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Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Drop Game and Series to Orioles, 3-1

Just Wil being Wil. Rays RF Wil Myers blows a bubble in the midst of a run down Thursday night.

By staff contributor, Michael Nazarro

Let me preface this saying, I never understood the hype behind Ubaldo Jimenez. Since his 19-8, 2.88 ERA 2010 season, his ERA has hovered around five for all but one season. But he sure made the Rays look foolish tonight, throwing 5-1/3 innings, surrendering only one run and walking only 2, before being chased from the game by a Wil Myers single and David DeJesus single that pushed Myers to third. However, as been the case with the Rays for the most part this season, the big hit was elusive and the inning ended quickly after Jimenez was removed.

It had been hard to watch these games lately and I savor the few great offensive moments that I get to see. Though Price didn’t pitch awfully, he surrendered the big hit and missed his spot a few too many times. Again, officially, a Rays’ starter couldn’t log more than 5 innings and the Rays again had to employ the use of their overworked bullpen, who pitched well.

Some Key Notes

Hickey earned himself his second ejection, the last one being in 2009, in the middle of the first for what seemed to be arguing an Adam Jones check swing. I, however missed this as I decided to prepare some dinner without realizing what time it was.
Price’s pitch count by inning: 15, 25, 16, 27, 6, 13. Off those, can you guess which innings he surrendered runs? It has seemed that when he’s gotten in trouble this season he gets flustered.
Longoria, after the first inning, had a less than memorable game. He game up twice in clutch situations and twice failed to provide the clutch hit. He also had a rough fielding inning in the fourth, though no errors were charged to him, he bobbled the ball to allow an infield hit and then allowed a ball to bounce under his glove and into himself, allowing another infield hit.
The Rays bullpen were nearly lights out. Boxberger looked fantastic coming in relief of Price, striking out the side with 3 inherited runners. Peralta came in next and struck out 1. Then Oviedo, who seems to be gathering himself and we’re beginning to see what the Rays loved about him so much, pitched a hitless 8th and a hitless 9th.
Steve Pearce, in the absence of Chris Davis, has tried to emanate his power, putting a baseball in the stands and giving the O’s the lead they would hold for the rest of the game.
The RISP situation and the fact that starters aren’t eating innings are the most dire issues. I haven’t felt comfortable with anyone by Ramos and McGee on the mound this season and that’s sad. All we ever hear about is the depth of the pitching staff. There has to be some reevaluating done somewhere. 1-12 RISP is obscene and pathetic.

The New What Next

Odorizzi will bring his 6.83 to the Trop tomorrow against Corey Kluber and the Indians. The Tribe have faced similar issues as the Rays and getting away from the AL East may be just was the doctor ordered. I’ll post the starting lineup when it becomes available.

Rays 5/9/14 Starting Lineup (Courtesy of the Tampa Chamber of Commerce)

DeJesus DH
Zobrist 2B
Loney 1B
Longoria 3B
Myers RF
Joyce LF
Guyer CF
Escobar SS
Hanigan C
Odorizzi RHP

Noteworthiness

Per Marc Topkin “Cobb will throw to hitters on Friday, Hellickson will throw another bullpen Saturday.” Given Cobb’s fantastic progress is rehabbing, we could possibly see him back sooner rather than later, which gives everyone the most optimism that once this rotation is back to some sort of normalcy the Rays could be a real boy again.
Per Elias, there’s no record of anyone else coming in with the bases loaded, and striking out the next three batters on nine pitches. A caveat: the data incomplete.
Don’t forget to read about tonight’s match-up, and so much more, in our Rays/Indians series preview.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Drop Second Straight, 4-3

In an ideal world, a team composed of major league hitters would support their starting pitcher, especially when victories are at a premium. Those hitters would be able to give him a healthy cushion, and because of it a pair of solo shots wouldn’t feel like an insurmountable void to overcome. That is, in an ideal world pitching and hitting would be in synch with one another. That wasn’t the case Wednesday night when the Rays dropped their second straight game, and the series, to the Baltimore Orioles by a score of 4-3.

Say what you will about Cesar Ramos, though I’d caution you about saying anything other than he was deserving of a win — anything on the contrary would be doing the Rays lefty a huge disservice. It’s safe to say that Ramos was on point, tossing 5-2/3 innings of solid baseball, while slashing H/2 R/2 BB/4 K/2 HR/72 pitches (45 strikes, 63% K%), and coaxing six ground outs and two fly-ball outs. He, for the most part, did what was expected of him; keep the Orioles off the base paths, work around any self incurred jams, and put together efficient innings — as it relates to his pitch count. Ramos made two mistakes by leaving a pair of fastballs up in the zone to Adam Jones, and paid dearly. However, in light of what he accomplished on the mound over the course of his 5-2/3 innings of work, the loss could — and should — be blamed on an offense that wasn’t able to touch Bud Norris for more than two runs. Ramos said he was definitely disappointed to get pulled in sixth after tossing only 72 pitches, then again he also understood what Joe Maddon was trying to accomplish by putting Brandon Gomes in the game, with the specter of Adam Jones looming. Ramos’ pitching breakdown: 10 fastballs (7 strikes), 34 sinkers (23 strikes), 13 change-ups (7 strikes, 2 whiffs), 9 sliders (4 strikes, 1 whiff), 6 curve balls (4 strikes, 1 whiff).

