamey Wright held Baltimore to only two runs — that is, until Joel Peralta came into the game in the seventh and gave up a solo shot to Wieters. In the end, Price and Peralta allowed their fair share of runners to reach safely, consequently ratcheting the pressure and drama while the collective blood pressure of the collective Rays Nation increased to incalculable levels. But the Orioles couldn’t seal the deal, going 2-14 wRISP and stranding 14 overall.
And to be fair, the Rays weren’t much better in the box. Tampa Bay went 2-9 wRISP, stranding seven on base including five men at second or third. But four runs on a pair of Longoria and Joyce home runs, and a Kelly Johnson RBI single, would prove to be all the Rays would need. Tampa Bay ended the night 20-17 in one run games, while the Orioles fell back to four games behind the second place Rays.
The New What Next
Alex Cobb will attempt to put together another solid outing against Miguel Gonzalez Tuesday night. You can read about the pitching match-up here.
Rays 8/20/13 Starting Lineup
Jennings CF
Zobrist 2B
Longoria 3B
Joyce LF
Myers RF
Loney 1B
Escobar SS
Molina C
Johnson DH
Cobb RHP
Noteworthiness
- Molina is getting the start for the second consecutive day, while Matt Joyce is getting the start in left and hitting cleanup.
- “We played prevent defense entire night. Kept the safeties deep, funneled receivers thru middle and kept them out of the end zone. Woof.” — Joe Maddon
- Per the Tampa Bay Rays, the other time the Rays won a (9-inning) game when opponent totaled 15 LOB? June 23, 2007 vs. the Dodgers, also a 4-3 win.
- Get used to seeing Hernandez in the starting rotation for a little while longer. Maddon says Moore is progressing well but return against the Angels may be pushing it a bit. A return in the west coast trip is more likely. However, Maddon is expected to shift the rotation a bit ahead of the off-day Thursday.
- What a novel concept, this gent has started a Facebook group with the sole purpose of filling the Trop on September 18th, when the Rays take on the Rangers. The game will be broadcast on ESPN, and well…you know those numbnuts are going to say something about attendance.
- Marine Layer, the founder of NewBallpark.org, has chimed in on the Stadium Saga, asserting,
Chances are Selig won’t do anything other than make that visit. He’ll decry the attendance woes at Tropicana Field. He’ll continue to say that the team needs a long-term solution. Yet when he attempts to proselytize St. Pete Mayor Bill Foster and other pols, he’ll do so with the knowledge that he has very little leverage in the matter.
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Contrast that with our home situation, where the Giants have all the leverage over the A’s internally with MLB and MLB has leverage over San Jose. As we saw with MLB’s response to the antitrust lawsuit, they’re perfectly willing to shove the antitrust exemption in San Jose’s face when they feel they have power. What about in St. Pete, where they have little power? How about using ATE now, Bud?
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Look on the bright side. 14 years is a long time to save money. Bud should suggest a Rays ballpark layaway plan. That’s part of the way we fund infrastructure in California. The BART-to-Silicon Valley extension is being partly funded by accrued sales tax increment. Only when the revenues hit certain targets will the full extension to downtown San Jose take place. Both Tampa and St. Petersburg have indicated they have limited funds to throw at what will surely be a $600-800 million (in today’s dollars) stadium when all is said and done. Even with some sort of out-of-the-box financing plan, there still will be a major public component, which is unsavory to say the least.