Brandon Guyer comes up short going on Salvador Perez’s three-run homer in the ninth inning. The Royals beat the Rays 5-4. (Photo courtesy of AP Photo/Steve Nesius)
Well, that certainly wasn’t the most operative way to end the series against Kansas City. The Royals took the finale by a score of 5-4, in what should be described as a total team loss.
Perhaps Kirby Yates is to blame for leaving a center-center fastball over the plate in a high-leverage ninth inning. Or, maybe the blame should be placed firmly on Joel Peralta’s shoulders, for creating that high-leverage situation in the first place. After all, he’s the one who gave up a leadoff single to Jarrod Dyson and a one out walk to Erik Hosmer, before being pulled in favor of Yates. The fielders certainly aren’t free of criticism — the fielding error and two other general misplays, effectively, gave the Royals three extra outs to play with, while cutting Alex Cobb’s outing short. Then again, the Rays went 1-9 wRISP, while stranding 11 men on the bags — including two bases loaded situations they couldn’t take advantage of. I’d opine it was a combination of all these things.
In any case, there’s a reason the Royals are in the position they’re in. Of their total 822 hits this season, 72% percent (590) were singles. In fact, of their 11 hits last night, eight were singles. Over the course of the series, the Royals kept consistent pressure on the Rays by hitting base hit after base hit — creating high leverage situation after high leverage situation. I, for one, am glad the season series is over.
Moving forward.
When you look at the big picture the Rays are in a good place… That is, relative to their position; 10 games under .500 and nine games out of first. The Yankees start the day just two games over .500 and in dire straits, after their All-Star ace Mashiro Tanaka was placed on the 15-day DL with elbow soreness. In the Rays favor, the team who are set to enter Tropicana Field tomorrow night, the Toronto Blue Jays, have scuffled of late, going 3-7 in their last 10 games, and 5-10 over their last 15. To put things in perspective, if Tampa Bay can sweep Toronto, (I know, it’s a tall task, but bear with me) they will finish the home stand with a 4-2 record — the same as taking two of three from both the Royals and Blue Jays. Tampa Bay is in a prime position to make up three games in the AL East this weekend. They also have an opportunity to exact some revenge on the Blue Jays, following their 2-5 start to the season. Call it cautious optimism.
Noteworthiness
Mr. Offense, Kevin Kiermaier is the first MLB rookie with four hits and a grand slam in same game since 2010 (Nationals Danny Espinosa was the last on 9/6/10). He’s also the first rookie since 1914 to have four hits and a slam from the number nine spot.
This is still fun to watch:
Per Marc Topkin, Maddon said he wanted to limit the other relievers, and expected Peralta to handle the ninth. Juan-Carlos Oviedo was not available.
“This one is bad, it really hurts.” — Joel Peralta
Evan Longoria singles to right field in the sixth inning, scoring Ben Zobrist and Brandon Guyer. (Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays)
Think back to last weekend, when Tampa Bay was crushed by Max Scherzer and the Detroit Tigers. There was a tacit line of thought that the Rays would need to prove they could bounce back from the loss, if they were going to make a realistic push going forward. They inevitably took three consecutive games, and the series, from the Tigers. And similar to last week, the Rays were able to bounce back from a tough loss, taking the second game of the series from the Royals by a score of 4-3. It was a gritty victory against a very tough Jason Vargas, but Tampa Bay, led Brandon Guyer and Brad Boxberger, proved its mettle Tuesday night.
Making his first start of the season, Jeremy Hellickson started off the game poorly, but he was able to work around base runners (three singles and a walk) in the front four innings. Lorenzo Cain led off the game by grounding a fastball just out of the reach of Logan Forsythe. We heard that Hellickson had issues with his secondary pitches — namely his curve ball — in his rehab stint, and those issues creeped up after he got Eric Hosmer to fly out to center for the first out of the inning. Helly started Salvador Perez with a hanging curve which he hit hard. Thankfully (or luckily, choose your own adventure) it died a few steps short of the warning track in center. He left another hanger over the plate to Alex Gordon which resulted in a single, putting runners at the corners. But Hellickson was able to escape danger by coaxing his third fly ball of the inning.