Cesar Ramos at-bat outcomes. (Courtesy of Brooks Baseball)

Game Peripherals

Yunel Escobar came up big on Cruz’ grounder to short, starting an inning ending double play in the first.

(Photo courtesy of Will Vragovic/Tampa Bay Times)

Down by two, David DeJesus brought the Rays back to within a run with a leadoff homer to right in the fifth inning.
Each team put the leadoff batter on base in the front four innings, while the Rays put the leadoff man on in the first five innings and six innings overall. They only scored runs in two of those innings however.
The Rays tied the game with a two out rally in the bottom of the sixth inning. James Loney got things started with and HBP in the knee. Wil Myers moved him up to second on a single, signaling the Bud Norris’ night. RHP Brian Matusz entered the game, bringing Sean Rodriguez out to pinch hit for DeJesus. Rodriguez hit a huge single to center, scoring Loney from second as Jones’ throw to home skipped away from the catcher.
Tommy Hunter entered the game in the ninth inning and was promptly welcomed by a Wil Myers a leadoff double to left center. Rodriguez was next, though he struck out looking at a full count change-up, bringing Escobar to the plate. Yuni singled to center, Myers was held up at third base as Jones quickly fielded the ball. Maddon pinch ran Logan Forsythe for Escobar, while Ryan Hanigan continued the rally, driving in Myers on a base hit and moving Forsythe to third with only one out. Maddon made another pinch running move, calling for Brandon Guyer in lieu of Hanigan, representing the winning run. Ben Zobrist lined out to J.J. Hardy for the second out of the inning, giving Desmond Jennings a last chance to drive in a run. Jennings steamed a liner back up the middle — though it was caught by Hunter, ending the game in a Rays’ defeat.
…A game of inches. With the game knotted up at two apiece in the seventh, Brandon Gomes threw an 0-2 cement mixer to Jonathan Schoop which, consequently, found a new home in the left field stands. Gomes was one pitch away from getting the Rays out of the inning unscathed. “One mistake,” Gomes said. “And in this division, that’s it. It’s a game of inches.”

The New What Next

David Price will take the mound, opposite of Ubaldo Jimenez, Thursday night when the Rays attempt to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Orioles. You can read about the pitching match-up, and so much more, in our series preview. I’ll post the starting lineup when it becomes available.

Rays 5/8/14 Starting Lineup

Zobrist 2B
Jennings CF
Joyce LF
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Myers RF
DeJesus DH
Escobar SS
Molina C
Price LHP

Noteworthiness

The Rays are 5-7 since the start of their last road trip and have blown 12 leads in those games. In the last seven games, Rays’ pitchers have thrown 1,166 pitches.

Ryan Morrison of Beyond the Boxscore writes, Starting-caliber players who can shift around the field may add value with their versatility. But how, and how much?

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Fall to the O’s, 5-3

Looney Toons, anyone? Desmond Jennings watching cartoons from the outfield during a 19 minute power outage at the Trop Tuesday night.

Once again the Rays overworked bullpen was forced to eat innings after Chris Archer failed to pitch past the fifth inning (for the third straight start) in his start Tuesday night. The typically dependable Joel Peralta faltered as the Orioles scored twice in the eighth inning following a 19-minute power delay, beating the Rays 5-3 in the first game of a three-game set.

Though Archer only walked one batter — an improvement over his last start when he walked six — he seemed to have a hard time with command throughout the course of his outing. Combine that with the over reliance on his slider, that wasn’t nearly as effective as it needed to be. To his credit, Archer was able to coax 11 whiffs. And to be fair, I get his game plan: try to get a very aggressive team to chase pitches outside of the zone — after all the Orioles (as a team) are dead last in walks, and they tend to swing at pitches. However, Archer found himself in eight (yes, eight) three-ball counts which forced him to come back in the zone, and he was hammered on multiple occasions because of it. Eric Hahmann of DRaysBay wrote an account of Steve Pearce’s home run at-bat,

“Take the at bat against Steve Pearce as a prime example. Six of the eight pitches he threw in that AB were sliders, yet they lacked consistency and Pearce was able to drive one that caught a little too much plate over the left field wall.”

