4/2: RAYS (1-0) at Baltimore (0-1)

RAYS at Baltimore 7:05; RAYS TV RAYS RADIO/1250 AM

News:

The St. Petersburg Times reports today on their Heater blog that LHPs Scott Kazmir and David Price both threw today at the Naimoli complex, and that both came away from their outings feeling good. Kazmir threw 45 pitches in a 13 minute bullpen session, his second in four days, and will throw another on Saturday. His goal is to be back by "mid to late April" from his left elbow strain. Price, meanwhile, seeking to come back from the same left elbow ailment, played catch for the first time since leaving a March 20th minor league start. Price expects to start four times in Extended Spring Training games over the next six weeks before making his eventual return for the A+ Vero Beach Devil Rays.

Pitching Matchup:

Statistics from 2007 Season

RH Matt Garza-Making his regular season debut today for the Rays is Garza, 24. Acquired last year in the Delmon Young trade, Garza was formerly one of the top pitching prospects in baseball when he was part of the Minnesota system. His first sustained period as a starter in the Majors started late last year with the Twins, when he was called up from AAA Rochester in early July. After making his first start on July 6th, Garza would remain in the rotation for the remainder of the season. His first several outings were successful, as he posted a 2.05 ERA in 44 innings of work through August 14th. From there through the end of the season, however, his performance declined. Garza finished with a 5.54 ERA in his final eight starts, and finished with a 3.69 ERA total on the year. As his stats above show, Garza was hit hard and had occasional problems with walks during his stint with the Twins. He especially struggled against LHB, who lit him up to the tune of .314/.402/.462, and in the first inning, where opponents logged a 1.043 OPS against him in 70 PA. Garza does not have much of a track record against Baltimore in his career, having started only two games against the Orioles, but both outings were successful and both came at Camden Yards. He logged a 2.16 ERA in 16.2 innings of work in those two starts.

Career Stats

2007 Game Log

Career Splits

Baltimore vs Garza

RH Daniel Cabrera-Garza is opposed on the hill today by the O's No. 2 starter, 26 year old Daniel Cabrera. Cabrera comes into this season with a well-established penchant for having no control whatsoever over his pitches. The high-ceiling Orioles righty can and will strike people out, but a 5.28 career BB/9 says all you need to know about how much he shoots himself in the foot. In fact, one of Cabrera's most "memorable" outings came against the Rays in April of 2006, when he struck out 10 batters and walked nine. On the whole however, Cabrera's inability to get above his control problems has hindered his progression in the major leagues. Even though he cut his BB/9 by 1.56 from the year before, his strikeout rate dropped as well by about two per nine innings. This, combined with his inability to stem opposing batters from hitting the long ball, resulted in his ERA rising from 4.74 to 5.55. Cabrera still has maintained an ability to be very effective against RHB, as he has limited them to a .233/.334/.332 line all-time. And despite a career 4.99 ERA, he still manages to be very effective against Tampa Bay, posting a 3.04 ERA in 11 starts against the Rays. A few Rays have managed to carve out succesful track records against Cabrera though, including Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, and Carlos Peña.

Career Stats

2007 Game Log

Career Splits

RAYS vs Cabrera

Starting Lineups:

GO RAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!