The Rays will try to get their bats going again after a 5-1 loss in 12 innings to the Yankees on Sunday. They totaled 32 hits while outscoring New York 27-6 on Friday and Saturday following Price’s loss in the series opener. However, Tampa Bay managed only one run on six hits Sunday, striking out 14 times after fanning a combined 10 times in the previous two contests. Matt Joyce’s seventh-inning sacrifice fly provided the lone run. The Twins avoided a sweep Sunday with an 8-3 win in Kansas City. Minnesota was 6-for-14 wRISP after going 6-for-34 in their previous four games.
The Rays took the Knutson Cup, once again, from the Twin this past spring. They’ve also dominated Minnesota since 2008, posting a 29-14 record. Tampa Bay is 33-26 at Tropicana Field, and they won six of seven last year.
Of note: the Twins will start Kyle Gibson against David Price Tuesday — not Mike Pelfrey. Price is coming off a six run, 10 hit outing Friday. His worst three earned run totals allowed last season were 8, 6 and 5. In his outings immediately following those starts, he posted a 2.45 ERA while striking out 22 batters in as many innings. One could only hope for similar results. After all, at 3-0 with an 0.93 ERA, Gibson will prove to be tough. Price is 2-2 with a 2.66 ERA in seven career games — six starts — against the Twins.
Kyle Gibson has been called a revelation through his first three starts — especially given his struggles as a rookie in 2013, when he went 2-4 with a 6.53 ERA in 10 outings. Gibson was solid in the Twins 7-0 win over Toronto on Thursday, yielding only four hits and a walk over eight innings. He gave up four runs in six innings of a 4-1 loss at Tampa Bay on July 9th in his third major league outing.
At one game over .500, the Twins are ahead of what was expected of them this season. They’re 6-4 in their last 10 games, and they are 1.5 games back in the AL Central.
Kyle Gibson: Per Rotowire, “Gibson (3-0) shut down the Blue Jays for eight innings Thursday, allowing just four hits and a walk while striking out four.” Gibson offers a 90-94 MPH fastball, a plus slider — which he uses to miss bats — and a plus change-up. The 25 year-old RHP works comfortably in the lower range, but has the strength to add a bit of extra oomph when necessary.
Mike Pelfrey: RHP Mike Pelfrey is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in one start (6 IP) against the Rays, back in 2013. Small sample size or not, a handful of Rays have put together some good numbers against Pelfrey. Look at the bright side: he doesn’t frequently throw pitches in that low-and-outside quadrant that Evan Longoria and Wil Myers seem to have a hard time against. Key match-ups: Yunel Escobar (5-18, 2B, RBI, 2 BB), Ryan Hanigan (1-3), Matt Joyce (1-3), Evan Longoria (3-6, 2B, HR, RBI), Wil Myers (2-3, RBI), Sean Rodriguez (1-2).
Ricky Nolasco: Nolasco allowed five runs on 11 hits, striking out three over 5.2 innings of a 5-0 loss to the Royals on Friday night. More importantly, the Rays have had a lot of success against Nolasco, extending back to his tenure with the Marlins, tagging him with an 0-3 record and a 5.60 ERA in his last three starts. Key match-ups: Yunel Escobar (10-29, 3 2B, HR, 3 RBI, BB), Logan Forsythe (3-3, HR, 2 RBI), Ryan Hanigan (2-8, HR, RBI), Matt Joyce (3-6, 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, BB), Sean Rodriguez (1-4, HR, RBI), Ben Zobrist (4-8, 2B, RBI, 3 BB).
Noteworthiness
- Joe Mauer has a career .374 average against Tampa Bay, his highest batting average against any American League club, though he’s just 2 for 14 off Price. That .143 average is tied for the 11th-lowest among the 144 pitchers whom he has faced at least 10 times.
- Minnesota RF Jason Kubel is off to a good start in his return to the Twins, batting .328 with 11 RBI.
- Ben Zobrist boasts a .398 on-base percentage and has scored 14 runs — five more than anyone else on the team.
- The Rays are last in the league with only four stolen bases and Minnesota is tied for ninth with 13 — five by Brian Dozier.
- The Rays have activated Juan Carlos Oviedo from the DL. The fastball/splitter throwing pitcher will join the ranks in the bullpen, and could see action Tuesday night. Per Joe Smith of the Times, Oviedo says he’s excited to finally be back, (his) arm feels great, (and he’s) hoping to pitch in first big league game since 2011.
- This is pretty awesome! This interactive graph of batter-pitcher matchup projections, for every game of the series, was created by Ian Malinowski of DRaysBay and Jason Hanselman (Dock of the Rays). It incorporates Bojan Koprivica’s research on regressing platoon splits and ZiPS projections. The grey line is at an average wOBA of .320
- Daniel Russell of DRaysBay spoke with John Sickels, who runs the SB Nation site Minor League Ball, and asked a few questions regarding some key players in the organization. For anyone interested in the pitching depth aspect of the Rays organization, especially in this time of need, this interview is for you!