Archer loaded the bases in the fourth and fifth innings and was able to escape with minimal damage — allowing just a run each time. Though he kept the Rays in the game, he needed entirely too many pitches to do so. Joel Peralta also allowed a myriad of base runners to reach (4) in his 1/3 inning of work, yet he wasn’t nearly as lucky as Archer.

Much like Archer, Peralta’s command was off, and he struggled to keep his pitches down in the zone. Consequently, Peralta relinquished a double, two singles, and a walk, and was charged with three-runs. My question; Did the 19-minute electrical delay have an effect on Peralta? The delay came while he was on the mound which, as DeWayne Staats mentioned in the telecast, made it feel like two innings.

Offensively speaking, it was a same s**t, different day situation. At 0-5 wRISP, the lack of hits with runners in scoring position ultimately did the Rays in. Tampa Bay found itself in bases loaded with one out scenario in the seventh inning, yet they were only able to come away with one run on a Ben Zobrist sac-fly. The Rays found themselves in a similar situation in the ninth, but neither Desmond Jennings or Logan Forsythe could pounce on the struggling Tommy Hunter.

The New What Next

Cesar Ramos will butt heads with Bud Norris tonight in the second game of the series, at the Trop. Ramos will attempt to build on three consecutive solid starts. Could this be the game he pitches past the fifth? Let’s hope so. You can read about tonight’s match-up, and so much more, in our Rays/Orioles series preview. I’ll post the starting lineup when it becomes available.

Rays 5/7/14 Starting Lineup

Zobrist 2B
Jennings CF
Joyce LF
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Myers RF
DeJesus DH
Escobar SS
Hanigan C
Ramos LHP

Noteworthiness

Somewhat surprisingly, Ryan Hanigan is back in the lineup tonight. He admitted he got beat up pretty good last night, after being hit on the wrist by a pitch, and on right shoulder by foul tip.
Per the pre-game notes, this is as late in a season Tampa Bay is in last place since becoming the Rays in 2008.
Alex Cobb could return from the DL within the month. Tasked with rebuilding arm strength, Cobb participated in what was described as an “electric” 35-pitch bullpen session Tuesday. Per Marc Topkin, Cobb will throw the first of three live batting practice sessions in a couple of days. “I think the end of this month is an extremely realistic goal,” Cobb said. “I think that’s been the goal this whole time, just put a little cushion on it just in case we had a minor setback here or there. But it’s been real smooth sailing with the rehab process so far. I don’t want to jinx anything, but I think we’re doing really well right now.”
In other rehab news, Jeremy Hellickson reportedly felt good Tuesday after throwing from 100 feet, saying he’ll throw a fourth — and potentially final — bullpen session today before taking the next step in his rehab. “Hellickson, who has experienced soreness only when throwing curveballs, may not return until late June, though he says he’s just taking it one day at a time,” wrote Marc Topkin. “Just kind of being smart about it,” he said. “There’s a little urgency to get back, but at the same time, you’ve got to let it respond how it’s going to respond and go from there.”

Rays 5/6/14 Starting Lineup, Suspensions, Roster Moves, Etc

Every five days, ladies and gentlemen. (Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays)

Rays 5/6/14 Starting Lineup

Zobrist 2B
Jennings CF
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Myers RF
DeJesus DH
Escobar SS
Hanigan C
Archer P

Noteworthiness

Another day, another suspension. Durham RHP Steve Geltz became the latest Rays minor-leaguer suspended for drug issues, given a 50-day ban after a second positive test for a drug of abuse. Geltz was 2-2, 3.86 in 11 games.
RHP Alex Colome, serving his 50-game suspension after testing positive for PEDs, worked two innings (47 pitches) for the Charlotte Stone Crabs in his first rehab start. He is eligible to be reinstated May 25, likely in Triple-A Durham.
The Rays have added RHP Brad Boxberger to their bullpen for tonight’s game, taking the spot of the recently DFA’d, Heath Bell. Boxberger has been impressive in his stints with the Rays, slashing 0.00 ERA/2 H/5 BB/7 K in six innings of work. Boxberger gives the Rays depth and more flexibility.
Don’t forget to read about tonight’s pitching match-up, and so much more, in our series preview.

The New What Next: Enter the O’s — A Series Preview of Sorts

Wil Myers crosses plate after an inside the park homer, and is greeted by his teammates. (Photo courtesy of William Perlman/The Star-Ledger) — Wil Myers crosses plate after an inside the park homer, and is greeted by Sean Rodriguez, Desmond Jennings, and Evan Longoria. (Photo courtesy of William Perlman/The Star-Ledger)

The Tampa Bay Rays will resume play against the Baltimore Orioles Tuesday after returning home from a successful 10-game road trip. The trip didn’t start well, but my how things changed. The Rays left Chicago (en route to Boston) winning only one game out of four, yet they return to the friendly confines of the Trop having taken two-of-three from both the Red Sox and Yankees. So the Rays are miraculously fixed, right? Not by a long shot, BUT things are looking up.

