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.
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.
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?!
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?