Tampa Bay looks to sweep the Jays tonight in the final game of their current eight game road trip. The Rays are battered with eight players on the DL; a list that includes both left fielder Desmond Jennings and RHP Jeff Niemann who were just added yesterday. Yet somehow, the Rays are still 22-14, tied with the Orioles for first place in the AL East.
A very dominant David Price (5-2, 2.98 ERA) will take the bump for the 14th time in his career against a very good Henderson Alvarez (3-2, 2.61 ERA) who, like Brandon Morrow, was knocked around by the Rays in his April 19th start.
Price is coming off of a frustrating loss to the Yankees, where he went seven innings, giving up 11-hits and five earned runs, while walking three and striking out four. Price, who is 10-2 with a 2.13 ERA in 13 previous outings against the Jays, looks to continue his success against Joey Bats and Co, who are hitting a measly .221 BAA against the lefty. Bautista has been the biggest thorn in the side of David Price, going 10-for-28 (.357 BA) with four home runs. Expect Price to attack Bautista in the same way that he did in his last start against the Jays on April 18th; jam him up high and inside, and eventually induce a ground or pop out. Or he could always just pitch around him. Even though Bautista is hitting a paltry .194 with eight home runs, all he needs is a lemon left over the plate to turn into lemonade. How’s that for an analogy??? I digress. Besides, I prefer his role in yesterday’s game…you know, where all he could do was watch Ben Zobrist’s late inning one run blast to right as it sailed over his head.
Henderson Alvarez, like Brandon Morrow, has really turned things around since his April 19th 6.1 inning, six earned run loss to the Rays. In four starts since, Alvarez has gone 3-1 with a 3.29 ERA, giving up only four earned runs in 29 innings of work. Alvarez is facing a somewhat different Rays team, missing both Evan Longoria and Desmond Jennings, who represent two of the big bats that accrued six RBI against Alvarez (and Crawford and Frasor to follow). On the other hand, he will have to face a very hot Elliot Johnson (yup, I said it) who is hitting .333 in the month of May with six runs and five RBI on 11 hits including two home runs. Tampa Bay will also be leaning on the hot bat of one Sean “Sean-Rod” Rodriguez who, though battered and sore, is hitting .310 in the month of May with five runs and six RBI on 13 hits, including three doubles and one homer. The bats of Ben Zobrist (who’s starting to get hot), Luke Scott, and Matt Joyce will also need to be depended upon if the Rays are going to score the five-plus runs necessary to beat the Jays; a team who is averaging four plus runs a game. It wouldn’t hurt if Alvarez left some pitches up in the zone (see the pitch f/x below) like he did in his last start against the Rays.
The Rays will be hoping that they can at least seven solid innings out of David Price tonight. Following the Ramos/Davis/Badenhop/Howell/McGee (combined) 8 IP/1 ER/4 H/9 K gem of a game last night, both Cesar Ramos and Wade Davis, who went a combined five innings, will not be available. Josh Leuke was called up earlier today to add a fresh arm to the pen. Leuke though, hasn’t done much since being sent down to Durham following his stint on the Rays, going 0-2, over the course of 11 appearances, while allowing 19 hits and seven walks in 13 1/3 innings, with hitters averaging .339 BAA. Oof. Why Brandon Gomes wasn’t recalled instead, is beyond me. Here’s to hope this is only a temporary fix. Forget not, that Badenhop, Howell, and McGee only worked an inning a piece last night. Also, neither Joel Peralta or Fernando Rodney saw any work last night. Those five arms should be fresh tonight. I wouldn’t expect to see Leuke unless the Rays are blowing the Jays out of the water, and they could afford to give up a run or two. The starting lineup is below. As always, Let’s Go Rays!
Tampa Bay Rays (22-14):
Zobrist RF
Upton CF
Joyce LF
Pena 1B
Scott DH
Rodriguez 3B
Rhymes 2B
Molina C
Johnson SS
Price LHP
PS: Hey guys, 25 strikeouts in two games is, well…not very good. How’s about not striking out as much tonight.
PPS: Hey Joe, if there’s any wiggle room, how’s about taking Sean-Rod out of the game early to give him a little time to heal.