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Grant Balfour Saves Game In Seventh Inning Jam; Rays Sweep Jays

Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon made the right call to Grant Balfour in the pivotal seventh inning.

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon made the right call to Grant Balfour in the pivotal seventh inning.

I know Dan Wheeler was credited with the save today, but Grant Balfour was the real closer this afternoon. In the highest leverage situation of the game (3.00 pLI), Balfour was at his best. He entered the game in the 7th inning with the game hanging in the balance. The Rays were up 3-2 and the Jays had the bases loaded and just one out. Needing a strikeout or a pop up, Balfour got Kevin Millar to pop out to second before retiring Vernon Wells on a flyball for out number three.

On the afternoon he would throw 28 pitches in 1.2 innings. He had fantastic command today and 19 of those 28 pitches went for a strike. Balfour threw 25 fastballs at an average of nearly 93 mph. He also threw a slider and two pitches that were classified as curveballs. You can see them located at the bottom of this chart.

 More after the jump

Star-divide

Horzspeed_php_medium

via brooksbaseball.net


On the few occasions in which Balfour missed the strike zone, he missed in the right areas. The two curveballs missed low and he missed an inside fastball to a righty and one outside one to a lefty. The other three "balls" were within the normalized strike zone including the eighth pitch to Adam Lind that should've ended the at bat. You can see this pitch marked with the #8.

Numlocation_php_medium

via brooksbaseball.net


Even with last night's bump in the road, Balfour has been one of the keys to the bullpen's run of recent success. Along with J.P. Howell, Dan Wheeler and the rest of the gang, the Rays pen is once again a strength. Over his past 15.1 innings, Balfour has a K/9 of 9.53 while his walks have dropped to 1.78 per nine over the same time frame. A shinny 5.33 K/BB and no home runs give Balfour a FIP of under 1.5 during the last 30 days. Even though his velocity is down from 2008, Balfour is throwing near 93.5 mph now and he's throwing more sliders overall.

Many outsiders said the Rays would need to add a closer, but with Wheeler's improvement, the Iceman at the end of the game, and Balfour brining the heat, the Rays pen may be at its all time best. The bullpen played a key role in each of the Rays three one-run victories in the series. With the sweep of the Toronto, Tampa Bay has pushed the Jays 4.5 out of third place, 8.5 out of the wild card and 9.5 games back in the division.

That David Price kid may also work out too.

0 recs  |  Comment 7 comments |

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Comments

Display:

No homers today

First game this season without one at the trop right?

I could be wrong though

by staplemaniac on Jul 9, 2009 7:39 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Mrs. Balfour's computer was destroyed by a rampaging dingo

Maybe I’m just an old fashioned BJ suck-off-er. (Good call Sandy)

by Lurch's Lobbyists on Jul 9, 2009 9:56 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I'm guessing you didn't mean me....

But the answer’s Peru, if you did. I’ll be back for 90’s night though.

by AussieGriff on Jul 9, 2009 10:32 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Beyond Thunderdome

or playing knifey-spoony.

by RATW on Jul 9, 2009 10:33 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

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