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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — So much was working against
the Tampa Bay Rays heading into Sunday's rubber match against the Miami
Marlins.
The biggest thing going, it seemed, was the large "Popa-Palooza"
Father's Day crowd and triple-concert bill at the Trop slated for after the
game. Yet there didn't appear to be much pop anywhere else for the Rays before
their 3-0 victory.
They had just suffered a disappointing 15-inning loss to Miami on Saturday,
taxing the bullpen and sending players home tired and drained in the wee hours
Sunday morning.
Their lineup was missing slugger Matt Joyce, who fell ill Sunday morning with
flu-like symptoms. Starting left fielder and leadoff man Desmond Jennings was
getting a much-needed rest. And the designated hitter in the improvised lineup
that manager Joe Maddon posted in the clubhouse? Elliot Johnson.
Enough said.
Considering they were going up against Marlins ace Josh Johnson, things didn't
exactly look promising for the Rays as they set out to avoid a costly series
loss to their intrastate rival on the verge of a road series starting Tuesday
in Washington.
Enter starting pitcher Alex Cobb, who wasn't feeling so hot either after a
terrible bullpen session.
But in his sixth start of the season since getting recalled from Triple-A Durham,
the second-year Rays right-hander stepped up in a big way to pave the way for a
crucial victory in front of 33,810.
Cobb started strong, getting Jose Reyes on a called third strike, and never
wavered. Cobb went seven innings, blanking the Marlins on two hits with 10
strikeouts and one walk. It was precisely the kind of performance Tampa Bay
needed to erase any lingering pain of their marathon loss from the night before.
Not only did Cobb end his three-game losing streak, he matched his career high
for innings pitched and set a new one in strikeouts. In the process, he became
only the fifth Rays pitcher to log 10 or more K’s and allow two or fewer hits
in a start (joining Scott Kazmir in 2006, James Shields in 2007, Matt Garza in
2009 and Jeff Niemann in 2011).
"I felt great," Cobb said. "When I first started throwing my
bullpen, I felt horrible. I thought it was going to be a short night. Sometimes
that's when you throw the best because that's when you are focusing on every
pitch. It turned out to be good today."
What also felt good for Cobb was pitching on Father's Day with his dad, Rick,
looking on proudly in the stands.
"That was really cool," Cobb said. "During the game, I wasn't
thinking about it too much. I was reflecting on it more before the game and
after the game. ... It brings up a lot of good memories and, when you look at it
in perspective, it's probably something really cool for him to watch me on that
stage and on this day. It was really rewarding."
Cobb's effort capped a rewarding series for Rays pitchers as well. They allowed
only four runs in the three-game series — including just one earned run — for a
spectacular ERA of 0.27. It was also the sixth shutout for the Rays this
season, including their second combined one in the last three days.
"(Cobb had) great fastball command, but today was the uncanny ability (to
throw a) first-pitch curveball strike," Maddon said. "It was really
good. You put that in the hitter's head and combine that with the great changeup
with the fastball where he wants it. And that last inning he pitched, he had 92
(mph) for the first time, so he kept getting better."
Maddon decided to pull Cobb after he reached 100 pitches. Joel Peralta pitched a
1-2-3 eighth and Fernando Rodney did the same in the ninth, striking out two
and earning his 19th save in 20 opportunities. Rodney has allowed just one
earned run at home this season, good for an 0.49 ERA.
"A hundred pitches has kind of been (Cobb's) Waterloo," Maddon said.
"Let's get him out after seven. But he was really, really good."
After Cobb set the tone with a dominant first inning, center fielder B.J. Upton
did the same for the offense. Batting at the top of the order for the first
time this season, he hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first — the sixth
of his career and fifth homer of the season.
"I didn't even look at (the lineup)," Upton said. "I just knew I
was leading off. I looked up, saw that I was leading off and said alright.
That's just Joe, man. We know he's going to shuffle the lineup and, in reality,
you are only hitting in that spot at the beginning of the game so it really
doesn't matter. ... We have a good ballclub. Everyone here will tell you that it
doesn't matter where you are hitting, they are going to keep the same
approach."
The Rays wasted several scoring chances in the early going, but padded their
lead in the sixth when Elliot Johnson walked with two outs, stole second and scored
on a single to center by third baseman Drew Sutton.
In the seventh, right fielder Ben Zobrist picked up his
second hit of the game — the seventh time in eight games he's collected
multiple hits. His single to left scored Upton, who had reached first and
advanced to second on a fielding error by Gabby Sanchez. Three runs were more
than the Rays would need to improve to 14-3 on "getaway days."
The win improved their record to 37-29, still third in the AL East behind the
streaking first-place Yankees (40-25) and two games behind the second-place
Orioles (39-27). This week, the Rays visit
two NL East teams who just suffered sweeps — the first-place Nationals (38-26) and
the last-place Phillies (31-37).
The Rays came into the game Sunday having experienced a full range of emotions
in the first two games of the series.
In the opener Friday night, they awoke from the stupor that marked their three consecutive
losses to the Mets. The team that couldn't seem to hit or pitch during the
sweep suddenly did both in droves. Their 11-0 win featured more runs than the
combined nine they scored against New York, which had outscored them 22-9 all
told.
Tampa Bay had gone 133 home games without scoring 10 runs or more. It was the
longest such streak in the majors since the Houston Astros went 268 games
between 1980-’84. The the last time an
AL team went that long was Toronto's 165-game stretch in 1980-82.
The pitching was pretty good too on Friday. Rookie Matt Moore allowed only one
hit through seven innings in his best outing of the season and the bullpen worked
two hitless and scoreless innings to close out the much-needed win. It was the
first time a Rays starter held an opposing team to one-hit or less since Matt
Garza no-hit the Tigers July 26, 2010. After a shaking start to the season,
Moore won his third consecutive decision to improve to 4-5 with a 4.16 ERA.
The revived offense was paced by Zobrist's hot bat. Barely a week after his
batting average stood at .199 at Yankee Stadium, he continued his one-man assault
against the Marlins with his fifth consecutive multiple-hit game – including
his ninth homer of the year. That raised his batting average to .235 with
a six-game hitting streak (12-for-22 with eight RBI and six walks) — including
a 9-for-14 outburst with three homers and six RBI against Miami.
The befuddled Marlins, meanwhile, dropped their fourth game in as many 2012
outings against Tampa Bay and their ninth in 10 games overall.
But then came Saturday night's 15-inning marathon and the disheartening 4-3
loss to Miami. Once again, the Rays fell victim to uncharacteristic poor
defense with three errors that led to three Marlins runs — undercutting James
Shields' bid for his eighth win. He departed with the game tied 3-3 after 7 2/3
innings, having yielded eight hits while fanning five and walking one.
He pitched well enough to win, and the Rays battled back to tie the game after
falling behind 3-0 after two innings. But it was a game Tampa Bay could have
won well before extra innings if not for a defense that committed its 55th,
56th and 57th errors of the season in 65 games – including its 16th multi-error
showing.