Hellickson’s command — particularly of his secondary pitches — improved as the game wore on.
The first two pitches were poorly located fastballs, but behind in the count, he came over the plate with a pretty hittable fastball up and away. Perez took it for a strike, and likely immediately regretted doing so. He wasn’t going to passively watch the next pitch he got to hit, so Hellickson took advantage of that aggressiveness with the best pitch he threw all night, a changeup at the bottom of the zone. Now, with the batter’s eye level set down in the zone, Helly challenged his hands at the top inside corner. Perez fouled it off. The next pitch (#6), was a curve below the zone on the outside. Once more, Perez was set up for the pitch, and he really had no business making contact, yet somehow he did. Three more fastballs (two fouled, one taken well-inside for a ball) had Perez set up once more, and he was put away with swinging at a change up behind the zone.
But Hellickson didn’t make it out of the fifth inning for whatever reason. You can blame it on a relatively high pitch count in his first outing of the year, or you could blame it on Helly-being-Helly and things looking as though they were about to spiral out of control in the fifth. Whatever the case, Hellickson gave up a one-out single, and then saw the runner (Lorenzo Cain) advance to second on a wild pitch that Ryan Hanigan should have blocked. His night was done after Eric Hosmer singled Cain to third. Joe Maddon pulled Hellickson in favor of Brad Boxberger. The Rays conceded a run on a soft chopper to short off the bat of Perez, and Boxberger was able to limit the damage and end the inning with a strikeout of Alex Gordon.
The next inning would prove huge for Boxberger. The Rays reliever gave up a leadoff single to Omar Infante, then immediately erased him on a beautifully executed third-to-second-to-first, Mike Moustakas double play. He was then able to induce a fly-ball to center out of Billy Butler to end the inning with the Rays down by one.
It’s been pretty well documented by now that the Rays have excelled at the plate in the sixth inning. Consider this: Tampa Bay has slashed a combined .285 BA/.356 OBP/.421 SLG/.777 OPS with 43 runs in the sixth inning alone. Tuesday night would be no different.
Ben Zobrist led off the inning with a single, then Brandon Guyer followed with a hustle double to left-center — challenging Alex Gordon’s arm, and advancing Zobrist to third. Evan Longoria finally put the Rays on the board with a two-RBI, opposite field single.
Guyer once again came up big when he led off the eighth with an excellent, well executed bunt base hit. His speed and tenacity on the base paths paid dividends when Longo grounded into a potential double play; Guyer beat the throw to second, and Longoria safely reached first to put two on with no-outs. James Loney was next, following with an RBI double (moving Longoria to third) and Logan Forsythe plated the fourth run of the game with a sac-fly to right. Those two runs proved valuable because Jake McGee gave up two en route to a four out save.
The New What Next
Alex Cobb will take on the power arm of Yordano Ventura in the series finale. A win would give Tampa Bay their fourth consecutive series win. It won’t be easy. Ventura is a power pitcher whose fastball sits in the 94-97 range. His fastball/curve ball combination is downright deadly, and his change up has really come into its own. Recall, Yordano owned Tampa Bay back in April, to the tune of six strikeouts in a 6 IP, shutout start. You can read about the pitching matchup in our series preview, and I’ll pst the starting lineup when it becomes available.
Rays 7/9/14 Starting Lineup
Jennings CF
Zobrist SS
Joyce DH
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Guyer LF
Rodriguez 2B
Molina C
Kiermaier RF
Cobb RHP
Noteworthiness
Yunel Escobar his first rehab start at shortstop Tuesday with Class-A Charlotte. Facing two-time All-Star RHP Brad Penny, Escobar finished 1-for-4 and scored a run.
David DeJesus is getting closer and could return early next month, while Wil Myers (wrist) could be back by mid August to give a jolt to a team still trying to become a factor in September.
Interesting. Marc Topkin wrote, “(Alex) Cobb could be available out of the bullpen Sunday against Toronto in the Rays’ final game before the break.”
