Game Notes: Colome vs Richards

Last night, Erasmo Ramirez quieted the bat of Albert Pujols, for at least two at bats, and the Rays took the victory 4-2. With New York finally losing, the Rays regained a game and again, a game and half out for the division. Every player in the Rays lineup recorded a hit, with the exception of Rene Rivera. Among those hits, was Evan Longoria's sixth home run and first since May 22nd.

Tonight, the Rays will send Alex Colome to the mound to face off against Garrett Richards in a rematch of last Monday's game. Colome got lit up by the Angels during that start as David Freese, Mike Trout, and Albert Pujols all tee'd off on him. Alex Colome has struggled to be consistent this year as he continues to mix poor starts with acceptable ones. Heading into play tonight, he is 3-2 with a 4.54 ERA and a 4.77 FIP to go along with his 16.1 K% and 6.1 BB% in 41 plus innings pitched over eight games.

Garrett Richards's last two starts have been polar opposites, with one against the Rays and the other against the Yankees. One was a solid start where he went six innings and only allowed three runs, while in the other he failed to get out of the first. Easy to guess which is which, so hopefully Richards will struggle the way he did in his previous start and the Rays can take advantage.

Garrett Richards Scouting Report:

PITCH	VELOCITY	FREQUENCY	vs LHB	vs RHB
Fastball	Mid 90's	53% vs LHB 52% vs RHB	Sporadic	Sporadic
Sinker	Mid 90's	15% vs LHB 8% vs RHB	Changing eye level over the hitter, away	Buries it down and in, or runs it under the hitter's hands
Slider	High 80's	28% vs LHB 39% vs RHB	Sweeps it along the bottom of the zone, burying it down and in	Sweeps it along the bottom of the zone, burying it down and away
Curve	High 70's	4% vs LHB 1% vs RHB	Sporadic	Sporadic

Heading into play tonight, Richards is 5-4 with a 4.14 ERA and a 4.06 FIP, to go along with his 19.0 K% and 10.3 BB% over the course of 58 plus innings pitched and 10 games. When opponents do make contact, it's usually on the ground as 54.6% are ground balls, 33.3% are fly balls, and 12.1% are line drives.

So far this season, Richards has been tougher on lefties then on righties. In 128 trips to the plate, lefties have slashed .209/.291/.327 with 3 HR, while righites have slashed .248/.347/.333 with 2 HR in 125 trips to the plate. The K% and BB% are also around the same for each side of the plate.

Other Rays Notes:

- Draft signees update: 1/40 thus far

#Rays have signed 4th round pick RHP Brandon Koch, from Dallas Baptist, who is here at the Trop

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) June 11, 2015

- Injury Updates

#Rays Beckham continuing to take ground balls at SS as he recovers from a hamstring injury. Appears to be moving well.

— Neil Solondz (@neilsolondz) June 11, 2015

#rays Jaso said he'll hit baseballs off tee tomorrow for 1st time during his rehab. He thinks he can be back with team by all-star break

— Roger Mooney (@RMooneyTBO) June 11, 2015

#Rays Smyly (torn labrum) will begin sock tosses today, first step to starting throwing

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) June 11, 2015

#Rays Moore officially slated to pitch Monday with Port Charlotte in third rehab start, no pitch count announced.

— Matt Stein (@MattSteinSTF) June 11, 2015

- Kevin Kiermaier ranks 2nd baseball and 1st in the AL in defensive runs saved

A look at the MLB leaders in Defensive Runs Saved pic.twitter.com/b6bCqWcZxb

— Mark Simon (@msimonespn) June 11, 2015

- June 11th in Rays history, of which they are 8-5:

• 2002 - Jared Sandberg becomes only the 39th player in MLB history hit two homeruns during a nine run 5th inning. The Devil Rays would go on to win 11-2, as Joe Kennedy threw a complete game against the Dodgers
• 2004 - One of my personal favorite moments in team history, just because I was in attendance. Rey Sanchez lifts a walkoff inside-the-park homerun against the Colorado Rockies, during a game that was back and forth throughout the night..

• 2005 - After being routed by the Pirates, by the scored of 18-2, Lou Pinella rants against the team's new ownership, claiming they weren't interested in winning.
• 2006 - The team ties a franchise record with six homers (2 from Johnny Gomes, 2 from Carl Crawford, 1 from Aubrey Huff, and 1 from Julio Lugo) in one game against the Kansas City Royals. The team also hit into a triple play during the game..

• 2007 - Shinji Mori is released
• 2011 - A seemingly innocuous move, the team released Cory Wade from Durham, setting forth a series of events that would eventually lead the team to one of the greatest moments in baseball history.
• 2011 - That same day, the Rays blew a lead, regained the lead, blew it once more, tied it in the ninth, and then scored two go ahead runs in the 11th en route to extra inning victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

• 2014 - Kevin Kiermaier did this