These are strange days indeed for the Tampa Bay Rays.
On Saturday, one of their best hitters, Jeff Keppinger became the latest
casualty on a team reeling with injuries. He's out of action after being hit in
his right foot by a foul ball — in the dugout.
On Sunday, Carlos Pena was racing to second base with two outs in the bottom of
the eighth inning on what looked like a possible two-run, game-tying single by
Luke Scott — only to be struck in the foot by the screaming grounder.
Pena was instantly out on the interference call, ending the bases-loaded threat
and the last scoring chance the Rays had against the Atlanta Braves in a 2-0
loss. Of course, the way things have been going, perhaps the Rays should feel
fortunate that Pena wasn't knocked out of action in the process along with the
nine other Tampa Bay players who've wound up on the disabled list.
What in the name of Jeff Niemann is going on here?
The only positive news from the weekend series that commenced interleague play
is that the Rays found a way to win one of the three games. They did so thanks
to Matt Joyce's third career grand slam on Saturday, wiping out a 2-0 deficit,
and the fine 2012 debut of Durham call-up Alex Cobb in place of injured
Niemann.
Niemann suffered a broken leg six days earlier in Toronto after being hit by a
liner off a pitch in the second inning and will be out four-to-six weeks.
Two nights later, there was the now-famous "Batman" injury caper,
when Will Rhymes was nailed in the forearm by a pitch thrown by Boston reliever
Franklin Morales. Rhymes passed out after taking first base, then when team
trainers tried to test his wits by asking his name – he instead displayed his
wit by jokingly telling them he was the Caped Crusader.
Rhymes dodged a bullet when X-Rays revealed there was no fracture, and returned
to the lineup Sunday after missing action Thursday and Friday with a nasty
contusion. But now Keppinger, hitting .295 overall and .417 against lefties, is
hobbled with a protective boot over one foot, with his status uncertain.
Heck, even manager Joe Maddon isn't immune to the wave of health setbacks. He
quipped with reporters that he's "day to day" with a hamstring
injury, suffered when a dog chased him as he was taking out the garbage
Thursday night at his home in South Tampa.
Maddon noted that he won't be jogging onto the field for the time being. But if
the Rays lose Keppinger's service for any extended time –news on his status
should come Monday — it will be another difficult blow for a team that already
is playing without star third baseman Evan Longoria (partially torn hamstring)
until at least late June and leadoff hitter and left fielder Desmond Jennings
(eligible to come off the DL from his sprained knee next Sunday in Boston).
In spite of dropping two of three games to a talented Braves team, the Rays
have managed to keep their heads above water in the past eight games, posting
an overall record of 5-3. That leaves them 25-17 and second in the AL East.
Though they didn't catch a break with the Pena interference Sunday, they did
catch one in the standings, since first place Baltimore (27-15) fell to Washington
9-3, third-place Toronto (23-19) lost to the Mets 6-5 and fourth-place New York
(21-20) dropped a 5-2 decision to Cincinnati.
Tampa Bay will be put to the test next with a three-game home series against
the Blue Jays, starting Monday at 7:10 p.m. ET. The Rays won both games last week on the road
against the Jays, and they'll try to keep that trend going with Jeremy
Hellickson (4-0, 2.77 ERA) going up against right-hander Kyle Drabek (3-4,
3.30).
Hellickson is coming off a solid showing last week at the
Trop, when he scattered five hits over six innings and helped beat Boston 2-1.
He's also been very effective at home, compiling a mark of 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA
in five starts this season.
On Tuesday, Matt Moore (1-4, 5.20) faces off against right Drew Hutchison (3-1,
4.81), Moore lost a decision Thursday to the Red Sox but Maddon was encouraged
by how the rookie southpaw overcame a tough start, showing excellent command
and eventually retiring 13 of 14 batters in an eventual 5-3 loss. Moore talked
about feeling relaxed and loose as the game went on, and that could bode well.
The series wraps up with a 1:10 p.m. ET contest on Wednesday with James Shields
(6-2, 3.77) dueling tough lefty Ricky Romero (5-1, 3.64). Romero beat the
Rays 7-3 earlier this season at the Trop, though he was hardly dominating (six
innings, eight hits, three walks and earned three runs). Meanwhile, Shields is
anxious to put his last start, against the Braves in the series opener, behind
him.
Shields yielded seven hits, three walks and four earned runs in six innings. He
unraveled in the fifth inning after retiring the first two batters — walking
Martin Prado, throwing errantly on an attempted pickoff and then serving up an
RBI double to Freddie Freeman, which gave the Braves a 3-2 lead. Shields then
walked Dan Uggla and yielded a run-scoring single to Brian McCann.
Then came Saturday, when Cobb did his share to secure the win after a wobbly
start, falling behind 2-0 in the second. He wound up going seven innings,
allowing seven hits, two walks and just the two runs. The seven innings equaled
the longest start of his career and he just seemed to get stronger as the game
wore on, retiring the last 10 batters he faced. He also threw only 37 pitches
from the fifth through seventh innings, compared to 76 in the first four.
That's an encouraging development for the Rays with Niemann sidelined.
Fernando Rodney notched his 100th career save, improving to a perfect 13-for-13
in save opportunities this season. His ERA is 0.46 in 19 2/3 innings of work, a
huge contribution with last year's unofficial closer Kyle Farnsworth on the
60-day DL with an elbow injury.
But Sunday ended on a sour note. It was the Rays' third loss in four games
after winning four in a row — and their first shutout loss since Sept. 20,
2011, at Yankee Stadium. David Price kept the team close, holding Atlanta to
six hits over seven innings while striking out seven. He's allowed two runs or
less six times in nine starts this season, but received no run support for the
first time in 2012.
"He was mixing up his pitches very well tonight and that was a big part of
how we kept them off balance," Maddon said.
Sean Rodriguez contributed a stellar play at third, where he's helped plug the
defensive hole left by Longoria's absence. Diving to his right into foul
territory, Rodriguez gloved a smash by David Ross to start the fifth and then
one-hopped the throw to Pena, who made a nice scoop for the out. Sean-Rod is batting
.306 since May 1 (19-for-62), the same day Longoria went on the DL. Rodriguez
has also hit safely in his last 15 starts, dating back to May 2.
Pena, on the other hand, continues to struggle. He's only had two hits in his
last 27 at-bats with runners in scoring position and is hitting .121 (8-for-66)
with one homer and five RBI in 19 games this month — .213 overall. That follows
his hot start to the season (.286 with four homers and 13 RBI) in April. His
slide has coincided largely with the loss of Longoria, who had provided
valuable protection to Pena in the lineup.
Pena sent one drive deep to center with the bases loaded in the sixth,
momentarily giving Rays fans a jolt of excitement with a possible second
game-winning Rays grand slam in two days.
But the shot fell short. In the end, the only Pena hit Sunday was the ball that
connected with his foot in the bases-loaded eighth, effectively ending Tampa
Bay's hopes for a comeback.
"The right thing to do there is to go on the swing, so as soon as the
hitter has intent to swing, we're going," he said. "That's the way we
do it over here and the way we should run the bases. That caught me in mid-stride.
I haven't seen the video, but it's just a helpless feeling because I couldn't
go anywhere. I think I was in the air when the ball hit me. It was a rocket.
It's just bad luck."
And another strange twist for a team that continues to experience its share.
