Moore got the start for Tampa Bay and allowed a run on five scattered hits. The southpaw fanned five, including the side in the first inning. Over the course of the first three innings, Moore gave up just two singles, yet more importantly Moore only incurred just one self inflicted wound. With the exception of Francisco Lindor and Yan Gomes in the fourth inning (more on that below), nary an opposing batter made it past first base.
Moore sequenced his pitches well, and even though he wasn’t throwing upper 90s heat, he impressively kept the wolves at bay by dropping in a well located changeup (14 overall, 10 strikes, 71.4% K%).
My personal favorite at-bat came with two outs in the top of the third. With Jason Kipnis at the plate, Moore dotted the outside corner of the zone with a 93 mph fastball. It was a borderline/below the zone pitch, yet Hank Conger made sure was called a strike by quickly shifting his glove upward. That particular at-bat resulted in a fly-ball out four pitches later.
The only real mistake made by Moore came in the fourth inning, when Lindor hammered an 0-1 changeup over the center-field wall for the go ahead lead.
Moore got some help to get through that frame without any further damage. After Mike Napoli singled through the shift into left, Carlos Santana just missed a homer to left which Desmond Jennings caught at the wall. Napoli, who isn’t the most fleet of foot, attempted to tag up from first, but Jennings wasn’t having any of it. The left-fielder rattled off a perfect throw from the warning track to Logan Forsythe at second. The throw was perfect and Forsythe quickly put down the tag for a 7-4 double play ― a play that was upheld by replay.
Pitcher’s best friend. pic.twitter.com/5ykeZZKMhd
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 13, 2016
The play also proved important, as Gomes doubled to deep center three pitches later. Instead of unraveling, Moore kept it together and coaxed a grounder to second to end the threat and the inning. Matty Moe ultimately posted an impressive 7 IP/5 H/1 ER/1 BB/5 K line on 104 pitches (65 strikes).
Tampa Bay rallied in the seventh to tie the game with two outs. Corey Dickerson got the rally started by lining a ball to left over the head of Jose Ramirez which the designated hitter turned into a double. Jennings followed by blooping an RBI single to left-center, evening the game at one apiece. The Rays were able to take a commanding lead an inning later.
Indians’ hurler Corey Kluber allowed just three hits entering the eighth inning, that is to say he pitched well. However, the Rays finally got to him in that frame, and it all began with a one out walk by The Outlaw.
Well aware of the scouting report ― that Kluber allowed 16 stolen bases in 2015 ― Kiermaier stole second as Conger went down swinging (another play upheld by video replay). Forsythe came to the plate, but he quickly fell behind 0-2. However, he was able to battle back to work the count full before Kluber let loose with a misplaced fastball that Forsythe hammered over the left-center wall for two-run lead.
Cody Allen entered the game in relief and walked Logan Morrison before allowing the second homer of the inning, this time a two-run shot to left by Evan Longoria, capping the four-run rally. Tampa Bay has now homered in 21 consecutive games (extending back to 9/20/15).
The rally made a winner out of Xavier Cedeno, who worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning in relief of Moore. Alex Colome finished up with a perfect ninth.
The New What Next
The Rays will look to get back to .500 on Wednesday when Drew Smyly takes the mound opposite of Carlos Carrasco. Smyly’s second start of the season was pushed back to Wednesday night after the winter weather postponement in Baltimore on Saturday. As for Carrasco, he will be hard pressed Wednesday night to match his last start against the Rays on July 1, when he carried a no-hit bid two outs into the ninth. You can read about the pitching matchup in our series preview.
Rays 4/13/16 Starting Lineup
Forsythe 2B
Morrison 1B
Longoria 3B
Dickerson DH
Jennings LF
Miller SS
Guyer RF
Kiermaier CF
Casali C
Smyly LHP
Noteworthiness
— Alex Cobb (Tommy John Surgery) advanced to throwing 20 fastballs halfway up a mound Tuesday before the game. “I think from here on out things will start speeding up,” said Cobb, who is expected to return by late July. Chase Whitley (Tommy John Surgery) also threw 20 fastballs halfway up the mound. He too is expected to return before season’s end.