Charlie Morton put together his second consecutive scoreless outing on Wednesday, while Diego Castillo also threw scoreless baseball. Still, Baltimore scored six runs in the final two frames of a 9-6 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Morton allowed just two hits and struck out two across 2-1/3 innings. He threw 25 of 39 pitches for strikes (64% strike rate). In spite of that though, Morton hit two of the first three batters he faced with low fastballs before he settled in.
Once you establish yourself in the zone you usually try to make more aggressive pitches and that’s what happened.
— Charlie Morton
Yet Morton recovered by inducing an inning-ending double-play ball before he fanned a pair in the second inning.
I try not to look at the results. I look more on how I’m feeling, how the ball is moving, how the ball is coming out. It’s the second outing of Spring Training, so I try not to over-evaluate it.
— Charlie Morton
Morton’s next start is likely to be on Monday against Bryce Harper and the Phillies.
Yonny Chirinos followed Morton and stranded a runner at third by striking out back-to-back batters. Yet after he tossed a clean fourth inning, Chirinos allowed three runs in the fifth on two deep home runs to right field.
Diego Castillo took over an inning later and got all four batters he faced, thanks in part to Ji-Man Choi.
Choi not only collected two more Spring hits, he also flashed the leather at first base. He fully extended his body in the sixth inning, keeping his right foot on the bag while gobbling up a short-hop throw from third base to get the runner by less than a step.
Really appreciate the way he’s gone about it. We have fun with him a lot and he has fun back, but he’s worked really hard and it’s nice to see. He’s been really, really good defensively.
— Kevin Cash
Emilio Pagan, who otherwise has had a solid S
Rays Manager Kevin Cash felt that Pagan might have shown a little fatigue in the inning, forcing him to miss his spots.
He was missing in the same spot, it looked like armside and up a little bit.
— Kevin Cash
The New What Next
Tyler Glasnow will make his third start of the Spring when the Rays take on the Blue Jays on Thursday. Jalen Beeks, Wilmer Font, Oliver Drake, Colin Poche, and Casey Sadler are also slated to pitch for the Tampa Bay.
Rays 3/7/19 Starting Lineup
- Meadows RF
- Pham DH
- Wendle 2B
- Diaz 3B
- Kiermaier CF
- Zunino C
- B. Lowe 1B
- Solak LF
- Velasquez SS
- Glasnow RHP
Noteworthiness
— Ryan Yarbrough, who exited his last outing with groin tightness, is getting closer to returning to the mound. Cash said there is “no concern” with the southpaw who was expected to get some work done either Wednesday or Thursday.
— Matt Duffy (hamstring) is scheduled to do some running or could get an additional day of rest before testing his injury. There is still no timetable for his return, although Duffy is getting closer.
— OF Tommy Pham is going on a shoulder program which reportedly is his idea, not due to injury/discomfort.
It was me being proactive. I didn’t like where my arm strength was so I thought it would be best to say something and get on a program so I could be ready for the season.
— Tommy Pham
— No shocker here, Kevin Cash announced that Opening Day will also be bump day for Blake Snell.
When asked about his accountability after a rough outing against USF on Tuesday, Cash made clear the Rays weren’t concerned.
You always want players to be accountable positive and negative, and Blake really showed that a
— Kevin Cashlost last year, so I’m not surprised by that. It obviously didn’t go the way (Tuesday) that he wanted to. March 28 is the first day? He’ll be pitching that day. So it’s not that big of a deal to us. You want to see that accountability.