Well, at least the Rays weren’t no-hit in perfect game fashion by Mark Buehrle or Dallas Braden this time around. And honestly, King Felix tossed a hell of a game. Talk about being dominant. The bulleted high and low-lights will be short this time around.
- It’s a damn shame that Jeremy Hellickson’s outing will largely go unnoticed, because he was excellent in his own right. Helly posted a 7 IP/5 H/1 ER/1 BB/1 K line on 115 pitches (73 for strikes). Someone had to win, and well, Hernandez bested Hellickson and the Rays.
- The Rays have now been no-hit four times in the last four years, with three of those no-no’s being perfect games. Ugh.
- See, told you that part would be short.
- Tampa Bay averaged 5.9 runs during their seven-game winning streak, though they averaged only three runs per game in their three game series against the Mariners.
- The Rays are 2-2 in games immediately after being no-hit.
- Price is 3-2 with a 3.48 ERA in seven starts against the Angels, including a five-hitter in a 5-0 home victory April 24. potential Cy Young candidate yielded two runs in seven innings of a 4-2 win at Minnesota on Saturday to improve to 7-0 with a 1.89 ERA in 10 starts since losing to the Mets In June. Price is also 6-0 with a 2.50 ERA in eight road starts since losing at Yankee Stadium in May. If anyone should be on the mound to Thursday right the ship, it’s he!
- Evan Longoria is 1-5 against Haren. He, however, has batted .426 (20-47) with four homers and 13 RBIs in 13 games at Angel Stadium. Then again, Longoria is 1-14 with six strikeouts in his last four games overall. Ouch.
- Key match-ups to look out for (by pitcher):
- Haren: Sam Fuld (3-6, 2 2B), Jeff Keppinger (7-14, 2 2B, HR, RBI, 2 BB), Jose Molina (2-8, HR), BJ Upton (9-29, 2B, 4 HR, 4 RBI)
- Weaver: Matt Joyce (2-7, 2B, BB, RBI), Evan Longoria (3-8, 3 2B, 3 RBI, BB), Jose Molina (3-8, 2B, HR, RBI), Sean Rodriguez (1-2, HR, RBI, BB), Ben Zobrist (3-14, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI)
- Wilson: Jeff Keppinger (5-19, 2B, 3 RBI, BB), Sean Rodriguez (4-13, HR, 2 RBI, 3 BB), Ben Zobrist (5-20, 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB)
- Greinke: Desmond Jennings (1-4), Matt Joyce (5-13, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB), Jose Lobaton (1-3), Sean Rodriguez (2-6)
- The Rays are 5-1 against the Angels this season, having averaged almost five (4.75) runs per game. Tampa Bay has also taken the two series they’ve played against the Angels this season.
I’ll post more shortly.