James Shields pitches during the first inning at Tropicana Field. (Photo courtesy of Brian Blanco/Getty Images)
I tried bargaining with the baseball gods, ahead of the series opener last night. My bargain: Allow Tampa Bay to win a close game, and let James Shields to walk away from The Trop with a quality seven inning, no-decision under his belt. The plan seemed like a win/win to me. However, neither the baseball gods nor James Shields accepted my very reasonable bargain. In the end, despite the very good start by Jake Odorizzi, Big Game James was downright dominant in his seven inning homecoming, slashing 7 IP/3 H/0 R/1 BB/10 K on 103 pitches (64 strikes). Truth be told, with a pair of winnable games remaining in the series, I’m not that broken up over the loss — well, with the exception of Juan-Carlos Oviedo’s fart-on-a-snare-drum worthy two innings of work. In the end, Tampa Bay fell to Kansas City by a score of 6-0.
A couple of bulleted game peripherals follow:
Kevin Kiermaier has definitely been a spark plug for the Rays, however, we shouldn’t forget that he is still a rookie who could use some work. Take his third inning throwing gaffe for example. Kiermaier made a dynamic play, stopping a ball from reaching the wall just shy of the bullpen; an excellent play by all accounts. But then, after a spin of sorts, he fired the ball as hard as he could — well wide of third base — allowing Alex Gordon to reach second on (what was scored) a single. In the bottom of the inning Kiermaier reached second base on a double that shouldn’t have been. But in the next at-bat he ran to third on a grounder to short (which was well in front of him) that Alcides Escobar could have thrown him out on. Lucky for Kiermaier, Escobar as in the process of planting his back foot ahead of a throw to first. Finally, he erred on a hit to right in the eighth which allowed a runner to reach third, leading to another run.
Odorizzi, Shields, and Oviedo are all fastball/changeup pitchers. Where Odorizzi and Shields’ off-speed stuff broke nicely, adding depth to their pitches, Oviedo’s did not. Oviedo allowed four runs on seven hits, and his usually lively change ups were flat and very hittable.
The New What Next
The Rays were able to bounce back from an ugly loss against Max Scherzer last Thursday, by beating up on Drew Smyly to the tune of five runs in 5-1/3 innings of work Friday. That is, we know the Rays are capable of brushing an ugly loss off their shoulders. They’ll attempt to prove their mettle tonight against Jason Vargas and the Royals, countering with Jeremy Hellickson. Hellboy will try to use his solid 2 R/5.2 IP outing with Durham as a springboard in this, his first official start of the 2014 season. The Rays lone win against the Royals this season came with Jason Vargas on the mound. However, that win had little to do with Vargas who was very good in his 8 IP/4 H/1 ER start. Vargas has been charged with three or more runs five times since, including three less-than quality starts. Still, the left handed fastball/curve ball/changeup pitcher has historically been very tough against Tampa Bay, boasting a 2.59 ERA in his last three starts against the Rays. You can read about the pitching matchup in our series preview.
Rays 7/8/14 Starting Lineup
Jennings CF
Zobrist SS
Guyer LF
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Forsythe 2B
Rodriguez DH
Hanigan C
Kiermaier RF
Hellickson RHP
Jennings CF
Zobrist SS
Joyce LF
Longoria 3B
Loney DH
Forsythe 2B
Rodriguez 1B
Hanigan C
Kiermaier RF
Odorizzi RHP
Noteworthiness
The Rays have signed their number one international prospect Adrian Rondon for $2.95 MM today, on his 16th birthday.
A bit of friendly competition. Ben Zobrist needs just one more double to tie Carl Crawford’s franchise record of 215. Longoria needs two to do the same.
The Rays scored 108 runs during their first 36 road games. They’ve scored 56 during the last 11 games through Baltimore, New York, and Detroit.
Desmond Jennings is congratulated by Matt Joyce after scoring on a single by Ben Zobrist (not pictured) during the first inning of the game against the Detroit Tigers. (Photo courtesy of Leon Halip/Getty Images)
Fresh off a huge 9-2 road trip, the Tampa Bay Rays returned home late Sunday night, ahead of a three-game series against James Shields and the Kansas City Royals. Oh, and what a road trip it was! Let’s review the last week and a half of Rays baseball before we move ahead:
The Tampa Bay Rays are no longer in the AL East cellar. They were able to leap frogged the BoSox, and are now five games behind the third place (and sluggish) Yankees.
