I’m still a bit punch drunk after the Tigers 10-1 shellacking of the Rays Tuesday night. I had the full intention of putting together a complete summary of the game, however I’d reckon it’d be just as easy for you to head to our Tumblr page where we live blogged the debacle in its entirety.
The short and narrow: Matt Moore and the Rays were clobbered, Anibal Sanchez was outstanding, and Alex Torres put together another great outing.
Posting a 2 IP/7 H/6 R/6 ER/6 BB/1 K line, Matt Moore wasn’t able to make it through the third inning cleanly. Simply put, Moore couldn’t put batters away — be it with two strikes or two outs. On multiple occasions Moore got ahead of the batter with two strikes, only to relent a hit or a walk. What’s more, only 48 of his 86 pitches went for strikes, and he matched a season-high by walking six batters. Did I mention that he couldn’t get out of the third inning cleanly?
Anibal Sanchez was the yin to Moore’s yang, only giving up one run on four hits over the course of seven innings. Sanchez impressively posted a 64% K%, mowing over nine Rays. He was also able to induce ground-ball after ground-ball, effectively taking the piss out of any and all Rays threats — that is, with the exception of the second inning. Evan Longoria lead off the second and hit a triple to right-center gap. He was driven home on a Desmond Jennings sac-fly, giving Tampa Bay its lone run.
Where Kyle Farnsworth and Jamey Wright put together a poor outings, Cesar Ramos and (most notably) Alex Torres looked sharp. Torres came on in relief of Moore in the third with the bases loaded and no outs, and was tasked with facing the meat of the order. Torii Hunter was first, and Torres induced a 1-0 ground ball to third. Longo quickly threw the ball home, forcing Pena at the plate. Mr. Miguel “.517 wRISP” Cabrera was up next. After getting behind in the count 3-0, Torres challenged Miggy with a fastball and a pair of nasty change-ups, striking Cabrera out swinging. As a sign of respect, Miggy acknowledged his fellow Venezuelan for the great job he’d done against him.
But the heavy lifting was not done, next up with the bases loaded: Prince Fielder. Torres also fell behind 2-1, though he was able to get get the count back in his favor when Fielder fouled off the next pitch. With a 2-2 count, Torres threw a nasty inside change-up, striking out Prince swinging. Torres came back out in the fourth and induced a pair of groundouts to short, while also striking out Matt Tuiasosopo on — you guessed it — a filthy change-up. Torres threw six change-ups Tuesday night, all going for strikes (three swinging strikes). I’d reckon his change-up a pretty good put away pitch. In ten total innings of work, Torres has given up only one hit while striking out 12.
The New What Next
A pair of ground ballers will take the mound for the Rays and Tigers tonight when Alex Cobb and Doug Fister butt heads. Hopefully Longo and Co. can force a few mistakes out of a very good Fister. You can read more about tonight’s match-up here.
Rays 6/5/13 Starting Lineup
1. Matt Joyce RF
2. Ben Zobrist 2B
3. Kelly Johnson LF
4. Evan Longoria 3B
5. James Loney 1B
6. Desmond Jennings CF
7. Luke Scott DH
8. Jose Lobaton CF
9. Yunel Escobar SS
SP Alex Cobb RHP
Noteworthiness
- Wait…A-Roid could be suspended for 100 games, potentially harkening the end of his wonderful (harhar) career?! Tell me more!