The Tampa Bay Rays wasted early opportunities last night, while Jake Odorizzi put them in a three-run hole, en route to a 7-3 loss to the last place Cincinnati Reds. In lieu of a formal game recap, below are a few of the moments that mattered Monday night.
Source: FanGraphs
— Jake Odorizzi extended his streak of consecutive starts with a home run allowed to 10; he now has yielded homers in 18 of his last 19 starts (excluding April 15, when he exited the game with a left hamstring strain). 73% of the runs he has given up this season have come via the long ball (27-of-37).
Still, Odorizzi sailed through the first four innings and allowed only soft contact against a Reds team that swung the bat as though they were playing in the getaway game of the series. To his credit, Odorizzi was serviceable throughout his start, and kept his team in the game.
Good to see (Odorizzi) bounce back, said Rays manager Kevin Cash. He did a nice job. I know he gave up the two homers, but that’s all he gave up. I thought his approach was really good today; attacking the strike zone. Kind of lost it there for one inning a little bit, but overcame it. I thought he was really good, efficient, up in the zone quite a bit. And got a lot of fly outs. Kind of his strength to pitching.
— Sure, Derek Norris has allowed 20 more steals than second-worst catcher, Russell Martin. Last night, however, he caught Scooter Gennett stealing in the top of the first inning. Is it enough to save his job when Wilson Ramos makes his debut with the Rays later this week? Likely not.
Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) said it best on Sunday:
Norris is hitting .191 (though with eight homers) and in a 7-for-59 skid while having a league-most six errors and six passed balls and being responsible for some of the team’s 32 wild pitches. Plus, there is the possibility he will be suspended by MLB as it continues to investigate allegations by his former fiancee of physical and emotional abuse.
Sucre doesn’t have the power but hits well with runners in scoring position, has the arm to be aggressive in shutting down a running game, and works well with the pitchers. Being out of options, he can’t be sent to the minors without going through waivers and would likely to be claimed.
— Down by three, the Rays used the long-ball to pull even with the Reds late in the game.
Steven Souza Jr. plated the first run for the Rays in the sixth inning with his 14th home run of the season. The homer hit the C-ring catwalk, and had an exit velocity of 104.4 mph with a 36-degree launch angle, per Statcast. It would have traveled an estimated 397 feet.
Souza Jr. homers off the catwalk
Steven Souza Jr. hits a home run off the catwalk at Tropicana Field to get the Rays on the board in the bottom of the 6th inning
Daniel Robertson knotted things up with a two-run blast off Michael Lorenzen in the seventh inning. Robertson’s homer had a 103.4 mph exit velocity, with a 28-degree launch angle per StatCast.
Robertson’s two-run homer
Daniel Robertson evens the score at 3 in the bottom of the 7th inning with a two-run home run to center field
Robertson has driven in eight runs in the last five games, doubling his RBI total.
Last week or so, I made a couple of adjustments, so I’m feeling good, said Robertson. The offense was a little slow to start tonight, so the homer was big to pick us up. Honestly, (I was]) just trying to see the ball in that situation. I just told myself to hand it to the next guy and kind of keep the rally going. I was able to get a pitch with two strikes to my liking and put a good swing on it.
— Tie game be damned, the ‘pen (more specifically Jose Alvarado and Danny Farquhar) paired up to give the game away in the final two frames. Alvarado took over in the eighth inning and gave up a double, a single, and ultimately the lead. In the span of four pitches, Robertson’s two-run homer was erased.
After Alvarado walked Adam Duvall, Cash called upon de fact0 LOOGY Farquhar to tip-toe around the mess. Tip-toe he did not. Farquhar uncorked the first of two wild pitches, before notching a strikeout. Yet after an intentional walk loaded the bases, Jesse Winker hit a single that went just beyond the dive of second baseman Taylor Featherston.
The Reds added a two-out run in the ninth on Farquhar’s second wild pitch of the night.
— In the bottom of the fourth inning, Tim Beckham was hit on the hand by a fastball that came up and in on him. Beckham stayed in to run the bases, but was removed the next half inning. The X-Rays on his hand, thankfully, came back negative, although it’s uncertain whether we’ll see the shortstop over the rest of the series.
Rays Radio posted a postgame interview with Beckham, about the HBP, embedded below:
The New What Next
The second game of the series is finds Alex Cobb (5-5, 4.17 ERA, 4.29 FIP) starting opposite of southpaw Amir Garrett (3-5, 6.91 ERA, 6.97 FIP).
Cobb earned a no-decision in his start Thursday against Detroit, but hurled an effective 6-2/3 innings and allowed two earned runs. The right-hander fanned just three batters, and walked a pair while giving up eight hits in that start, although he was able to lean on his split-change — throwing it 17 times (12 for strikes, two whiffs), which is a lot compared to the number he threw earlier in the season. The Tigers only put two of them in play, and the pitch did appear to regain some of its pre-surgery depth. In his only career start against the Reds, he threw seven scoreless frames.
Garrett notched his first quality start in over a month on Wednesday, throwing six innings of two-run ball against San Diego. To his credit, he kept the ball down in the zone, something he struggled to do over his last several starts. Beware of the long-ball! In that contest, Hunter Renfroe hit a monstrous two-run homer in the sixth inning. With a 2.57 HR/9 over the last 14 days, the Rays will try to punish Garrett for any mistakes left up in the zone. This season Garrett has relied primarily on a 92 mph four-seam fastball with natural sinking action, and an 80 mph 12-6 slider. He’s also mixed in an 81 mph changeup with slight cut and a lot of backspin. He has never faced the Rays.
You can read more about the series in our preview.
Rays 6/20/17 Starting Lineup
Souza Jr. RF
Dickerson LF
Longoria 3B
Morrison DH
Plouffe 1B
Robertson SS
Bourjos CF
Featherston 2B
Sucre C
Cobb RHP
Noteworthiness
— Tonight’s lineup has Plouffe at 1B, Robertson at SS, Featherston at 2B, Morrison at DH, and Bourjos at CF.