Matt Moore’s five starts have had a redemptive quality to them, a certain edge that makes his spring seem distant, and most importantly, forgotten. It wasn’t long ago, after all, that the 23-year-old left-hander was the largest question on the Tampa Bay Rays’ staff after an inconsistent session in Port Charlotte, Fla., a frustrating period that included mention of a mechanical flaw in his delivery. At spring’s end, Moore’s numbers produced reasons to wonder. He finished with a 0-2 record and a 3.80 ERA in five starts. He surrendered 10 runs in 21 1/3 innings, the third-most on staff behind Jeremy Hellickson (19) and Roberto Hernandez (18). He walked a team-high 14 batters, twice as many as the second-place finisher in the category, Juan Sandoval, now at Double-A Montgomery. Yet, through 25 games in the regular season, all that history seems irrelevant, as inconsequential as a Grapefruit League result once the pomp of Opening Day passes. In a month when left-hander and returning American League Cy Young Award winner David Price has struggled – the Rays won for the first time Sunday with him after five previous defeats when he was on the mound – Moore has become a surprise, but welcomed, bedrock. Tampa Bay, after a 10-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday, is undefeated in five Moore starts. His 1.13 ERA is second in the majors, only behind St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Jake Westbrook’s 0.98. He’s the first Rays pitcher in history to win five games in April, and he has given up no more than two runs in a single game. "I'm telling you, there's more in Moore," Rays manager Joe Maddon told reporters Saturday. "If his fastball continues to go where he wants it to go, he could stay hot for a long time." Moore is the clear standout of a staff that has been, frankly, mediocre so far. The Rays, with a 3.79 ERA, rank No. 17 in the majors in the category. Alex Cobb (1.82 ERA) is the only other starter with a sub-2.00 ERA. Price’s problems are well documented, Hellickson (4.31) is still finding his way and Hernandez (5.28) looks like someone who started three games last season. Still, there’s something to like about Moore’s recovery from his rocky spring. He stayed grounded, even after he was forced to find creative ways to explain himself after command problems. He looked like a different pitcher in April – a more poised, confident, collected thrower. So much about pitching is mental, and Moore has proved himself headstrong since rebounding from his slow spring. A less-disciplined person might have let the doubt linger – his issues became a major story line of the exhibition season – but he gathered himself and became an asset. To think, it all happened in a short amount of time. "He was not very sharp in camp," Maddon told reporters Saturday. "But he has built on each outing. I know the last game he pitched eight (innings, in a victory last Monday against the New York Yankees), but he has been just as good and maybe a little bit better tonight. I thought his overall command was even better." This could mean positive future results for Moore. This season is just his third in the majors, the second in which he has made more than three appearances, so he’s still in a formative stage of his career. The Rays never won more than three consecutive games with him starting last season, so the beginning to his 2013 campaign signifies a maturation of sorts for him. As Moore develops, it wouldn’t hurt Tampa Bay to see him collect a few more seven-plus-inning outings. He has lasted beyond six innings twice – 6 2/3 in a victory over the Baltimore Orioles on April 17 and the eight-inning showing against the Yankees. He has pitched 32 innings this season, which stands second on the Rays and six behind Price’s team-high total (Price has six starts to Moore’s five). In the months ahead, Moore looks to pass the 177 1/3 he appeared in last season. "It seems like every time we've been on the road I've had a lead going into the bottom of the first," Moore told reporters Saturday. "That makes it so much easier for a starting pitcher to kill those nerves or anxiousness going out there. ... It's very encouraging seeing that happening.” For Tampa Bay, there are many encouraging things about Moore’s start. Renewal? Redemption? Recovery? Perhaps all three. As a result, spring training seems so long ago. Good news for the Rays: Evan Longoria is comfortable at the plate. He hit a team-high .345 (10-for-29) in the past week with five RBI and two home runs. He was held hitless only once in the stretch, a 0-for-4 showing against the