I’m going to be honest with you, it’s insanely hard to summarize last night’s marathon between the Rays and Indians. One thing is certain though: Both the Rays offense and bullpen stepped up and throttled the Tribe Friday night/Saturday morning, handing the Tribe a 9-2 shellacking. The much maligned bullpen absolutely dealt, putting together a two-run (both unearned), one hit, two walk outing that should — if anything — show how deadly the Rays are when both the pitching and hitting are (close to) firing on all cylinders. It’s been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. If that’s true, take a gander at the handful of screenshots below for a summary of last night’s game:
The New What Next
The Rays and Indians will quickly turn around and play a 1:10 game at Progressive Field. It should be mentioned that Friday/Saturday’s game ended just after 3:00 AM, after three rain delays totaling four hours and forty-nine minutes. Call me crazy, but I’d imagine that both teams are a bit exhausted. Per the Associated Press,
The teams had little choice but wait out the long delays. With a forecast for heavy rain on Saturday and Sunday, crew chief Fieldin Culbreth and the umpires figured they had to try to get in one game with the possibility the whole weekend could get washed out. The teams aren’t scheduled to meet again this season.
In a perfect world, Chris Archer will be able to eat up some innings today. Suffice to say, the bullpen arms are tired at best. He’ll be opposed by Ubaldo Jimenez. You can read more on the match-up here.
Rays 6/1/13 Starting Lineup
Noteworthiness
- Ben Zobrist is getting the day off, with Ryan Roberts handling the second base duties and Matt Joyce getting the start in right-field.
- Tampa Bay optioned Josh Lueke to Durham, recalling Alex Torres* to help a worn out bullpen.
- Both Matt Joyce and James Loney went yard last night. It was Loney’s first multihomer game since Sept. 7, 2007.
- There has been discussion about starting Moore on Sunday, pushing Hellickson back a bit.
*Editors note: after Torres’ last outing in relief some 12 days ago, I can’t help but feel that this is a great move!