Zobrist CF
Guyer LF
Longoria 3B
Myers RF
Loney 1B
Escobar SS
Forsythe 2B
Hanigan C
Rodriguez DH
Cobb RHPP
Noteworthiness
Joe Maddon on Thursday’s loss, “In a microcosm kind of a way, that’s 2014 right there.” He went on, “We’ve exceeded cardinal sins, mortal sins, original sins,” Maddon said. “We’ve passed them all up. We’ve totally wasted a lot of good pitching.”
Thursday was the seventh 1-0 game played this season by the Rays — the most in team history. They have won four of them.
The Tampa Bay Rays finished off their disappointing series against the Blue Jays, with a frustrating (and lackluster) 1-0 loss against Mark Buehrle and Toronto, after Jake Odorizzi put up 7-1/3 superb innings of shutout ball. The Rays had a prime scoring opportunity in the ninth, loading the bases with only one out, but low and behold Tampa Bay — as it’s been wont to do this season — couldn’t capitalize on the game winning opportunity. As Neil Solondz mentioned in the post-game show, when the Rays found themselves in a prime, scoring opportunity, they put the pressure on themselves to cash in — not on the pitcher. I live blogged the game from section 107. You can relive the game at our Tumblr page, otherwise, our Rays/Orioles series preview is below.
The Rays welcome the Orioles for the sixth and final series of the season. For Tampa Bay, the wanton desire to finish off the season on a high note hasn’t translated to tallies in the win column. Rather, it feels like a slow dragging grind to game 162 — akin to a funeral procession. The Rays, coming off their 17th shutout of the year, have fallen short in 13 of their last 19.
On the other hand, the Baltimore Orioles are a few weeks shy of their second playoff berth in three years. They’ve hit the most home runs in baseball (185) — 25 more than the next-closest team. Nick Hundley belted a three-run shot and Nelson Cruz and Jonathan Schoop also went deep Thursday’s night in their 9-7 win against the Reds. Schoop has homered in each of the last three games, giving him 15 on the season to rank third among rookies. Meanwhile Nelson Cruz leads the majors with 37 after hitting his third in five games. Baltimore out homered its opponents 22-6 in winning nine of 11 on its recently completed home stand.
Per Marc Topkin of the Times, “The O’s are 64-14 when scoring four or more runs, including 32-2 since June 30. (The Rays are 51-23.)”
Rays and Orioles series starters (over the last 30 days).Rays and Orioles offensive production (at home, away, and over the last 30 days).
Wei-Yen Chen: The Rays were able to incur some damage against Chen (14-4, 3.83 ERA) on August 26th. The only problem: Showalter took him out of the game before Tampa Bay could score more than two runs, and the Rays lost 4-2. As I wrote a little more than two weeks ago, the Rays have had a fair amount of success against Chen this season. In his first start against the Rays, Chen held Longoria and company to one run on five hits. Yet the Rays beat Chen and the Orioles twice since — and previous to the game on the 26th — both times by a 5-4 margin. In the case of his most recent five run start, Chen gave on seven hits, including three homers. One thing is certain, with a 12% HR/FB the fly ball pitcher does give up his fair share of homers. Key matchups: Logan Forsythe (3-10, HR, 2 RBI), Brandon Guyer (1-4), Desmond Jennings (7-28, 2 2B, HR, RBI, 3 BB), Matt Joyce (1-4, 2 BB), Kevin Kiermaier (2-5, HR, 2 RBI), James Loney (4-10, 2 2B), Jose Molina (2-5, 2B, RBI, BB), Ben Zobrist (12-32, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB).
Kevin Gausman: Talk about an uneven outing. Despite giving up only two earned runs, Gausman last only four innings against the Rays in a 3-1 loss on August 27th. He’s now thrown for five innings or fewer in seven of his 15 starts, while opposing teams (Rays included) have walked away with wins in six of those games. Key matchups: David DeJesus (1-3, 2B), Yunel Escobar (5-7, RBI), Brandon Guyer (2-2, 2 2B, RBI), Matt Joyce (2-9, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB), Kevin Kiermaier (2-8), Evan Longoria (3-10, 2B, RBI, 2 BB), Jose Molina (1-2, RBI), Wil Myers (1-3), Ben Zobrist (6-10, 3 2B, 3 RBI, BB).
Bud Norris: While Norris (12-8, 3.83 ERA) was very good against Tampa Bay last season — posting a 1-1 record in 9-1/3 innings of work — the Rays were able to tag him for four runs on six hits, back on Augsut 28th. His most impressive start came as an Astro, putting together a 7 IP/6 H/1 R outing against Roberto Hernadez. Norris’ change-up has vastly improved over previous seasons. It’s coaxed a modest number of whiffs (10.3%), and a hefty number of grounders (65.7%). His change-up pairs well with a plus slider. Key matchups: David DeJesus (8-15, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB), Desmond Jennings (3-11, 2B, BB), Matt Joyce (4-9, RBI 2 BB), James Loney (11-21, 3 2B, 3 RBI, 3 BB).
