Matt Duffy came up with the biggest hit of the night, a three-run double off the top of the wall in left. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)
After winning the first two games of the series with Toronto, the Tampa Bay Rays seek a sweep of the three-game set this afternoon.
The Rays now are 16-7 in their last 23 home games, including the 7-5 victory against the Blue Jays last night. They need to win just one of the four remaining games against Toronto to win the season series.
Blake Snell posted six innings of one-run ball, allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out seven. Snell, who threw 104 pitches (64 over the first three frames) retired his last 10 hitters — six by strikeout.
That doesn’t mean it was easy for the southpaw. Despite the low number of walks (relatively speaking, of course), he found himself in a good number of deep counts, while Toronto’s batters fouled off pitch after pitch, driving up Snell’s pitch count. Snell battled, however, and ultimately found his rhythm.
The New What Next
Chris Archer (8-17, 4.10 ERA) will get the start this afternoon, opposite of JA Happ (17-4, 3.23 ERA).
Archer allowed three runs on four hits and two walks over seven innings on Sunday, striking out 10 Astros along the way. The righty has surrendered three or fewer runs in five of his last six starts, allowing him to lower his ERA some 32 points, from 4.42 to 4.10. He also surpassed the 200 strikeout mark once again, and has a fair chance of punching out at least 250 in back-to-back seasons. Archer’s had success against the Blue Jays throughout his carer, allowing two runs or fewer in four consecutive starts against Toronto (dating back to 2017).
Happ has made four starts this year against Tampa Bay, posting quality starts in three of them. Happ last faced the Rays on August 10th, and threw six shutout innings in a 7-0 victory.
Rays 9/4/16 Starting Lineup
Forsythe 2B
Kiermaier CF
Longoria 3B
Miller 1B
Duffy SS
Souza RF
Dickerson LF
Wilson C
Casali DH
Archer RHP
Noteworthiness
— Logan Forsythe enters play today having reached base 16 times in his last 25 plate appearances. He’s also hitting .447 (21-47) against Toronto.
— The wins have dropped the Blue Jays into a first place tie with Boston atop the AL East.
In his first start MLB start since Tommy John surgery, Alex Cobb kept the Blue Jays to two runs over five innings, including strikeouts. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)On Friday, Alex Cobb returned to the mound for the first time in almost two years, putting together an impressive start reminiscent of his pre-Tommy John surgery self.
Jose Bautista, a batter who’s had a measured amount of success against Cobb (3-9, RBI), hit leadoff for Toronto. Cobb left a few pitches left up in the zone — including a hanging of a curveball — against Joey Bats, but was able to collect himself and keep the ball down for the rest of the at-bat, and eventually caught Bautista looking on a well located changeup at the knees.
Next up was Josh Donaldson, who Cobb was able to quickly get ahead of. Unfortunately the righty couldn’t put him away, as Donaldson hit a ground-rule double that rattled around the rafters before landing on the warning track, and over the center-field fence. Two pitches later, Edwin Encarnacion lashed a liner to center, plating the Blue Jays first run. After 28 pitches, and a couple of runs, the inning was over.
In the second inning, Cobb caught Melvin Upton Jr. looking on a fastball up in the zone, but gave up a single to left-field to Kevin Pillar after getting ahead in the count. Cobb coaxed a fielder’s choice to Devon Travis, resulting in an out at second, before he walked Bautista. Alex was frustrated, but was able to pop Donaldson up to end the frame without incurring any further damage…well, with the exception of 25 pitches in the inning and 53 pitches on the night, going into the third.
Around this point in the ballgame, Dave and Andy (on the radio side) pointed out that Cobb hadn’t really been a ground ball coaxing machine. But that changed when Encarnacion stepped into the batter’s box in the third.
The former (and potentially future) ace began to consistently locate his pitches, resulting in weak ground ball outs. Encarnacion grounded out to third on the first pitch of the third, and later on Cobb collected a pair of back-to-back grounders to efficiently end the fourth inning.
Cobb punctuated his return to the mound by fanning side (Travis, Bautista, and Donaldson) in the top of the fifth, needing only 15 pitches to dramatically end his outing to the boisterous applause of the Rays faithful in attendance.
