On the heels of their 10th consecutive loss — and third consecutive series sweep — the Tampa Bay Rays will start another four game series at the Trop, this time against the Seattle Mariners (31-28). Blame the pitching staff for Thursday’s loss; the Rays’ hurlers allowed three runs in each of the 5th, 6th, and 7th innings, and two more in the ninth. So far, on their all important “18-out-of-21 games at home in June” stand, Tampa Bay is 0-2. Ouch.
At least, uhh…this happened:
Danger, Will Robinson…Danger! If the Rays want to win the series against the Mariners, they’re going to have to do better than they have. At 8-2 over a 10 game span, Seattle is currently on a five game winning streak in which they’ve outscored their opponents 26-9.
It bears mentioning, as Adam Lewis of MLB.com notes, “Tampa Bay won two of three games against Seattle in a Safeco Field series in May, and the Rays hold a 24-14 advantage over the Mariners since 2010. The Mariners haven’t won a series at Tropicana Field since 2008, when they went 2-1. Since then, the Rays have won 15 of 21 games against them at The Trop.” Then again, the reeling Rays have gone 5-15 following the culmination of that series, whereas the Mariners have gone 10-8.
Chris Young: Young continues to make a bid for comeback players of the year; he’s allowed three or fewer runs in seven of his 10 starts, including wins in his previous two. The 35 year-old RHP has surrendered 10 homers over 63-1/3 innings, but only 46 hits overall — five combined in his last two outings. Young is 1-1 in two career starts against Tampa Bay, giving up nine runs in nine innings. What can be expected out of Young? The soft tossing lefty tends to pound the glove side of the zone with a mid-to-upper 80’s fastball, and a upper 70’s slider. This could be a good opportunity to get back on the winning side of things for the Rays. …Then again, we all know how well the Rays have fared against soft tossing pitchers this season (ahem, Buehrle and Wolf). Key match ups: Yunel Escobar (2-3), Matt Joyce (3-3), James Loney (6-20, 2 2B, RBI, 2 BB), Sean Rodriguez (2-2, 2B).
Roenis Elias: The Rays missed the 25 year-old lefty on their trek through the west coast in May. Elias features a knee buckling, wipeout curveball that, when paired with a fastball that sits 91-94 MPH, is downright filthy. He does have a downside however, his delivery isn’t repeatable at present, which leads to major concerns over his command/control profile. Ideally speaking, the Rays — who are traditionally good at working good at-bats — could have fun against Elias if they are patient at the plate, and can force mistakes.
Felix Hernandez: King Felix…need I say any more? The Rays were able to tag Hernandez for four runs on eight hits a month ago, standing as the only game he’s given up more than three runs all season. Since that start (we’ll call it ill fated, relatively speaking of course), Hernandez has averaged almost eight innings and just over one run per start. Key match ups: David DeJesus (11-34, 3 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB), Logan Forsythe (2-7), Evan Longoria (6-21, RBI, 3 BB), Sean Rodriguez (4-15, 2B, 3 RBI).
Monday’s starter: TBA
Noteworthiness
- Tampa Bay is 7-for-65 with runners in scoring position during its losing streak after snapping a 0-for-31 run in the 11-6 loss to Miami on Thursday.
- Look at the bright side, Evan Longoria is beginning to warm up with seven hits in his last 20 at-bats, but has only two RBI in 18 games.
- Seattle third baseman Kyle Seager boasts three homers and eight RBI in the last seven games and leads the team with nine and 37, respectively.
- Marc Topkin writes, “The M’s come to town on a roll, having won five straight over the Tigers, Yankees and Braves. The success under new manager Lloyd McClendon has been a team effort, with strong starting pitching, a solid (though occasionally adventurous) bullpen led by former Ray Fernando Rodney and an offense that has been productive despite a lower batting average than the Rays, anchored by former Yankees star Robinson Cano. 3B Kyle Seager has been hot lately.”
- Eno Sarris of Fangraphs writes, “The Rays may be in a new position when it comes to this year’s trade deadline. Since their playoff odds have dropped more than any other team’s since the beginning of the season and are now close to 5%, it’s at least hard to see them as buyers. Then again, they haven’t made a ton of in-season acquisitions in their more competitive past, and their team is built for 2015 as much as it was built for this year — it’s likely that their transition from buyers to sellers may come without many big moves.”