With the exception of a poorly pitched three-run, sixth inning on the part of Josh Lueke, the Rays had a pretty good day all around — both in the game against the Blue Jays in Dunedin, and a minor league game in Port Charlotte. Tampa Bay ultimately eked out a 5-4 win against Toronto, thanks to Jerry “Mr. March” Sands’ ninth inning go ahead blast.
Right-hander Nathan Karns had an impressive start for the Rays. Karns, who is competing for the final spot in the rotation, allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out one over 3-1/3 innings.
“It was nice to be out there getting a feel for everything again, getting stretched out,” Karns said. “I’m pretty pleased with everything and just looking forward to getting back out there.”
CJ Riefenhauser was credited with the win, after posting two excellent innings of no-hit, one strikeout ball.
Grant Balfour was pleased with his 15-pitch inning, in a minor-league game in Port Charlotte. “I felt really good, felt strong. I’m really, really happy with how it went,” said Balfour after feeling “dead arm” in his last outing. Balfour faced three batters, allowing one hit, striking out one, with nine strikes among his 15 pitches. Joel Peralta followed Balfour, throwing 13 pitches in one inning of work. Alex Cobb also pitched in Port Charlotte, slashing 4+ IP/3 H/2 BB/4 K on 68 pitches (46 strikes).
Cobb, who opted to pitch in Port Charlotte as opposed to facing the Blue Jays for the second time this spring, said he got in the work he needed to.
“That’s about what you take away from those kind of outings,” he said. “You got up five times, you got your pitches in. And you know what was good about today was it’s tough to really focus on those back fields. For some reason you have those type of games during the course of a season so it was good practice to really focus in and have total body awareness and mental focus out there.”
On the offensive end of things, Tampa Bay opened the scoring in the third inning with a pair of runs off right-hander Marcus Stroman. Jayson Nix (1-2, R) started the rally with a double to left field before Stroman allowed a single and a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Desmond Jennings (2-3, RBI) then followed with an RBI bloop single to right and later another run scored on a double play.
The Rays added a run fourth when Jeremy Moore (2-3, RBI, R) crushed a ball to straightaway center field. By all accounts, the ball went so far that it cleared the 36 feet high batter’s eye in center field. It was Moore’s third homer of the spring and gave the Rays an early 3-0 lead. If there was a hero of the game, it would have to be Mr. March himself — Jerry Sands. Hitting a liner over the left field fence, giving the Rays the lead they wouldn’t relinquish, Sands hit his third home run of the spring.
The New What Next
Matt Moore will get the start for the Rays Thursday, when Tampa Bay hosts the Pirates at Charlotte Sports Park (listen to an exclusive webcast). Moore is coming off a tough start Saturday after allowing four earned runs in two-thirds of an inning against the Pirates. Also slated to pitch are right-handers Heath Bell, Sam Runion, and Juan Sandoval, along with lefties Jeff Beliveau and Adam Liberatore.
Rays 3/13/14 Starting Lineup
Zobrist 2B
DeJesus CF
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Escobar SS
Betemit DH
Myers RF
Hanigan C
Guyer LF
Moore LHP
Noteworthiness
- Despite going 0-2 in the leadoff spot, Ben Zobrist said he felt good.
- Jeremy Hellickson had his first throwing session since January 29th elbow surgery Wednesday, and said it went well. Hellickson made 25 throws at distances of 45-to-60 feet, six weeks to the day after Dr, Koco Eaton removed “loose bodies” from his elbow in an arthroscopic procedure. “It went really well,” Hellickson said. “It felt like I thought. It’s been feeling really good, but you never know until you actually get out there and start throwing. So it’s very encouraging that it’s felt as good as it has.” Marc Topkin writes, “Hellickson will continue throwing on an every other day basis and said in a “best-case scenario” he will return to the rotation in late May with a target of being back by June 1.”
- “LHP Matt Moore will start Thursday, hoping to do better than he did in Saturday’s “pretty ugly” outing when he gave up six runs in two-thirds of an inning,” writes Marc Topkin.
- Joe Maddon said that Nate Karns is still in the mix for the fifth starter’s spot, along with Jake Odorizzi, Erik Bedard and Cesar Ramos. If his 3⅓ inning outing Wednesday against the Blue Jays speaks to anything, this battle may go down to the wire. The 6-foot-3, 230-pounder hit 92-94 mph with his fastball and struck out Colby Rasmus with a nasty curveball. Karns does come with warts, namely a stiff front side which leads to elevated pitches and a general lack of control. (see the GIF below) The Process Report’s Jason Collette writes, “Over the summer, Zack Mortimer of the BaseballProspectus prospect team (now with the St. Louis Cardinals) scouted Karns. Mortimer graded Karn’s fastball as a 60 and the curveball as a 70 on the 20-80 scale. The fastball was clocked in the 91-96 range with good movement but below average command. While his delivery is rather clean and simple, the report mentions a stiff front side that leads to elevating pitches.”