To be clear, it wasn’t the dominant Cobb we’ve grown to know. Sure, he threw 14-of-20 first pitch strikes and bounced back from a two-run hole to hold Toronto scoreless for the remainder of his time on the bump. However, the 28 year-old righty was bereft of his swing and miss stuff; all but one of Cobb’s seven strikeouts were of the caught looking variety, while Alex collected only seven total whiffs. But, as an initial step forward, he laid an excellent foundation from which to build upon.
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay rallied against Marcus Stroman to tie the game at two with runs in the second and third innings.
In the second, Logan Morrison walked then went to third on Nick Franklin’s double to right. He eventually come home on Corey Dickerson’s groundout to second. Then in the third, Logan Forsythe singled to center and moved to second on an error. Two fielder’s choice groundouts later, Forsythe came home and scored the tying run.
In the sixth, LoMo homered after Matt Duffy reached on a double to right, giving the Rays the lead for good. It was Morrison’s second homer in as many games.
Tampa Bay poured it on in the seventh. Luke Maile started the rally with a “Game 162” homer that barely cleared the wall in left off Francisco Liriano. Then after Forsythe reached on a rare Donaldson error, Kevin Kiermaier tripled to right-center, putting Tampa Bay up by four. Two batters later, Brad Miller homered to right off Ryan Tepera, making it 8-2.
After this 2-run homer, Brad has 29 RBI in his last 29 games.
After Danny Farquhar put up a scoreless sixth in relief of Cobb, Kevin Jepsen did the same in the seventh. Eddie Gamboa, making his big league debut, loaded the bases on a single and two walks, however, Brad Boxberger limited the damage to just one run by collecting an RBI groundout and a strikeout, ending the inning with the Rays up by five. Finally, Ryan Garton worked a perfect ninth.
The New What Next
Blake Snell (4-7, 3.56 ERA) will take the mound opposite of Marco Estrada (8-6, 3.37 ERA) this afternoon. Snell’s shortest big league start came on August 10th against the Blue Jays in Toronto, when he posted just 1-2/3 innings of work, allowing five runs and walking four, including the last three batters he faced. Estrada was 2-2 with a 3.37 ERA in five August starts. He is 1-2 with a 1.24 ERA in four starts against Tampa Bay. You can read more about Snell in our series preview.
Rays 9/3/16 Starting Lineup
Forsythe 2B
Kiermaier CF
Longoria 3B
Miller 1B
Duffy SS
Morrison DH
Franklin RF
Dickerson LF
Wilson C
Snell LHP
Noteworthiness
— Cobb told Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) he felt good and was most pleased about getting in the flow of the game, while not thinking about mechanics, his elbow, etc.
Welcome back, Alex Cobb! (Photo Credit: USA Today Sports)
Rays 9/2/16 Starting Lineup
Forsythe 2B
Kiermaier CF
Longoria 3B
Miller 1B
Duffy SS
Morrison DH
Franklin RF
Dickerson LF
Maile C
Cobb RHP
Noteworthiness
— According to Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times), Nick Franklin got some early work in at shortstop this afternoon. Rays skipper Kevin Cash said he’d get some September starts there.
— Alex Cobb will make his first big league start since Sept. 28, 2014. That’s 704 days between starts, if you’re counting.
Alex Cobb gets warmed up before a rehab start in Daytona Beach, Fla. on Monday, July 11, 2016. (Photo Credit: Will Vragovic/Tampa Bay Times)
The Tampa Bay Rays return home, after having dropped four of their last six games, where they’ll face the AL East leading Toronto Blue Jays, who’s won five of their last six. Tampa Bay actually has a 7-6 edge in the season series, although Toronto took two of three in the most recent series (August 8-10).
Despite the sloppy-play induced slump, the Rays played just a game under .500 throughout August. Since the All-Star Break, Tampa Bay’s pitching staff has the lowest ERA in the American League. However, the pitching staff also has posted a combined 4.23 ERA/4.41 ERA over the last 14 days, due in part to an overworked bullpen that’s had to cover a lot of ground over that stretch.
The big story surrounding the upcoming series is the return of Alex Cobb, who will make his first big-league start in almost two years following Tommy John surgery. Expectations have to be lowered for his return, although with Tampa Bay out of contention, there is little to no pressure on Cobb to dominant in his return…although that would be pretty great to see.
