The Tampa Bay Rays return home to face a very hot Oakland Athletics, on the heels of a disappointing 3-4 West Coast jaunt. Had the Rays gone 4-3, the tenor may be different. However they didn’t. At this point, their only real glimmers of hope are the possibilities that the pitching will stabilize with the return of Alex Cobb, and — at five games back — no one has put together a massive run in the AL East. It’s a very different story of the 28-16 Oakland Athletics. The A’s are 9-1 over a their last 10 games, entering the Trop on a three-game winning streak. Furthermore, at 16-6 on the road, Oakland has been pretty damn dominant in other team’s facilities.
It’s not all doom and gloom for the Rays. The much improved Jake Odorizzi and Erik Bedard will take the hill Tuesday and Wednesday (respectively), while Chris Archer* — who put together a much better outing in his last start — will get the start Thursday. The starters will be tasked at holding the wolves at bay, because it’s not going to be easy against the A’s starters…especially Drew Pomeranz and Sonny Gray.
The series opener promises to be a pitchers duel. Odorizzi has limited opponents to six hits with 18 strikeouts over 11 scoreless innings in his last two starts, while Pomeranz allowed a measly five hits over 10 scoreless innings, surrendering three hits while striking out a career-high eight batters in last Tuesday’s 11-0 home win over the White Sox.
Drew Pomeranz: The one time Rockies pitcher has been stingy since joining the A’s rotation, and there really hasn’t been an indication of anything otherwise — especially of late. On Pomeranz, Baseball Prospect Report finds,
“He was good. He had a really good fastball, really alive 91-93, lots of 91s. His curveball looks exactly the same way coming out of his hand and then drops on you. He likes to come back with high fastballs after the curveball, again with the same release point. You have to be ready for his curveball because he will throw it any time in the count. He throws an ordinary change-up but rarely shows it to left-handers or right-handers. He can be worn down quickly if worked. His stuff started slipping in about the fourth inning of this look. I’d grade his fastball command a B- and his fastball movement a B- and say that his curveball is really his ticket. His velocity is 78-82, the rotation is tight, a grade-A.”
The question is, will the Rays be able to force mistakes by working good at-bats? Pomeranz has had some command issues in the past, and it would be nice to see the Rays play off those concerns.
Tommy Milone: Suffice it to say, the Rays love Tommy Milone. The 27 year-old LHP has gone 1-2 with a 7.13 ERA in his last three starts against Tampa Bay. Milone features some fairly standard stuff, including a very hittable mid-70’s changeup which he throws primarily to righties.
Key matchups: Yunel Escobar (3-10, 2B, HR, 3 RBI), Matt Joyce (2-5, 2 RBI), Evan Longoria (1-3, 2B), Sean Rodriguez (3-6, 3 RBI, BB).
Sonny Gray: Sonny Gray has been flat out great this year — his record and numbers (above) speak to that. Hell, he’s even been great in games where the A’s have lost. In fact, Gray has thrown no less than a quality start in each of his previous nine starts, and averaging just under seven innings per start overall. It’s safe to assume Thursday’s game will not be a walk in the park, especially when you consider that only three Rays have put up good numbers against Gray in the past: Matt Joyce (1-2, BB), James Loney (2-3), and Evan Longoria (1-3).
Noteworthiness
- Against the Rays, Oakland is 89-55 overall, and 39-34 at the Trop.
- Evan Longoria is hitting .347 at Tropicana Field, where the Rays have gone 1-7 since winning seven of their first 12. The star third baseman, though, has batted just .207 in his last 16 games against the A’s.
- The Rays are expected to announce Tuesday that Alex Cobb will return from the DL and start Thursday afternoon against the A’s. The move means LHP Cesar Ramos is back in the bullpen as the long man, while the Rays optioned Brandon Gomes to Durham to make room on the roster.
- Roger Mooney of the Tribune wrote, “Kiermaier, who has impressed with his defense during his two stints with the Rays, had two hits over the weekend in Anaheim, including his first big-league homer. Kiermaier could remain with the team when Cobb returns, though that likely would mean the Rays would waive OF Brandon Guyer and risk losing him to another team or use the option on UTL Logan Forsythe.”
- Brandon Moss, Josh Reddick, and Josh Donaldson have been on a tear. Moss is hitting .389 with five home runs and 18 RBI over his last 14 games, while Reddick has three homers and 11 RBI in his last six games, and Donaldson has three homers and 11 RBI in his last eight.
- The A’s have a majors-most five wins when trailing after seven innings.
*The Rays are expected to start Alex Cobb Thursday. Chris Archer was initially listed as the starter.