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Baseball is such an odd game.
On Monday, Erasmo Ramirez came within five outs of throwing a no-hitter, yet the Rays still managed to lose. A few nights later, Matt Moore delivered his best start of the year, and the Rays again managed a loss. However, last night, Drew Smyly allowed five runs and was out of the game in the sixth, yet the Rays were able to win after Grady Sizemore hit a bases loaded double, also Mikie Mahtook went 5-5, and Tim Beckham hit a laser beam home run.
On any given night, something unexpected is going to happen and that's what makes this game so great to watch.
TODAY'S STARTING PITCHERS:
| PITCHER | W | L | ERA | FIP | AVG | HR | K% | BB% | GS/G | IP |
| Erasmo Ramirez | 10 | 5 | 3.75 | 3.93 | .226 | 15 | 19.2% | 6.6% | 24/31 | 144 |
| Wei-Yin Chen | 9 | 7 | 3.44 | 4.37 | .262 | 28 | 19.0% | 5.0% | 28/28 | 172.2 |
Ramirez came so close to achieving history his last time out, falling just a few outs shy of a no-hitter. Everything seemed to be breaking right for him, but a bad hop and an inexperienced first baseman costed him the chance. His final line was eight and two-thirds, while he allowed the lone hit, walked two and struck out six. Unfortunately, the Rays actually wound up losing after Brad Boxberger imploded in the ninth.
Wei-Yin Chen Scouting Report:
Like Tillman, Chen has also faced the Rays five times already this year and he's pitched decently against them until Tampa Bay was finally able to tack on some runs against him on August 31st. That game, the Rays were able to knock him out in the fifth inning after scoring five runs on nine hits, Chen did strikeout four during that game.
Chen has been able to rebound since then and in his last start, against Kansas City, he was able to deliver seven quality innings for Baltimore, earning a victory.
His arsenal:
| PITCH | VELOCITY | FREQUENCY | vs LHB | vs RHB |
| Fastball | Low 90's |
45% vs LHB *** 54% vs RHB |
Tends to stay middle-away, occasionally outside the zone | Tends to stay middle-in, occasionally inside off the plate |
| Sinker | Low 90's |
17% vs LHB *** 10% vs RHB |
Anywhere inside off the plate | Tends to throw it anywhere low in the zone |
| Slider | Low 80's |
29% vs LHB *** 14% vs RHB |
Low and away from the zone | Low and inside, off the plate |
| Splitter | Low 80's |
01% vs LHB *** 13% vs RHB |
Sporadic | Anywhere away from, or below the zone |
| Curve | Low 70's |
07% vs LHB *** 09% vs RHB |
Low and away from the zone | Below the zone, sometimes in off the plate |
His splits:
| TBF | AVG | OBP | SLG | HR | K% | BB% | |
| vs LHB | 170 | .220 | .251 | .340 | 3 | 16.5% | 2.9% |
| vs RHB | 546 | .275 | .322 | .514 | 25 | 19.8% | 5.7% |
| HOME | 438 | .270 | .296 | .486 | 19 | 19.2% | 3.2% |
| AWAY | 278 | .249 | .320 | .449 | 9 | 18.7% | 7.9% |
September 19th in Rays History:
- Three Rays celebrate their birthdays today as Ryan Roberts (1980), John Jaso (1983), and Javier Valentin (1975) were all born on this date.
- They are 7-8 all-time on this date
- 2002 - The Devil Rays pull off a thrilling a come from behind walkoff victory against the Yankees to place them only 44 games back in the AL East. Randy Winn hit his 12th homer of the year in the 8th to tie it, then in the 10th Andy Sheets laced a single through the left side with the bases loaded to score the inning run.
- 2008 - The Rays rout the Twins, 11-1, with the help of Carlos Pena whose homerun in the forth inning became the very first play in MLB history to be overturned thanks to replay.
- 2009 - Matt Garza, along with three relievers combine to shutout the Blue Jays on three hits as the Rays took a 4-0 victory.