On the heels of the news that Matt Moore has been tipping his pitches, the young lefty went out last night and gave it his all…which really wasn’t much. I think it’s safe to say that with the exception of Cesar Ramos, the pitching staff looked like garbage. Then again, so did the rest of the team. The Rays, behind some pretty crappy plays by Matt Joyce, as well as an anemic offense that could only squeeze out two runs on five hits, were terrible. I won’t bore you with the gory details. If a picture is worth a thousand words, checking out the box score should be more than enough to illustrate the point.
I’ve got to hand it to the Orioles. They looked like, well…the Rays last night. Baltimore was aggressive on the base-paths with Machado and McLouth steeling a pair of bags, as well as Andino, Hardy, and Weiters legging out three doubles, among other things. They also took advantage of any opportunities the Rays gave them, ultimately going 4-9 wRISP. Look at the bright side: with the Yankees loss to the dreadful Red Sox, at least the Rays are in second place.
Alex Cobb will be tasked with righting the ship, and the Rays will be depending on a good start from him. He seems like the perfect guy for the start tonight.
Tampa Bay has won the last seven games that Cobb has started. To that end, Cobb hasn’t given up more than three runs in six out of seven of those starts, which is important; Tampa Bay is 70-28 when their opponents have scored four runs or fewer against. On the flip side of things, the key number for the Rays is four. If Tampa Bay can eek out at least four runs tonight, the odds of a victory are in the Rays favor.
See, they’re 63-11 this season when they score at least four runs in a game. Granted the Orioles have the worst run differential of any team in in contention, they just happen to be the kings of winning one run games. And it bears mentioning that the O’s haven’t lost a game when they’ve scored five or more runs while allowing four runs or fewer in the same game. That said, it’s incumbent on the Rays to put up at least four or five runs tonight. In short, this not putting up crooked numbers stuff doesn’t suit Tampa Bay well, especially in this series. We’ll post the starting lineup when it becomes available.
Rays 9/12/12 Starting Lineup
Upton CF
Keppinger DH
Zobrist SS
Longoria 3B
Francisco LF
Pena 1B
Roberts 2B
Joyce RF
Molina C
Cobb RHP
Noteworthiness: Roberts left last night’s game with a forearm strain, following an injury incurred while he attempted to tag out McLouth on a stolen base. Thankfully the X-Rays that were taken following the injury came back negative, and he’s in the lineup at second, hitting seventh. Evan Longoria is back in there at third, hitting fourth. Accordingly ‘Los will get the start at first tonight, hitting fifth and bumping Jeff Keppinger to the DH spot. Desmond Jennings, surprisingly, will be on the bench. Ben Francisco will get the start in left instead, though I’m not sure why when there’s someone on the roster that actually makes contact. (ahem, Fuld)