Not only did they go 9-2 on the road trip, they’ve also won 10 of their last 12, and 17 their last 25 (extending back to June 15).
The Rays averaged 5.09 runs per game over the 11-game road trip, and just under five runs per game since June 15.
Moving forward, enter the Royals.
Anyone reading this is familiar with the overwhelming narrative surrounding the forthcoming series… You know, the whole seven-player trade between the Rays and Royals back in December 2012. That backstory is a tad trite by now. Sure, James Shields will be taking the mound at the Trop for the first time since the trade. Still, at this point, what’s more important? The series itself, or the aforementioned narrative? I’d argue the former.
At 3-3, the Royals have done okay in the front six games of their current nine game road trip — not good or great, just okay. Yet, when you take things back further, one thing becomes glaringly obvious: At 6-9 over a 15-game stretch, Kansas City has been anything but good. The culprit? A general lack of run support. The Royals have averaged 3.6 runs per game, extending back to their ill-fated series against the Seattle Mariners in the middle of June.
Rays and Royals series starters.Rays and Royals offensive production at home, away, and over the last 14 days.Rays and Royals, by the numbers.
James Shields: The Royals have lost each of the last three times with Shields on the mound, and he’s 0-1 with a 6.16 ERA. He threw 113 pitches in five innings Tuesday at Minnesota, relinquishing five runs and nine hits in a 10-2 loss. Furthermore, he is 1-1 with a 6.94 ERA in his past four road starts. Despite everything however, Shields was impressive in his only career start against Tampa Bay, yielding two runs with seven strikeouts in seven innings of an 8-2 home victory April 30, 2013. We all know what to expect out of Juego G. by now: when he’s on, he’s very good, and the Rays will need to disrupt his rhythm early. Key matchups: Ryan Hanigan (2-2, HR, 3 RBI), Desmond Jennings (1-3), Matt Joyce (2-5, HR, 2 RBI, BB), James Loney (2-3, 2B).
Jason Vargas: The Rays lone win against the Royals this season came with Jason Vargas on the mound. However, that win had little to do with Vargas who was very good in his 8 IP/4 H/1 ER start. Vargas has been charged with three or more runs five times since, including three less-than quality starts. Still, the left handed fastball/curve ball/changeup pitcher has historically been very tough against Tampa Bay, boasting a 2.59 ERA in his last three starts against the Rays. Key matchups: Evan Longoria (6-20, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB), Jose Molina (3-5, 2B, BB), Ben Zobrist (11-26, 4 2B, HR, 6 RBI, 3 BB).
Yordano Ventura: As I wrote previously, Ventura is a power pitcher whose fastball sits in the 94-97 range. His fastball/curve ball combination is downright deadly, and his change up has really come into its own. Yordano owned Tampa Bay back in April, racking up six strikeouts in his 6 IP, shutout start.
Noteworthiness
Welcome back, Helly. The Rays shuffled their roster after Sunday night’s 7-3 win over. LHP Jeff Beliveau and INF Vince Belnome were optioned back to Triple-A Durham. LHP Cesar Ramos will come off the paternity list and Hellickson is set to be activated. Hellickson will take Erik Bedard’s spot in the rotation. Bedard will move to the bullpen.
Ben Zobrist has 11 hits – including four doubles – in 24 at-bats over his last five contests.
Per Fox Sports Florida, “It’s unclear if the Royals will have Alex Gordon and Billy Butler back in the lineup after their recent struggles earned them a spot on the bench in the finale. Gordon is headed to the All-Star game in Minneapolis on July 15 with catcher Salvador Perez and closer Greg Holland, but the left fielder is mired in a 3-for-40 slump that’s dropped his average 28 points to .263. Butler is 3 for 26 in his last six games after hitting .391 over the previous 17. The designated hitter is batting .389 with nine RBIs in his past nine meetings with the Rays (41-50), while Gordon has a .339 average in 16. Gordon is also 2 for 4 versus Odorizzi (4-7, 4.18), connecting for a three-run shot in a 7-3 win at Kansas City on April 9.”
Kansas City has won eight of the last 10 games against the Rays, including two of three in 2014.