Yankees last Wednesday. His on-base percentage (.387) ranks fourth on the team for the week, and he also has two doubles in the span, which ties him with James Loney and Ben Zobrist for a team-high. Zobrist, who leads the Rays with 19 RBI, has been more consistent in the early part of the season, but it’s no surprise that Tampa Bay has found success as Longoria’s production has increased. Last year showed Longoria’s value to the franchise, and his health and consistency are vital to the Rays’ effort to reach the postseason for the fourth time in six years. The Rays regained some momentum with their latest homestand, but they remain searching on the road. After splitting a four-game series with the White Sox at US Cellular Field over the weekend, they’re 4-9 away from Tropicana Field. The Houston Astros (3-10), Los Angeles Angels (3-9), White Sox (3-7), Toronto Blue Jays (4-9) and Seattle Mariners (4-9) are the only other American League teams with similar or worse records. Tampa Bay’s next two stops on their current road trip won’t offer reprieve. The Royals have won six of nine games at home – only the Texas Rangers (7-2) have lost fewer home games in the AL. Meanwhile, the Colorado Rockies are 9-3 at Coors Field, which is the second-best home record in the National League, behind the Atlanta Braves’ 6-2 mark. "I'm excited to play against them. Obviously, it's going to feel a little weird. It's going to be weird to see all my boys … sitting in the dugout across from me. It's going to be exciting to play them.” — Former Rays right-hander James Shields, to the Tampa Bay Times, on facing his former team when the Rays arrive in Kansas City for a series Tuesday through Thursday against the Royals, who lead the American League Central at 13-9. The Rays are scheduled to face Shields, who’s 1-2 with a 3.09 ERA in five starts, on Tuesday. “It was more of a normalcy about us, more of a confident kind of a method or feel. In the beginning of the year, nobody was hitting, (there were) a lot of new guys. … Nothing was really working at that time. But again, we’ve been in this position before and gone to the playoffs.” — Manager Joe Maddon, on the Rays’ play after a 5-1 homestand that ended last Wednesday. Tampa Bay recovered from a 2-7 road trip to Texas, Boston and Baltimore by sweeping the Athletics and winning two of three games against the Yankees at Tropicana Field. “Heck, no. For me, $5, I'd go $5." — Maddon, to the Tampa Bay Times, on paying more than $50 for gnomes in his likeness that were given away as a promotion to the first 10,000 fans at last Wednesday’s Rays-Yankees game. One gnome received eight bids and sold for $64.83 on eBay. 14: Consecutive games with a home run for the Rays after Sunday’s victory, one short of the team mark set in 2009. Tampa Bay, which is led by Longoria with six, is tied for fourth in the American League with 29 home runs. 2: Teams to lose the first five starts by a reigning Cy Young Award winner in history. After a 4-3 loss to the Yankees last Tuesday in which Price started, the Rays joined the Minnesota Twins – who lost Frank Viola’s first seven games in 1989 – as the latest in the category. 15: Games won by the Rays last April, when they led the Baltimore Orioles by one game for the American League East lead at month’s end. Tampa Bay could finish with 13 victories this April by beating Kansas City on Tuesday, which would make the Rays the fourth AL East team with a .500-or-better record for the month (Boston Red Sox, Yankees and Baltimore Orioles) and the ninth AL team overall with such a mark.
1. I am not a liar 2. I would not make that stuff up 3. My own dad doesn't speak to me that way 4. Again I am not a liar #accountability
— David Price (@DAVIDprice14) April 28, 2013
— During the Rays' 8-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday, Price says home plate umpire Tom Hallion told him to “throw the ball over the f--- plate” in the seventh inning, shortly after the pitcher took a step toward the dugout after what he thought was a third strike to hitter Dewayne Wise. Hallion, to a pool reporter after the game, said Price was a “liar” and that the expletive was not used. After the incident, Hellickson was ejected after yelling at Hallion from the dugout. Maddon addressed Hellickson’s ejection by saying it was “a million-to-one” odds, “maybe two” that the pitcher, known for his low-key demeanor, would be tossed from a game. Price took to Twitter and defended himself in a series of tweets against Hallion. You can follow Andrew Astleford on Twitter @aastleford or email him at aastleford@gmail.com.