Cobb had an ERA under 3.00 in 2013 and 2014, including a 10-9 mark with a 2.87 ERA in 2014 after going 11-3 with a 2.76 in 2013.
Kevin Cash will throw the above mentioned C0bb (0-3, 6.65 ERA), Blake Snell (4-7, 3.56 ERA), and Chris Archer (8-17, 4.10 ERA) over the next three days. John Gibbons will counter with Marcus Stroman (9-5, 4.58 ERA) and RA Dickey (9-13, 4.43 ERA), with Saturday’s starter TBA.
Note: There may be a shuffling of the rotation, contrary to what you see above. We’ll keep you abreast of any changes/updates.
Rays Series Starters
Cobb struggled in eight rehab starts, going 0-3 with a 6.65 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP. Rays manager Kevin Cash remains encouraged, however. As I wrote above, tempered expectations are the key with Alex.
Snell was pulled in the fourth inning of his start Saturday against the Astros, after he was struck on the left leg by a comebacker. In that outing, the southpaw allowed five runs (four earned) on nine hits and no walks while striking out three. Though he sustained some bruising and soreness, Snell noticed improvement with his condition and doesn’t anticipate a stint on the DL (you know, hence the start).
Archer allowed three runs on four hits and two walks over seven innings on Sunday, striking out 10 Astros along the way. The righty has surrendered three or fewer runs in five of his last six starts, allowing him to lower his ERA some 32 points, from 4.42 to 4.10. He also surpassed the 200 strikeout mark once again, and has a fair chance of punching out at least 250 in back-to-back seasons.
Blue Jays Series Starters
Stroman will take Francisco Liriano’s scheduled start Friday night. The 25 year-old righty looks for a better result than his previous outing in which he surrendered five runs over six innings, but took a no-decision in the Blue Jays’ 8-7 win. In three starts against Tampa Bay Stroman is 2-1 with a 4.57 ERA this season, including an abominable 5.2 IP/7 R/13 H/2 BB outing back on May 13. Key matchups: Curt Casali (2-6, RBI), Corey Dickerson (3-9, 2B, HR, RBI, BB), Kevin Kiermaier (4-14, 2 2B, 2 RBI), Evan Longoria (8-16, 2 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, BB)
Dickey luckily came away with a no-decision on Sunday after he allowed five runs (three earned) on six hits and three walks over six innings while striking out five. Josh Donaldson’s throwing error led to two unearned runs and helped salvage what otherwise was a rough outing for the knuckleballer. Dickey’s managed an excellent 0.31 HR/9 in August after giving up just one homer in 29 innings over five starts leading to a solid 3.41 ERA, although there’s reason to believe he’ll regress back to his 1.52 HR/9 season norm. The Rays have hammered Dickey, tagging the righty with 12 runs (11 earned) on 20 hits, including four homers, over 15-1/3 innings this season Key matchups: Curt Casali (1-4), Logan Forsythe (8-26, 2 2B, 3 RBI, BB), Evan Longoria (14-50, 5 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 6 BB), Brad Miller 4-12, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB), Logan Morrison (9-28, 2 2B, HR, RBI, BB), Steven Souza Jr. (3-12, HR, RBI, 2 BB)
Eddie Gamboa (right) is one of three initial September call-ups for the Tampa Bay Rays. (Photo Credit: Chris Urso/Tampa Bay Times)
With the September roster expansion afoot, the Tampa Bay Rays made their first round of promotions. As expected, catcher Curt Casali will return to the big leagues along with RHP Ryan Garton. The most interesting promotion, however, is that of right-handed knuckleballer Eddie Gamboa.
Gamboa, 31, was a prospect in the Orioles system before joining the Rays as a Minor League free-agent this season. He was the top project in Tampa Bay’s newly minted knuckleball program, working under former big leaguer (and program coordinator) Charlie Haeger.
The righty successfully utilized the knuckleball with Triple-A Durham, posting a 6-4 record with a 2.68 ERA/2.64 FIP/.196 OBA/1.11 WHIP in 12 starts (94 innings). He fanned 89 and allowed 39 free passes, good for 2.28 K/BB.
When Gamboa makes his Major League debut, he will be the second oldest player to do so with Tampa Bay, behind 35 year-old Jim Morris — you know, the player for whom the movie The Rookie was based.
