Tag Archives: AL east

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: O’s Handcuff Rays 7-1, Matt Moore to Receive Tommy John Surgery

Perhaps you could blame it on his inability to throw quality strikes. Or, maybe you could blame it his lack of command, leaving fastball after fastball up, and over the plate, in very hittable locations. Then again, it could have been his seeming inability to keep batters off balance by not throwing his change-up often. I’d argue it was choice D, all of the above. Whatever the case, Chris Archer did the Rays no favors Monday night, tossing the Orioles hitters meatball after meatball in his less than stellar 5 IP/12 H/7 R outing. The Rays fell to the Orioles — a team who hit five doubles off Archer — by a score of 7-1

The New What Next: Rays vs. Orioles — A Series Preview of Sorts

So far, this has been an odd road trip…to say the least. Tampa Bay has gone 7-for-30 wRISP, tagging the opposing pitchers for only 13 runs. Though Tampa Bay took two of three from the Reds, they still ended the series with a -6 run differential. Yet the Rays have a 3-3 record — six games into their nine-game road trip — and are about to face a scuffling Orioles squad who, if I may, don’t look so hot themselves. There is a very realistic possibility that the Rays could come home with a winning record on this wonky trip — which they’ll need going into the upcoming Yankees series, when they throw their B-starters on the mound.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Buerhle, Blue Jays Shutout the Rays, 3-0

Let me take you back to Thursday, July 23, 2009 — a day when Mark Buehrle threw a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays. In that game, Buehrle struck out six, and induced 11 ground-outs and 10 pop-outs. The Rays have owned Buehrle since that embarrassing, fateful day, posting a healthy .280 OBA/.327 OBP/.369 SLG/.695 OPS slash line, with a 6.67 ERA in five starts. Suffice it to say, you never know exactly what you’re going to get with the Blue Jays’ lefty on the mound. Unfortunately, Tampa Bay faced the former Buehrle Wednesday night, not the latter. The Rays slogged away from the Trop, having dropped their second consecutive game to Toronto, this time by a score of 3-0.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Cobb, Rays Fall to Blue Jays, 4-2

Baseball can teach a valuable lesson every now and then. No matter the immense expectations placed on the Rays 2014 season, or the obvious advantage Alex Cobb had over Drew Hutchinson, you’re inevitably going to lose some games. And it just so happened that Tampa Bay’s first loss of the year came in the second game of the season, by a score of 4-2. Alex Cobb followed David Price’s outstanding 7-1/3 inning outing Monday, with a buggy 5 IP/4 H/4 ER/4 BB/3 K/1 HR affair Tuesday evening. But oh, did they ever make it exciting in the bottom of the ninth.