Tampa Bay Rays’ Ben Zobrist connects on a solo home run against the Los Angeles Angels in the second inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

What a difference a day makes. Following yet another embarrassing perfecto, Tampa Bay’s offense roared back to life last night, tagging the Angels for seven runs on eight hits and two walks, including three yard balls from Ben Zobrist, BJ Upton, and Evan Longoria. The Rays will need any (and all) momentum accrued after last night’s game going into tonight’s game against Jared Weaver. The Rays did three things well last night which felt like a breath of fresh air following an atrocious series against the Mariners.

First, David Price was the best person to put on the mound. Pricey was again great, going deep into the game the 11th consecutive time. As BA put it, Price has truly become a pitcher, not just a hurler with A+ stuff. Posting a 7 IP/3 H/2 BB/8 K line on 103 pitches (67 for strikes), price was able to induce 17 called strikes and 10 swinging strikes.

Completely cutting out the slider while keeping the use of his change-up (8%) to a minimum, Price focused mainly on his fastball (54%), cutter (24%), and curveball (13%) instead. If one thing holds true, it’s his ability to determine which of the secondary pitches may work best, leaning on them as the game wears on. Leaning on those secondary pitches, of course, comes after the establishment of his fastball…but that goes without saying. Price was able to get ahead of, or even up, the count with his fastball and cutter (81% for strikes), then induce weakly hit ground balls with his killer curve. This bleeds into the second key of success for the Rays last night: Price and Co. were able to suppress an Angels team that’s averaging more than four runs per game, while scoring more runs than they typically accrue. The Angels put the ball in play 18 times, yet the Rays were able to (more often than not) gobble up anything that came their way, while turning a fifth inning double play to suppress an up-rise of sorts. And that friends, leads to the third key to success.

The Rays lean and mean offense (ahem…of late) was able to rear its ugly head. Ben Zobrist (2-4, 2B, HR, 2 R, RBI) Evan Longoria (2-4, HR, 2 R, 2RBI), Jeff Keppinger (1-3, R, 2 RBI) and BJ Upton (1-3, HR, R, RBI) each had a great night at the plate, going a combined 6-14 with three homers, a double, six runs, and six RBI. I’ll concede, ‘Los did have an okay night at the plate, going 1-3 with a walk. Then again, he also struck out twice, and again attempted to bunt with two outs and no one on. ‘Los…buddy, you’re a power hitter. I understand your desire to be a productive team player. However, bunting isn’t going to pull you out of the funk you’ve been in for the majority of the season. With this week’s announcement that Luke Scott will be spending a little more time in his rehab stint working at first base, I can only imagine that Pena may see the writing on the wall: shape up, or be replaced…at least in situations where the splits favor Scott or Keppinger. Desmond Jennings had an off night, going 0-5 and striking out twice. Hopefully this isn’t a regression of sorts, because he and the rest of the Rays are going to need to be clicking on all cylinders tonight.

The New What Next

The Rays have had some success against Jared Weaver in the past. Tampa Bay has posted a combined .259 BA/.319 OBP/.494 SLG/.813 OPS line, with 12 extra base hits against Weaver. Then again, he’s pitching on a different level this year. With a 15-2 record and a 2.22 ERA, Weaver seems to be almost unstoppable. What’s more, he’s given up more than three earned runs in three of his 21 starts, while averaging 6-2/3 IP per start. Runs are going to be at a premium for the Rays tonight. Then again, if James Shields is on his game I’d imagine that the Angels are in for low scoring affair as well. We’ll post the starting lineup when it becomes available. As always, Let’s Go Rays!

Rays 8/17/12 Starting Lineup

Jennings LF
Upton CF
Joyce RF
Longoria DH
Zobrist SS
Keppinger 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Roberts 2B
Molina C
Shields RHP

Noteworthiness: Interesting move to keep the ever consistent Jeff Keppinger in the lineup, while getting SeanRod (who’s had success off of Weaver) in there as well. Rodriguez will take over the third base duties, with Keppinger getting the start at first base.

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