Let me put it to you this way, I’m tired…neigh, wiped out. Yes, I’m still completely psyched that Tampa Bay was able to walk away with a 5-4 win in grandiose, walk-off, fashion. However, it doesn’t detract from the fact that I stayed up well passed my bedtime Monday night. Such is life, I’d rather be tired and happy, than tired and glum any day of the week. And if sleep deprivation is the cost of the Rays staying alive in the postseason so be it — I’ll sleep when I’m dead! That said, below are some game peripherals from the third game of the ALDS.
- Though Alex Cobb’s line might suggest that he had a labor intensive outing, I’d argue that a handful of defensive miscues, and bad breaks, tacked a few more pitches onto his final line. For example, Jacoby Ellsbury squeezed a single between Yunel Escobar and Ben Zobrist in the first inning, and he eventually came home on a throwing error by Zobrist for the first run of the game. On that error (as with Saturday) Shane Victorino slid in hard on Zobrist. Zo, who had to rush the throw, air-mailed it passed james Loney, allowing the runners to advance and Ellsbury to score. I’m not implying that Victorino made a dirty play. On the contrary, he played heads up ball. But, he exacerbated the gaffe by Zobrist. From that point on, Boston went scoreless until the fifth when they tacked on a pair of runs thanks to, your guessed it, defensive miscues and bad breaks. After Will Middlebrooks led off the inning with a strikeout, Jacoby Ellsbury doubled on an awkward play at second. He was moved to third on a Victorino infield single to Escobar, who attempted to throw Ellsbury out at third. Though the replay showed that Ellsbury was out, third base umpire Larry Vanover called him safe, setting the scene for what happened next. Ellsbury came home on a 2-1 wild pitch (though it looked like a passed ball to me), and David Ortiz followed that with a single to left. Another horrible call came in the top of the eighth when Berry, who pinch ran for David Ortiz after a walk, stole second. Zobrist blocked his arm as Berry tried to touch second, subsequently tagging him out. Second base umpire Paul Emmel didn’t see things that way, calling Berry safe much to the chagrin of Zobrist, Joe Maddon, and a very loud sold out crowd. That play didn’t go against the Rays — Joel Peralta was able to get out of the inning by stranding a man at third. However, the play in the fifth easily could have paid dividends for the Red Sox. With the questionable defense in the forefront of Cobb’s mind, the Rays righty came off the mound to field balls in play on multiple occasions. Take the second inning for example. Will Middlebrooks sent a dribbler that looked like a sure-fire infield single, up the third base line. Longoria was playing him deep and had no chance to reach the slow roller, but Cobb was quick off the mound — getting to the ball near the foul line, firing a bullet to James Loney to end the frame.
- Cobb’s outing wasn’t perfect, yet he, much like Big Game James, put together a bulldog start that kept the Rays in the thick of things. He made the all important inning ending big pitches with runners in scoring position on a couple of occasions, while the Red Sox stranded a good number of runners, going 2-14 wRISP overall. His final line: 5 IP/5 H/2 ER/2 BB/5 K 94 pitches (60 for strikes).
- Alex Torres and Joel Peralta combined for a pair of massively important solid innings in relief of Cobb. Torres allowed one hit, but wrung up a pair of Sox (one swinging) while also inducing an pop-out to short. Facing a tough top of the lineup, Peralta put up a 1-2-3 seventh, getting Ellsbury to line out to second, Victorino to pop out to left, and Pedoroia to foul out to end the inning.
- In juxtaposition, Jake McGee and Fernando Rodney weren’t nearly as sharp as they needed to be with the Rays season on the line. Just over half of McGee’s 26 total pitches came as strikes, while Rodney looked erratic (at best), allowing a walk and a single before he got the first out on a Victorino sac-bunt. Pedroia plated a run in the next at-bat, while Ellsbury put himself in prime scoring position after he stole third with two outs. Thankfully Rodney was able to ring up Mike carp to end the inning, but not before the Red Sox knotted up the game at two apiece. The scariest part of it all: There was no one warming in the pen for the top of the tenth, meaning Rodney would have come out again, hadn’t Lobi crushed the game winning homer.
