For their part, the Rays have hit six homers over the first two games of the series, and now have 190 on the season — they are tied for second most in club history (team record is 199 in 2009). Arguably the biggest issue in last night was walks, as Blake Snell and company allowed 11 free passes — the most since May 10, 2011 (11 in Cleveland).
The New What Next
Chris Archer (8-17, 4.06 ERA) gets the start this afternoon, opposite of Masahiro Tanaka (12-4, 3.11 ERA).
Archer surrendered two runs on five hits and a walk over 6-1/3 innings while fanning nine in a no-decision against Toronto on Sunday. He left the game with a 3-1 lead and a runner on first in the seventh inning, however, Brad Boxberger promptly allowed Toronto to tie the game, thus spoiling the victory for Archer. Prior to kicking September off with a quality start, he posted a solid 3.38 ERA in July and a 3.03 ERA in August. He’s been successful against the New York (2.52 ERA in 12 starts), however, the Rays have dropped both games he’s pitched against the Evil Empire this season. In his last start against the Yankeez, Archer allowed five runs in six innings, four of which were driven in by Starlin Castro.
Tanaka tossed 6-1/3 quality innings on Monday, allowing two runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out four. Tanaka now has collected five straight wins, and three quality starts in his last four turns. However, the seven hits allowed were the most in his last six starts, and the three walks were his most since the middle of May. He hurled less than 60% of his pitches for strikes and was just 13-27 in first-pitch strikes.
Rays 9/10/16 Starting Lineup
Forsythe 2B
Franklin SS
Longoria 3B
Miller 1B
Morrison DH
Dickerson LF
Souza RF
Mahtook CF
Wilson C
Archer RHP
Noteworthiness
— Immediately following the dismissal of former hitting coach Derek Shelton, the Rays announced the hiring of Chad Mattola, a hitting coordinator within the organization.
According Danny Russell, who recently published an article about Mattola on DRaysBay, Mottola is known as an outside-the-box thinker when it comes to hitting approaches, who’s helped many players adjust their stance and swing, making lots of headway with plenty of minor leaguers.
Russell went on to say Mottola has indeed been instrumental in working with several Rays prospects across the system. Case in point, Mottola is credited behind the scenes with the adjustment to Daniel Robertson’s swing that has helped him succeed against Triple-A pitching after recovering from a broken hamate bone.
In short, while there may not be a change in the organization’s philosophy, the hope is that Mattola might be a better conduit of that message. The DRaysBay article (linked above) is an interesting read for anyone who wants to better know the Rays’ new hitting coach.