The Tampa Bay Rays will resume play against the Baltimore Orioles Tuesday after returning home from a successful 10-game road trip. The trip didn’t start well, but my how things changed. The Rays left Chicago (en route to Boston) winning only one game out of four, yet they return to the friendly confines of the Trop having taken two-of-three from both the Red Sox and Yankees. So the Rays are miraculously fixed, right? Not by a long shot, BUT things are looking up.
I like what I’ve seen from the Rays offense over the last two weeks. They’ve averaged almost five runs per game, slashing a healthy .277 BA/.346 OBP/.407 SLG/.753 OPS in that span. James Loney and Desmond Jennings continue to rake at the plate and Sean Rodriguez has contributed in his limited number of plate appearances. And despite putting together poor at-bats toward the beginning of the season, Wil Myers, David DeJesus, Yunel Escobar, and Ryan Hanigan have started to heat up. If Ben Zobrist, Matt Joyce, and Evan Longoria can slip out of their collective funk, and if the rest of the team can continue to be productive, the Rays could piece together a winning series against the Orioles. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Desmond Jennings was named the A.L. Player of the Week after hitting three home runs, mashing six extra base hits, and plating eight runs.
Despite coming off a series loss to the Minnesota Twins — one in which they combined for three runs in back-to-back defeats, the Baltimore Orioles have been fairly hot, winning six of their last 10. Still, the Rays and O’s are pretty evenly keeled offensively speaking — at least on paper. In fact, Tampa Bay is better than Baltimore in some respects. The Orioles power heavy lineup has been fairly quiet thus far, which is surprising for team that hit 426 home runs the last two years; a team which features six regulars with multiple 20+ home run seasons. Baltimore currently ranks 11th in the league in home runs with just 22 — which is unexpected to say the least. The Rays have hit more homers and scored more runs.
Chris Tillman: Thanks to a rain-out, the Rays missed the Orioles right-handed ace (2-4, 4.05 ERA vs the Rays) in their last trip up to Baltimore, in April. Much of the Rays production against Tillman has come from Evan Longoria and Matt Joyce; two hitters who have been fairly quiet over the last two weeks. Tillman has had a hard time going more than five innings in any start this season, and if the Rays can be patient and work some good at-bats, they could have their way with him. Key match-ups: David DeJesus (2-6, RBI), Matt Joyce (6-21, 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, BB), Evan Longoria (10-24, 2 2B, 4 HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB).
Bud Norris: The Rays have been able to hit Norris (1-2, 3.14 ERA vs the Rays) hard over the last few seasons, slashing a combined .333 BA/.406 OBP/.488 SLG/.894 OPS line against the righty. As with his counterpart Chris Tillman, Norris has had a hard time pitching deeply into games. (Editors note: Sound familiar, Rays fans?) He’s also been known to leave breaking pitches up in the zone, and because of it, hitters have slapped more homers and line drives off Norris this season. It’s a cliche turn of phrase by now, but if the Rays can be patient and not expand their strike zone, they could force (and pounce on) his mistakes. Key match-ups: David DeJesus (7-13, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB), Yunel Escobar (1-4, BB), Ryan Hanigan (3-11, 5 RBI, BB), Desmond Jennings (2-5, 2B), Matt Joyce (2-4, 2 BB), James Loney (9-17, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB), Jose Molina (1-3).
Ubaldo Jimenez: Jimenez had been nothing short of awful in his five April starts, though he finally picked up his first win with the Orioles Friday night, tossing 7-1/3 scoreless innings, while allowing just three hits and one walk in a 3-0 shutout of Minnesota. With glimpses of his former self, Jimenez was dominant, striking out 10 Twins. Too many walks (17 in 27 1/3 innings) and a drop in fastball velocity (1.6 mph below last year’s fastball) continue to be problems for the tall righty. Then again, Jimenez has been tough on the Rays over the last three seasons, going 2-1 with a 3.20 ERA in that span. Jimenez vs. Price — sounds like the makings of a marquee match-up to me. Key match-ups: Yunel Escobar (7-19, HR, 2 RBI, 4 BB), Ryan Hanigan (1-3), Jose Molina (3-7, BB), Sean Rodriguez (1-4, BB), Ben Zobrist (2-7, 2B, 2 BB).
Noteworthiness
- The Rays lost their only two games against the Orioles this season April 14 and 16 after winning 11 of the previous 13 match-ups. Chris Archer (2-1, 4.84 ERA), who’ll get the start Tuesday against Chris Tillman, had the worst outing of his career in the series opener.
- Ryan Hanigan is 7-for-12 with a homer and 11 RBI with two outs and wRISP.
- Desmond Jennings has keyed the Rays offense with a seven-game hitting streak.
- A tale of two Wils… Myers hit .375 (12-for-32) against the Yankees, and .202 (18-for-89) against all other teams. Maybe he should just pretend Sabathia is on the mound.
- Nelson Cruz has recorded three homers and six RBI during his six-game hitting streak.
- Manny Machado had two hits in four at-bats Sunday after going 1-for-13 in his first three games since returning from knee surgery.