Noteworthiness
The Orioles lead the season series 11-5, and are 5-1 at the Trop. The O’s lead 147-146 overall, while the Rays lead 77-69 at the Trop.
A Tampa Bay Rays batboy brings towels out to the bullpen during a delay in the third inning. A thunderstorm outside the stadium knocked out a bank of lights, delaying the game. (Photo courtesy of AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
I must confess; between celebrating my brother’s birthday and writing a piece on the Rays infield moving forward, I didn’t get a chance to write about the 7-4 loss at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays. Let’s be honest, Chris Archer yielding six runs and a power outage — both literal and proverbial — don’t really make for a compelling game of baseball. The short and narrow, Tampa Bay dropped its first home series to Toronto for the first time since April 2007 — a span lasting 21 series. Ouch.
Danny Russell put together a pretty interesting summary of the game. You can read a snippet below,
The general theme of the night, however, was ineptitude, and not just on the Dome: Jose Molina tossing the ball on a transfer to throw out a runner heading toward second. The chopper bouncing off the tip of James Loney’s glove. Kevin Kiermaier’s throw bringing James Loney way off the line, and no one covering first base. Wil Myers legging it over to a liner, but it landing just past his route to the ball. And Chris Archer just looked uncomfortable.
My biggest take away on the night however was a different sort of power outage. Not electrical, not mental, but physical. Navarro and Encarnacion homered against a good pitcher tonight, combined with some authoritative hitting from Adam Lind it was a depressing sight.
The Rays are currently on pace to have to worst homerun total in the seventeen year history of the franchise, less than the 111 recorded in 1998. The team has yet to crack three digits worth, an abysmal showing from a fly ball heavy squad of hitters, and the star Evan Longoria has yet to reach twenty, in a season he’s not injured.
You can read Danny’s recap in its entirety by clicking this here, or by clicking the screenshot below.
Click the screenshot to be redirected to Danny Russell’s game recap via DRaysBay.
The New What Next
Jake Odorizzi will attempt to put together a series salvaging outing against Mark Buehrle. Buehrle (11-9, 3.59 ERA) has been an anomaly which the Rays haven’t been able to crack this season. Though they should have won the last two games he’s started, both culminated in extra innings walk-off wins for the Blue Jays. Buehrle is coming off a 6-3 loss against the Yankees, Saturday. You can read about the pitching matchup in our series preview.
Rays 9/4/14 Starting Lineup
Zobrist DH
Myers RF
Guyer LF
Longoria 3B
Forsythe 2B
Rodriguez 1B
Escobar SS
Hanigan C
Kiermaier CF
Odorizzi RHP
Noteworthiness
Your tweets of the day:
The #Rays stadium issue wasn’t solved in this meeting, but it was quite a power huddle with Silverman + both mayors pic.twitter.com/GU0zSUoZtY
Ben Zobrist comes out to the mound to speak with pitcher Jeremy Hellickson after Hellickson walked Edwin Encarnacion of the Toronto Blue Jays to load the bases. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images)
My friend, Tim, who works at the Ale and the Witch summed up last night’s 8-2 loss in layman’s terms,
Hellickson was Hellickson, Dickey was Dickey, and the Blue Jays offense was the Blue Jays offense.
I can’t argue with his assessment of the game.
Check out the spikes, when the Rays had a chance to win the game. (Source: FanGraphs)
The New What Next
…A battle of power arms. Chris Archer will take the mound against hurler Marcus Stroman and the Toronto Blue Jays Wednesday night. After being touched for six runs (five earned) on 10 hits against the Rays on August 22nd, Stroman (8-5, 3.88 ERA) held the Red Sox to only one earned run in 7-2/3 innings of work. Despite an excellent home record and ERA, Stroman is 2-3, with a 6.33 ERA on the road. Per his scouting report on BaseballAmerica.com, his change up still needs work, though his fastball and slider appear ready for the big time. You can read about the pitching matchup in our series preview.
Rays 9/3/14 Starting Lineup
Zobrist 2B
Myers RF
Joyce LF
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Escobar SS
DeJesus DH
Molina C
Kiermaier CF
Archer RHP
“It’s become clear Lightning owner Jeff Vinik is moving ahead with plans for development in downtown Tampa without a baseball stadium on his collection of properties,” writes Times columnist John Romano, in a piece about a potential breakthrough in the Stadium Saga. I’d remind Romano, that Vinik has long argued that he wants nothing to do with the Rays stadium debacle, and it’s local journalists — like himself — who’ve beat the drums for a Vinik developed stadium in downtown Tampa, not Vinik himself.
Tampa Bay Rays players chase left fielder Matt Joyce after his walk off hit off Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Burke Badenhop. (Photo courtesy of AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Rays 9/2/14 Starting Lineup
Zobrist 2B
Myers RF
Joyce LF
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Escobar SS
DeJesus DH
Hanigan C
Kiermaier CF
Hellickson RHP
Noteworthiness
The recently retired Jesse Litsch throwing out first pitch tonight at The Trop. The former Dixie Hollins High product was the Rays intern/batboy, and most recently a Blue Jays pitcher.
