Rays Beat Angels 3-2, Another Series Win Under Their Belts (with 4/26/12 lineup)

Tampa Bay beat the Angels 3-2 last night in a pitching duel between Jeremy Hellickson and CJ Wilson. The Rays have improved their record to 11-7 on the season, and have a 7-1 record at home so far in 2012. They’ll attempt to sweep the Angels and enter Texas on a wave of momentum following this afternoons 1:10 PM game.

The big story last night was the pitching. The Rays were able to exploit any mistakes (there were only a few) that CJ Wilson made, and eek out a victory. Ben Zobrist came up big with his with a third inning blast to section 143, in left. Tampa Bay added one more run in the third on a Keppinger RBI double to score Carlos Pena. Tampa Bay wouldn’t get their go ahead run until the eighth when Isringhausen walked Brandon Allen in his first at-bat in a Rays uniform, with the bases loaded, scoring Evan Longoria.

Helly wasn’t particularly efficient, lasting only six innings and throwing 100+ pitches, but I’ll be damned if he wasn’t effective. Posting a 6 IP/5 H/ 1 ER/2 BB/ 5 K line, with a 62% Strike/ball ratio, Hellickson shut down the Angels offense, with the exception of a fourth inning Vernon Wells home-run to left. The Rays had gone 55.1 innings without giving up a home-run up to that. Then again, I can’t really complain after all, they’ve only given up only one dinger in 60 innings.

Hellickson was robbed by the home-plate umpire on few different occasions where obvious strikes were called balls. That’s nothing new. To his credit, Helly cut down on throwing the cutter to great effect. Ironically, the Vernon Wells homer was on a cutter that didn’t, well, cut outside. Otherwise, Hellickson only threw nine cutters on the night. How about catcher Chris Gimenez as well? Gimenez gunned down two runners at second, while also robbing Kendrick of a base hit on a bunt.

Jeremy Hellickson Pitch F/x, courtesy of Brooksbaseball.net

Similar to David Price the night before, Hellickson was able to nullify any Albert Pujols threat, inducing a weakly hit ground-out in the first, and two consecutive strikeouts in the third and sixth innings. One only needs to look at his pitch type f/x (below) to see that he took a similar approach to Price: fastball inside to jam him up or dust him off of the plate, and nasty change-ups and curveballs over the plate. By the way, take a look at his KO pitch in the sixth; a nasty curveball right over the plate. Pujols’ knees buckled and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do but watch the pitch drop in for a strike!

Inning numero uno, courtesy of Brooksbaseball.net
Inning numero tres, courtesy of Brooksbaseball.net
Inning numero seis, courtesy of Brooksbaseball.net

Matt Moore looks to break out of a tepid, yet typical, April in search of his first victory of the year.  Moore is coming off of a decent 6-2/3 IP start on April 20th against the Twins, where he received a no decision. The Rays ultimately lost that game, but picked up the following two. It’s common knowledge, at this point, that Moore gets of slow starts in April. He, ideally, should be coming out of his April doldrums, especially with three starts under his belt. And there’s no time like the present to do so. Moore could come up huge today if he’s able to attack Pujols and Co. in the same manner as his predecessors.

On the bump for the Angels is RHP Jerome Williams. Williams (1-0, 3.27 ERA) has posted a 3.27 ERA/11 H/4 ER line so far this season. He has only given up one home-run, while striking out nine and walking one, and also has a .250 OBA. Williams pounds the strike zone, and has thrown 19 first pitch strikes to the 28 batters he’s faced in 11 innings of work. That is to say, he’s somewhat of a spicy meatball.

I’d love to see the Rays win today, but I’d also be content with a good showing at the plate even if it comes at the hands of a loss. Tampa Bay travels to Texas to face a very hot 15-4 Rangers team tomorrow. They will need to muster as much offense as they can against the Rangers, who the Rays went 4-5 in the regular season. Yet, they also went 1-3 against them in the post-season. In short, they can go toe to toe with the Rangers, but they’ll need to have a good day at the plate which today would garnish a lot of momentum for the Rays going into Arlington. The starting Lineup is below. As always, Let’s Go Rays!

