In our first game post-horse puns, the pitching was in derby form but the offense had trouble getting out of the gate.
Oh my gosh. Soooooo many TOOTBLANs you guys!!!
Sergio Romo opened for Ryan Yarbrough, and things did not go as smoothly as they had in California last weekend. With one out, Adam Jones drove a 1-1 slider to left for a single. Romo followed that by getting Manny Machado to fly to right, and striking out Jonathan Schoop on three pitches, the last one a nasty slider. A little too nasty, as it went all the way to the backstop (with the help of a weak blocking effort by Wilson Ramos), allowing Schoop to reach first without a throw.
Ray killer Danny Vallencia made the home team pay, dumping a 1-1 fastball into right field and scoring Jones. That would be it for Romo, as Cash brought the hook for his opener and called on Ryan Yarbrough. Yarbrough responded, getting the slumping Chris Davis to ground to third and end the inning.
Yarbrough continued to be sharp throughout his appearance, weaving his way through seven innings of relief, striking out a career high eight against zero walks while scattering seven hits. His only blemish was a solo homer by Schoop in the sixth on a fastball that caught too much plate. Other than that, Yarbrough was brilliant, taking advantage of an expansive zone by working quickly and changing speeds, in and out, up and down, like a young and skinny Mark Buehrle. It was nice to see.
Jonny Venters worked one out in the bottom of the seventh. He threw 95 mph, and continues to be one of the best stories in baseball.
Vidal Nuno pitched the eighth. He got Chris Davis to literally throw his bat at the ball, and he watched Daniel Robertson track a popup all the way to the bullpen mound during his scoreless frame.
On offense, the Rays bats showed up well enough, but too often their feet betrayed them.
Brad Miller doubled off Orioles rookie David Hess to start the Rays half of the first. But with Joey Wendle batting and one out, Miller was picked off on nice move by Hess. To add insults to idiocy, Wendle followed with pickoff with a single that surely would have scored Miller.
This was endemic of the entire night.
Mallex Smith walked with one out in the second. He was caught stealing an out later on an ugly delayed steal attempt that I’m still not sure what was going on.
Wendle walked and Ramos singled with one out in the fourth. With Duffy batting, the 0-1 pitch got away from Orioles catcher Andrew Susac. Unfortunately it didn’t get very far away, and Wendle also hesitated before breaking for third. He was out easily. Duffy then grounded out to end the threat.
In the fifth, for a change, the feet didn’t betray. The bats did instead.
Mallex Smith led off with a walk, then quickly advanced to second on a suspect balk call. Then, with Robertson still at the plate, a pickoff throw from Hess went into center, allowing Smith to advance to third with no outs.
The Rays didn’t score. DRob grounded to Vallencia, who nearly turned a goofy double play as Mallex dove back into third at his feet before firing over to first and just nipped Robertson. Ground outs by Field and Refsnyder followed, neither of which scored Smith.
A single by Duffy chased Hess in the seventh, and a walk by Robertson followed. But it led to more nothings, as Johnny Field flew out to Gentry to end the threat.
A Refsnyder double led off the eighth, chasing Mychal Givens for Richard Bleier. Blieir set down Miller, Cron, and Wendle, while Refsnyder advanced only as far as third base.
For the ninth inning rally, it was Duffy’s turn to get it started, singling to left with one out against Brad Brach. Mallex Smith lined a nice changeup away to the opposite field for a single. Robertson flew out to right for the sake of suspense, bringing Johnny Field to plate.
Would they pull it off???
Haha no.
Field got a pitch to hit on 2-1, but swung through the fastball. On the very next pitch, he popped to Davis in foul territory. Ballgame.
Ryne Stanek opens for Anthony Banda (I think) at 4:10 tomorrow afternoon as the Rays take on the O’s again.