I like what I’ve seen from the Rays offense over the last two weeks. They’ve averaged almost five runs per game, slashing a healthy .277 BA/.346 OBP/.407 SLG/.753 OPS in that span. James Loney and Desmond Jennings continue to rake at the plate and Sean Rodriguez has contributed in his limited number of plate appearances. And despite putting together poor at-bats toward the beginning of the season, Wil Myers, David DeJesus, Yunel Escobar, and Ryan Hanigan have started to heat up. If Ben Zobrist, Matt Joyce, and Evan Longoria can slip out of their collective funk, and if the rest of the team can continue to be productive, the Rays could piece together a winning series against the Orioles. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Desmond Jennings was named the A.L. Player of the Week after hitting three home runs, mashing six extra base hits, and plating eight runs.

Despite coming off a series loss to the Minnesota Twins — one in which they combined for three runs in back-to-back defeats, the Baltimore Orioles have been fairly hot, winning six of their last 10. Still, the Rays and O’s are pretty evenly keeled offensively speaking — at least on paper. In fact, Tampa Bay is better than Baltimore in some respects. The Orioles power heavy lineup has been fairly quiet thus far, which is surprising for team that hit 426 home runs the last two years; a team which features six regulars with multiple 20+ home run seasons. Baltimore currently ranks 11th in the league in home runs with just 22 — which is unexpected to say the least. The Rays have hit more homers and scored more runs.

Rays and Orioles offensive production at home, away, and overall.

Chris Tillman: Thanks to a rain-out, the Rays missed the Orioles right-handed ace (2-4, 4.05 ERA vs the Rays) in their last trip up to Baltimore, in April. Much of the Rays production against Tillman has come from Evan Longoria and Matt Joyce; two hitters who have been fairly quiet over the last two weeks. Tillman has had a hard time going more than five innings in any start this season, and if the Rays can be patient and work some good at-bats, they could have their way with him. Key match-ups: David DeJesus (2-6, RBI), Matt Joyce (6-21, 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, BB), Evan Longoria (10-24, 2 2B, 4 HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB).

Bud Norris: The Rays have been able to hit Norris (1-2, 3.14 ERA vs the Rays) hard over the last few seasons, slashing a combined .333 BA/.406 OBP/.488 SLG/.894 OPS line against the righty. As with his counterpart Chris Tillman, Norris has had a hard time pitching deeply into games. (Editors note: Sound familiar, Rays fans?) He’s also been known to leave breaking pitches up in the zone, and because of it, hitters have slapped more homers and line drives off Norris this season. It’s a cliche turn of phrase by now, but if the Rays can be patient and not expand their strike zone, they could force (and pounce on) his mistakes. Key match-ups: David DeJesus (7-13, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB), Yunel Escobar (1-4, BB), Ryan Hanigan (3-11, 5 RBI, BB), Desmond Jennings (2-5, 2B), Matt Joyce (2-4, 2 BB), James Loney (9-17, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB), Jose Molina (1-3).

Ubaldo Jimenez: Jimenez had been nothing short of awful in his five April starts, though he finally picked up his first win with the Orioles Friday night, tossing 7-1/3 scoreless innings, while allowing just three hits and one walk in a 3-0 shutout of Minnesota. With glimpses of his former self, Jimenez was dominant, striking out 10 Twins. Too many walks (17 in 27 1/3 innings) and a drop in fastball velocity (1.6 mph below last year’s fastball) continue to be problems for the tall righty. Then again, Jimenez has been tough on the Rays over the last three seasons, going 2-1 with a 3.20 ERA in that span. Jimenez vs. Price — sounds like the makings of a marquee match-up to me. Key match-ups: Yunel Escobar (7-19, HR, 2 RBI, 4 BB), Ryan Hanigan (1-3), Jose Molina (3-7, BB), Sean Rodriguez (1-4, BB), Ben Zobrist (2-7, 2B, 2 BB).

Noteworthiness

The Rays lost their only two games against the Orioles this season April 14 and 16 after winning 11 of the previous 13 match-ups. Chris Archer (2-1, 4.84 ERA), who’ll get the start Tuesday against Chris Tillman, had the worst outing of his career in the series opener.
Ryan Hanigan is 7-for-12 with a homer and 11 RBI with two outs and wRISP.
Desmond Jennings has keyed the Rays offense with a seven-game hitting streak.
A tale of two Wils… Myers hit .375 (12-for-32) against the Yankees, and .202 (18-for-89) against all other teams. Maybe he should just pretend Sabathia is on the mound.
Nelson Cruz has recorded three homers and six RBI during his six-game hitting streak.
Manny Machado had two hits in four at-bats Sunday after going 1-for-13 in his first three games since returning from knee surgery.