Rays (11-7) starting lineup, 4/26/12:

Jennings LF
Zobrist 2B
Pena 1B
Longoria 3B
Scott DH
Joyce RF
Upton CF
Molina C
Rodriguez SS
Moore P

Of David Price, Jeremy Hellickson, Los, and CJ Wilson (Updated with the starting lineup)

David Price pitching against the Angels Tuesday night.

It’s undeniable, David Price was incredible last night. We already touched on his start, a bit, after the game last night. Let’s take an opportunity to look at how he attacked Albert Pujols at the plate to see if there’s anything young Jeremy Hellickson can learn and utilize in his start tonight.

Though the Angels have some pretty good hitters on the team, Albert Pujols is undoubtedly the most worrisome player in the batting order…and for good reason. But Price was able to equalize anything Pujols could do at the plate, inducing pop-outs and line-outs. Pujols ultimately went 0-4 at the plate.

When throwing his fastball, Price pitched to the corners of the plate; a strategy that was very effective. Price threw inside to Pujols in the first inning, and the most he could do is shoot a line-drive right at SS, Sean Rodriguez, on the first pitch he saw. In the fourth inning, Price threw two perfectly placed pitches over the outside corner, and all Pujols could do is pop out.

One pitch, one out. Price to Pujols in the first.
Two fastball's over the outside corner, and a pop-out in the fourth.

David Price changed things up against Pujols in the seventh by introducing his cutter and change-up into the mix. Price, again, pitched to the corners with his fastball, and pitched inside with his cutter and change-up, to great effect I may add. He was again able to get Albert to pop out. Take a look at the location of pitch number one: down and inside. That fastball knocked him off of the plate and set him up for the outside corner pitches. I must say that dust off pitch worked beautifully. Dare I say that it needs to become part of the Rays pitchers repertoire, not just for this series, but in general?

Change-ups, cutters, and fastballs...oh my! Price in the seventh to Pujols.

Price saw Pujols one more time in the ninth, with one on and one out. Safe to say, an out was a necessity. Price changed his plan of attack once more, and got another Pujols pop-out. This time, Price relied on three change-ups and a curveball, all over the plate.

Of change-ups and curveballs, Price in the ninth.

This brings me to mister Jeremy “AL Rookie of the Year 2011” Hellickson. There was an obvious reason that Helly was effective last season: he was able to locate his tried and true pitches, namely his fastball and change-up. Young Jeremy looks a bit different in 2012. Why? His tinkering with a new toy, much to a fault. That new toy? His cutter. He has, what Brian Anderson calls, “Shiny New Toy Syndrome.” That is to say, he’s leaning on his less effective pitch than he is his more deadly pitches. It’s become enough of a concern, that Joe Maddon has made mention of him getting a little to “fancy” with his pitches on multiple occasions. Maddon also had this to say,

“The problem is when a young pitcher who’s had a lot of success tries to introduce a new pitch into the mix, then he’s possibly taking away from something else that he does really well,” Maddon said.

“You only get so many opportunities to throw a pitch in a game. I don’t mind the idea that he’s messing with something that might be good for him down the road. But most of the time the hitters are going to tell you when you need to become more creative.”

There is a lot that Hellickson can learn from David Price’s performance last night that he’ll be able utilize tonight, especially in the way that Price attacked both sides of the plate; something that Helly is typically able to do, and effective at doing. If Hellickson is to be as effective as he was on Easter against the Yankees, he will need to make sure that his location is on point. A homer-less Albert Pujols will be coming to the plate at least three times tonight, looking for that elusive number one. And you’d better believe he’s ready to knock it out of the park if the opportunity presents itself.

Ugh…LHP CJ Wilson. Talk about a thorn in the Rays side. Wilson is 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 42 K’s against the Rays in regular season starts. Then again, Wilson got hammered in last start against the Rays in the 2011 ALDS, posting a 10.80 ERA/8 R (6 earned)/7 H/3 HR line. He lasted all of five innings. Getting to Wilson is possible. With the Rays bolstered lineup, that possibility becomes even greater.

Carlos Pena returns to the dugout to the adulation of his teammates following his 1,000th career hit; a blast over the cat-walks to RF.

