ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — This wasn’t exactly the way they envisioned jetting off to the Big Apple for this week’s three-game series against the New York Yankees.
After such a dominant and momentum-building home stand, the Tampa Bay Rays stumbled in their final two weekend games against Oakland. Late Friday night, they boasted the best record in baseball at 19-8 with a chance to sweep the A’s, or at least head to New York powered by a fifth straight series win.
Unfortunately for the Rays, the wheels wobbled unexpectedly with a pair of tough losses that snapped a six-game winning streak and ended a stretch in which they’d won 12 of 14 games. In addition to rookie left-hander Matt Moore’s shaky outing Sunday — blowing a 4-0 first-inning lead in a 9-5 defeat — playmaking leadoff man Desmond Jennings left the game early with a knee injury that could sideline him for the series.
There is one silver lining for the Rays when the set begins Tuesday night at 7:05 ET, with ace James Shields (5-0, 3.05 ERA) dueling Ivan Nova (3-1, 5.58).
For the first time in Rays history, legendary Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, a 12-time All-Star, will not be available.
Rivera suffered a torn ligament in his right knee Thursday while shagging fly balls before New York’s game in Kansas City. That means the Yankees will turn to either David Robertson or 2010 hotshot Tampa Bay closer Rafael Soriano as the shutdown man.
The Rays got to Rivera in the season-opener, spoiling a rare save opportunity for him to start the year off with a three-game sweep at Tropicana Field. But any time they don’t have to face the future Hall of Famer is a plus.
The other good news: The Yankees haven’t exactly been tearing it up this season. Though they routed the Royals 10-4 on Sunday, they came into that series having lost two of three to Baltimore and currently find themselves in the AL East’s fourth spot at 15-13, leading only 11-16 Boston.
Last week, they demoted struggling starter Freddy Garcia to the bullpen with an 0-2 mark and 12.51 ERA, elevating rookie reliever David Phelps into the rotation. Phelps (0-1) has been impressive in 21 2/3 innings of work, allowing 18 hits while striking out 19 and posting an ERA of 3.74. He’ll square off against Jeff Niemann (2-3, 4.05) on Wednesday night, with a rejuvenated David Price (5-1, 2.35) going up against Yankees ace CC Sabathia (4-0, 4.15) on Thursday.
Tampa Bay still stands at 19-10 after twice falling short of becoming the majors' first team to 20 wins this season — a half-game behind the upstart Baltimore Orioles (19-9) in the division. But now they head into a key early-season showdown on the road against the Yankees, who would like nothing better than to put their season back on track against the Rays.
Aside from their blowout win Sunday, they’ve struggled unexpectedly. First baseman Mark Teixeira found himself mired in a 5-for-28 span since the start of the Baltimore series and is hitting only .222, while power-hitting second baseman Robinson Cano has swatted only two homers so far with eight RBI.
On the flip side, age-defying shortstop Derek Jeter, 37, has done his part to pick up the slack, leading the league in batting at .397 (with five homers). Center fielder Curtis Granderson remains a key to the lineup, hitting .284 with nine homers and 18 RBI. Right fielder Nick Swisher also has been a key contributor with seven homers, a team-leading 24 RBI and a .279 batting average, though he’s been dealing with an injured left hamstring and is listed as day-to-day.
The bigger health issue for the Yankees is the elbow injury to speedy left-fielder Brett Gardner, finishing a rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Gardner — on the DL since April 18 — could be ready to play against the Rays either Wednesday or Thursday.
Of course, the Rays have their own injury bug, and it’s a sizable one. They’re without third baseman and team leader Evan Longoria — an anchor on offense and defense — at least until July as he recovers from a partial hamstring tear.
The Rays proved they could survive just fine against lowly Seattle without Longoria, hitting .327 with four homers and 19 RBI when he was injured during an attempted steal of second base last Monday. But after the four-game sweep of the Mariners, they encountered difficulties against Oakland — losing 4-3 in 12 innings Saturday night and failing to capitalize on their early four-run lead Sunday.
The more immediate concern is the loss of Jennings, who has been a spark plug in the field and at the plate (.270 with two doubles, two triples and three homers, as well as eight stolen bases in nine attempts). The Rays can compensate by moving utility starter Ben Zobrist from second to right, where he’s an excellent defender, and manning left field with Matt Joyce, another standout with the glove. That means a rotation system in the infield with some combination at third, short and second with Jeff Keppinger, Sean Rodriguez, Will Rhymes and Elliot Johnson. Manager Joe Maddon will make his decisions there based on individual pitching matchups.
More could be known about Jennings’ status later Monday. In any event, it’s hardly an ideal situation for the Rays heading into a series against the Yankees, followed by three games against Baltimore and two more in Toronto before returning home May 16 against Boston.
The good news for the Rays is that they’ve gotten strong performances from a number of other sources. B.J. Upton has been on a hot streak since returning to the lineup from a back injury during spring training, hitting .333 (with four doubles and two homers). Keppinger continues his solid offense in a part-time role at .311, and lefty-hitting Joyce has looked good both against righties and lefties. He upped his batting average to .292 Sunday with a 3-for-4 effort and has a .596 slugging percentage fueled by three doubles, three triples and six homers.
The team’s marque offseason additions, Carlos Pena and Luke Scott, have cooled off in the batting average department. But Pena (.252) has belted five doubles and five homers with 14 RBI, and Scott (.247) has six doubles, six homers and 21 RBI. Even Rhymes has made a good showing since his call-up last week, hitting .294 and playing well at third and second.
What the Rays really need is for their pitching to pick up the slack. That had been happening in a big way until Saturday, with the staff crafting a major league-best ERA of 2.26 between April 19 and May 5 — after sporting baseball’s worst ERA at 6.75 prior to that. But Jeremy Hellickson lasted only 3 2/3 innings Saturday night, yielding five hits and three runs in his worst start of the season. And Moore followed with his poorest performance of 2012 on Sunday.
That’s a mild concern, because the Rays need better showings from each pitcher to keep on track in the highly competitive AL East. It helps that they’ll have both of their big guns, Shields and Price, in New York. Their five wins each are the most in the AL, and they’re also tied for the most wins in the majors with Lance Lynn of St. Louis and San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner.
It’s the first time two teammates have had at least five victories in the first 27 games since Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson did that for the 2006 Yankees.
If you’re looking for a key to success in their eight-game road swing, try this: the Rays’ record in the their past 42 games when scoring at least five runs is 41-1.
After Monday’s day off, Tampa Bay will play 16 straight games without a break. Without Longoria, and now possibly some key games without Jennings, the stretch could reveal a lot about the Rays and where they’re heading after such a promising start.
