SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) -- The Tampa Bay Rays face a problem most teams would love to have: a surplus of starting pitchers.
On Tuesday, manager Joe Maddon used two of them -- David Price and Matt Moore -- in the same game.
Price worked into the fourth inning, and
Moore made his spring debut with a hitless 1 2-3 innings in the Rays'
7-7 10-inning tie with the Baltimore Orioles.
Price threw 60 pitches in 3 2-3 innings
and allowed the Orioles' biggest inning of the spring -- four runs --
keyed by a three-run homer by Jai Miller. Miller also had two doubles.
Moore, the heralded left-hander who made
his major league debut in mid-September and started the first game of
the ALDS against Texas on Oct. 1, struck out three and walked one after
missing time with abdominal soreness.
It was Price's third start of the
spring, and he hadn't allowed a run in his first three innings. In his
last start March 8, Price suffered a neck spasm after drying himself
with a towel. It turned out to be nothing serious, but Maddon joked
before the game that it was B.Y.O.T. for the Rays.
Price said he air dried this time, but
the attention was on Moore, who showed enough to the Rays that they
signed him to a five-year contract after just three regular-season
games.
"Matt Moore was exceptional today. He looked pretty comfortable out there," Maddon said.
Maddon watched Moore throw simulated games and was impressed.
"He was throwing really well there too, but not as sharp as I saw today," Maddon said.
Moore joked that he had already worked in the playoffs, but spring training presented other problems.
"Now, the butterflies are out of the
way," he said. "It was a warm day, so it didn't take much for me to get
my body going. I felt like I'm supposed to feel."
Price had hoped to complete four innings.
"We're getting there," he said.
He was happy to see another left-hander do well and liked Moore's stuff, too.
"He's got the equalizer on the changeup," Price said. "Most hitters don't see that very good."
Tampa Bay scored five runs in the ninth
for a 7-5 lead, and Ryan Flaherty hit a two-run homer in the bottom of
the inning for the Orioles.
Baltimore scored its most runs of spring training.
"We had some good at-bats. It's the
time of the spring where you start getting some more sense of urgency as
you move forward," manager Buck Showalter said.
Starter Jason Hammel pitched three innings for the Orioles, allowing one run and a hit.
Notes: Baltimore 2B Brian Roberts, who
hasn't played since last May because of a concussion, took batting
practice and fielded ground balls before the game. It was the first time
he's done that in public view. "It's one thing to hit on the back field
with three coaches shagging and another thing with all the guys out
there and people in the stands and music on," Roberts said. ... Orioles
OF Nick Markakis will play Wednesday for the first time after January
surgery to repair a torn abdominal muscle. He'll be the designated
hitter and isn't scheduled to play in the field until March 20. ... Rays
DH Luke Scott faced Baltimore for the first time since the team didn't
renew his contract in December. He was 0 for 2 with a walk. ... Tampa
Bay 3B Evan Longoria was hitless in three at-bats in his second spring
game. ... Maddon will have his head shaved Thursday to generate
awareness for pediatric cancer. He's encouraging his players to join
him. "If you want to get your hair cut off, 80-degree weather is the
perfect time," he said.