Finally, Carlos Pena. What can I say about him that hasn’t already been said? Pena is, arguably, the Rays captain that just hit his 1,000th career hit off of a blast to right, last night. Pena has posted a .300 BA/.440 OBP/.568 SLG/1.007 OPS line, with 18 hits including four doubles and home runs, 12 runs and 13 RBI. Oh yeah, and he’s making $7.25 MM this year. Let’s contrast Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder to ‘Los.

Albert Pujols has posted a .232 BA/.284 OBP/.333 SLG/.617 OPS line, with 16 hits, six runs, and four RBI. Pujols is making $12MM this year in the first year of a 10 year, $240 MM contract. Prince Fielder has posted a .328 BA/.389 OBP/.453 SLG/.842 OPS line, with 21 hits including two home runs, 11 runs, and eight RBI. Fielder is making $12 MM in the first season of a nine year, $214 MM contract. I implore, from a purely offensive point of view, which player has offered the most bang for the buck in this still young season?

Rays (10-7) 4/25/12 Starting lineup:

Jennings LF
Zobrist RF
Pena 1B
Longoria 3B
Keppinger 2B
Upton CF
Scott DH
Rodriguez SS
Gimenez C
Hellickson RHP

Rays Beat the Angels, 5-0

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'Los after his 1,000 career hit, a blast to right in the sixth.

There were so many memorable moments in tonight’s game. First, the Rays had as many home runs as they did sac fly’s on Sunday with four; Desmond Jennings to left in the first, Luke Scott to right in the fourth, BJ Upton to left in the fifth, and Carlos Pena to right in the sixth.

Pena’s blast also happened to be his 1,000th career hit! BJ Upton also came up big, going 1-2 with two RBI’s and one run. He’s now up to six RBI’s on the season, and he’s only played in four games so far.

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Rays offensive box score

To say the least, David Price was on point. Price got a five hit, six strikeout complete game, all the while only giving up one walk to Eric Aybar in the ninth. He handled Pujols perfectly, jamming him on the inside portion of the plate the whole night. Pujols pulled a big 0-fer on the evening, going 0-4 with three pop outs, and a line drive caught by Sean Rodriguez in the fourth.

Price kept up his velocity the whole night, and it was nice seeing him sprinkle in his curveball and changeup through out the course of the game. Better yet, he was efficient and maintained his control, which was absolutely pivotal to his success. Price, inevitably kept the Angels hitters off balance, and only really faced a real threat in the ninth after he walked Aybar and gave up a two out single to Tori Hunter. In the end though, he was able to get out of a jam by inducing a Mark Trumbo pop-out to left to end the game.

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Pitching box score

They’ll do it all over again tomorrow night at the same time and in the same place. Jeremy Hellickson will take the bump opposite of straight edge prick, CJ Wilson. After last seasons 1-6 start, how refreshing is it to see the Rays start this season three games over .500 at 10-7 overall, and 6-1 at home?

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXXeA_8PadE&w=640&h=360]

Rays vs. Angels, 4/24/12

Albert Pujols and company make their way into the Trop tonight to start a three game set against the 9-7 Tampa Bay Rays. Tampa Bay is coming off of back to back series wins against the Blue Jays and Twins, and look to do some damage to a slumping Angels team. The Rays are now 4-2 in their last six games.

The Angels will throw Ervin Santana (0-3, 6.75 ERA) on the mound to toe the rubber against David Price (2-1, 4.20 ERA) who’s coming off of a 5-2/3 innings pitched victory against the Blue Jays. Santana went 7 IP in his last start against Oakland, where he gave up four runs (all earned) on seven hits, while walking two and striking out five. He is still in search of that elusive first victory of the season. Santana has a 5-5 record with a 5.23 ERA in 12 career starts against the Rays. It bears mentioning that the Rays have had some success against Santana, and I fully see them exploiting what has made him so ineffective this year. Hit him hard, and do so early. No more of this scoring runs in the sixth and after.

On the flip side of things, David Price has averaged 5 IP per game, and looks to extend the amount of innings he’s on the bump tonight. Price’s velocity isn’t down in the least, yet the problem lays in the quality and location of his pitches. Though, according to Price, “Honestly, my stuff right now is better than it’s ever been in my entire life. My fastball velocity, my changeup, my curveball. Everything feels good. I’ve got to get it together, put it together,” his control is what’s lacking. Because of it, he’s throwing more pitches per inning.