- Offensively speaking, after failing to score in the second and fourth innings, the Rays were finally able to tie up the game in the fifth on a 363 foot, three-run shot shot to left, off the bat of Evan Longoria. Yunel Escobar led off the inning with an infield single, and David DeJesus moved him to third on a line drive double to deep right. It almost looked as though Tampa Bay would walk away with nothing after Zobrist popped out to short for the second out, but Longo saved the day… On his birthday, no less. The momentum swung in the Rays direction from that point on. Delmonster gave the Rays a 4-3 lead in the eighth on a bases loaded ground-out to first, easily scoring Fuld — who came into the game to pinch run for James Loney (he initially reached on a walk off of Tazawa). It bears mentioning, Escobar reached on another infield single which was almost a carbon copy of his base hit in the fifth. Then in the ninth inning, with two-outs and the game tied at four, Jose Lobaton stepped to the plate to face Boston’s un-hittable closer, Koji Uehara. Lobi saw all of two pitches, and absolutely crushed a hanging splitter 419 feet to center — into the Rays Tank. It’s only fitting that the ball glanced off the mitt of someone wearing a DanJo jersey, standing next to the tank.
The New What Next
The Rays live to see another day, and they’ll face Jake Peavy tonight at the Trop. Tampa Bay will counter with Jeremy Hellickson, and you’d better believe he’ll be on a short leash for obvious reasons. You can read about the pitching match-up here.
Rays 10/8/13 Starting Lineup
DeJesus LF
Myers RF
Loney 1B
Longoria 3B
Zobrist 2B
Jennings CF
Johnson DH
Escobar SS
Lobaton C
Hellickson RHP
Noteworthiness
- How amazing was the crowd last night? Not only was the sellout crowd loud (actually, it was very loud), I LOVED hearing the very audible chants of “BUCHHOLZ….BUCHHOLZ!” A wise friend of mine once penned a song, “Scream Until You’re Coughing Up Blood,” and, well, that’s exactly what I did last night — and I can’t wait to do it again tonight.
- Hey TBS, shove off. I reserved the right to not comment about TBS’s coverage of the ALDS when the “nerd” controversy started, after Saturday’s game. However, from all accounts, your analysts are ill prepared at best. No, you may not complain about the catwalks while giving that put-put course of a stadium, in Boston, a pass. And no, contrary to what you may believe, this isn’t Lobaton’s first rodeo — he had two walk-off’s prior to last night’s game winning blast. And no, he doesn’t need y’all to welcome him to the big leagues, seeing as he’s been on a big league roster for the better part of three seasons.
- In addition, resident troll Peter Gammons tweeted what’s below. Tell him to shove it via his official twitter account.
- Buster Olney notes, “You have to believe Joe Maddon will go into tonight’s game prepared to use LH Matt Moore, RH Chris Archer early in relief of Hellickson.”
- Per the Rays, Jose Lobaton was the first player in postseason history to hit a two-out, walk off home run in an elimination game.
- In his latest column, Ken Rosenthal noted, “The Rays, since the opening of the tank in 2007, had pledged a $10,000 donation for any home run one of their players hit into the 35-foot, 10,000 gallon container — $5,000 to the Florida Aquarium, which operates the tank, and $5,000 to a charity of the player’s choice. They never had to pay off. Until now. “What an interesting, wonderful game to stay solvent with,” Maddon said.”
- DRaysBay’s Ian Malinowski questioned whether Jeremy Hellickson should be getting the start in tonight’s game, saying, “A final note about giving Helly the start. If you believe that Chris Archer should be toeing the rubber instead, that’s fine. They’re both decent starting pitcher options who have failed to go deep into games lately. If Hellickson falters, even a little, I’m certain that Chris Archer, Matt Moore, and the rest of the Rays bullpen will be warmed up and ready to go. Now is not the time to pitch like a starter. Now is the time to empty the tank. It’s only a question of who gets to do so first.” It’s a relevant question, considering Helly’s unlucky pitching for most of the year.
- Since 2010 Tampa Bay has given up the DH 30 times in regular season, more than any AL club. The Yankees are second the Rays, giving up DH 25 times since 2010. No other AL team has done it more than seven times.