I wrote, in our series preview, there were five things the Rays needed to in order to be successful in the postseason against the Red Sox:
- Negate the Red Sox running game.
- Get runners on for Longo.
- Get strong performances from the starters.
- Swarm the starters early on.
- Take a game at Fenway.
If game two of the ALDS proved anything, it’s that the Rays were unsuccessful in executing the aforementioned strategies against John Lackey and the Red Sox. Tampa Bay fell to Boston for the second consecutive day, this time by a score of 7-4, in what could have been David Price’s last start as a Ray.
Contrary to what his final line may suggest, Price didn’t pitch terribly. However, he wasn’t great either. Price gave up his fair share of broken bat bloopers, while the Red Sox hitters took advantage of Fenway’s quirks, playing wall ball with the Monster to put runners in scoring position. It didn’t help that the Rays fielders made a handful of defensive gaffes that Boston took advantage of. An errant throw by catcher Jose Molina in an attempt to gun down Jacoby Ellsbury in the first inning led to the Red Sox’s first run. Ben Zobrist, uncharacteristically, failed to turn a pair of double plays that led to runs — once when Shane Victorino slid in hard to take him out, the second when he got a late feed from third baseman Evan Longoria and never got a grip on the ball, launching a throw that actually hit the Red Sox dugout wall. The error proved costly after Stephen Drew plated a run on a 310 foot fly ball off the monstrosity in left-field that would be an easy out in any other ballpark.
In kind with the strategy he employed against the Rangers Monday, Price pounded lefties inside with fastballs and stayed away from righties. Simply put, the Red Sox happen to have better hitters than the Rangers and were able to time his fastballs pretty well. Price, at times, made his best Jeremy Hellickson impersonation, having to pitch over the plate after falling behind in the count. And much like Helly, Price payed for his mistakes. Price’s night was over after seven innings following David Ortiz’s second homer of the game. If there’s one saving grace it’s that he saved the bullpen by pitching seven innings. Jake McGee finished out the game.
Tampa Bay had plenty of chances to get back into the game but, the offense but couldn’t get the big hit they needed it the most. They hit into three double plays, including a pair of inning ending double plays in the seventh and eighth with the tying run at the plate. The Rays went 2-8 wRISP overall, while Zobrist and Wil Myers had the worst nights at the plate, going a combined 1-8 with eight men left on base.
The Rays find themselves on the brink of elimination for the fourth time in a week. Alex Cobb holds the Rays’ season in his hands, when the good guys come home Monday to take on Boston in front of a sold out Tropicana Field. His offspeed repertoire will hopefully be what the Rays need to calm the Sox’s bats. Cobb will face a very tough Clay Buchholz, and you can read about the pitching match-up here.
Rays 10/7/13 Starting Lineup
Noteworthiness
- Matt Joyce gets the start at DH vs Buchholz, hitting seventh.
- Marc Topkin writes, “Rays ace David Price did not take kindly to criticism from TBS analysts Dirk Hayhurst and Tom Verducci. Hayhurst is a former pitcher who spent most of his career in the minors, Verducci a long-time and respected journalist. Here is the tweet Price posted at 1:07 a.m., when the Rays were on their way back from Boston,”
Dirk Hayhurst…COULDNT hack it…Tom Verducci wasn’t even a water boy in high school…but yet they can still bash a player…SAVE IT NERDS
- Per Roger Mooney of the Trib, “In the history of the American League Division Series (1995-2012), not including this season, 22 teams have fallen behind 2-0. Four of those clubs came back to win the best-of-five series — the 2003 Red Sox (against the Athletics), 2001 Yankees (Athletics), 1999 Red Sox (Indians) and 1995 Mariners (Yankees).” He goes on to write, “Dating to the 1916 World Series, this is the ninth time the Red Sox have taken a 2-0 lead in a postseason series. Five of them were sweeps. The only time Boston didn’t emerge was the 1986 World Series, when the New York Mets won in seven games. Overall in postseason history, teams that have taken a 2-0 series lead won 121 out of 143 times. That includes a 59-8 record in best-of-five series.” It won’t be easy, but a win is certainly not out of the realm of possibility.
- Last time Julianna Zobrist sang anthem before a Rays game Ben won it with a walkoff homer – September 7, 2012 vs Texas
- As a friend noted, Rays should be able to win tonight based on these selected statistics. Selected being the operative word, but still…