He will need to make sure that he has control of his pitching, namely the above three, and is able to locate those pitches…especially considering that he’ll be facing Albert Pujols. In kind with the way Ivan Nova attacked Pujols last week, David Price will need to establish the inside corner (especially high in the zone) to, at most, jam him up and induce weakly hit balls. Or in the very least keep him unsteady, and knock him off of the plate. He’ll then need to attack the outside corner of the plate. Nova was extremely dangerous when he utilized that strategy, and Price is fully capable to do the same…as long as his control is there. It would probably behoove Price to use those secondary pitches to the fullest tonight.

On a side note, around 175,000 people have come to games so far in 2012. That’s an average of 29,000 (and some change) per game. Let’s see if we can keep those numbers up. I’d love to see 25,000 fans in the Trop tonight, yet it’s probably more realistic to hope for 20,000 or so for a game in the middle of the week. According to DRaysBay, “Given the fact the Rays have a .636 winning percentage at Trop since 08, the fact they have 13 of their next 16 games at home is huge.” The starting lineup is below. As always, Let’s Go Rays!

Tampa Bay (9-7) starting lineup, 4/24/12:

Jennings LF

Zobrist 2B

Pena 1B

Longoria 3B

Scott DH

Joyce RF

Upton CF

Molina C

Rodriguez SS

Price P


Rays Take Two Out of Three From the Twinkies

The Rays were able to take the second and third games of this weekends series against the Twins to improve their record to 9-7 on the year. They’ve also won three out of five series thus far, including the opening weekend sweep of the Yankees.

Line score, courtesy of ESPN

Jeff Niemann (5.1 IP/5 K/3 H/2 ER) was finally able to claim his first victory of the year on an 81 pitch (47 for strikes) performance that found him pulled from the game in the sixth inning with one out and the bases loaded. On one hand, a 5.1 IP/81 pitch start isn’t what one would consider a quality start. And at a 58% strike to ball ratio, you can’t really say that Niemann pounded the strike-zone by any stretch of the imagination. But, if you forget the sixth inning and look at what he’d done from the first through the fifth innings, it’s fairly obvious that Niemann is, slowly but surely (finally) starting to put together good outings.

In those five innings, Niemann allowed three base runners on two walks and a hit, and struck out five, including four in a row. BA has said it time and again, Niemann has got to keep his pitches down, especially if he’s going to raise his strike percentage from 58%, to something along the lines of the league average of 62-65%. In short, he’s really not that far off of the mark. Yet had he converted five of the 34 pitches thrown as balls to strikes, who knows if he’d have lasted longer in the game or not.

Pitching box score, courtesy of ESPN

Six runs on five hits and an error seems like an odd line score. However, Tampa Bay was able to do something that at times alludes them: drive in runners in scoring position by any means necessary, including four sacrifice fly’s which drove in four. Interestingly enough, the MLB record for sacrifice fly’s by any one team in a single game is five. The Rays were aggressive, and effectively used whatever situations were handed to them to chip away at Francisco Liriano. They, arguably, could have lost the had they not driven in runs in that manner. Take away those scoring opportunities, and you’re left with only two runs scored thanks to a Desmond Jennings two run blast in the bottom of the fifth.

I cannot count the times between last season and this, that I’ve found myself screaming about the Rays seeming inability to drive in runners on second or third, with less than two outs.  I’m sure that’s a feeling that the majority of you reading this can relate to. However, the Rays have been able to do just that over the course of the last two days. I can’t help but feel as though the tide might finally be changing, in that respect. By the way, how about BJ Upton driving in four since his return to the lineup?!

Offensive box score, courtesy of ESPN

I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge yet another quality appearance by the Rays defacto “Closer”, Fernando Rodney. Rodney got the call in the ninth, struck out two and induced a ground ball out to Carlos Pena on 13 pitches. He’s now 1-0 with five saves a hold, and a 1.42 ERA. Cough…perhaps Rodney pitching from the first-base side of the rubber really is making a big difference?