After going 0-1-1 to start the Grapefruit League season, the Tampa Bay Rays have won five consecutive games — including a 6-3 victory against the Blue Jays in Dunedin, Friday. Kevin Kiermaier and Cameron Seitzer muscled the Rays past the Jays, each going yard and combining for four RBI. Of interest, Seitzer’s dad is the hitting coach for the Blue Jays, and his line drive shot came in front of him.
Alex Cobb put together another strong outing, slashing 3 IP/2 H/0 R/1 BB/1 K on 47 pitches (31 strikes). Cobb impressively kept the ball on the ground, inducing seven groundouts and one flyout. The Rays’ right-hander allowed back-to-back singles to Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista in the first, but then retired eight straight batters. Marc Topkin reported, “Cobb was pleased with his outing — as much about executing pitches as the results he got.”
Tampa Bay opened the scoring in the third inning on an RBI single by Desmond Jennings. Kiermaier added to the Rays’ lead in the following inning with a two-run shot to right-center field — his first home run of the spring. The Rays picked up where they left off with another rally in the fifth. Matt Joyce kept the inning alive with a two-out double to center. Joyce around to score on a single by Wil Myers.
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The New What Next
The Rays are back in Port Charlotte on Saturday to face the Pirates. Matt Moore will make his second start of the spring. Right-hander Joel Peralta is also expected to pitch, along with left-hander Jake McGee.
Rays 3/7/14 Starting Lineup
Zobrist 2B
Loney 1B
Longoria 3B
Escobar SS
Molina C
Guyer RF
Mahtook CF
Christian LF
Casali DH
Moore LHP
Noteworthiness
- Marc Topkin writes, “This was the Rays first game with instant replay, and there was one challenge — by Toronto manager John Gibbons — on a play in the ninth at first base, and it was upheld, with the review taking about one minute.” You can see a still-shot of the play below.
