My Two Cents: Pete Fairbanks in Lockdown Mode for Rays, That's a Good Thing

The Tampa Bay Rays needed a win in the worst way on Sunday against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Closer EnPete Fairbanks made sure that happened, eliminating any doubts with a dominant ninth inning.

It was all there for the taking. Beating the Yankees meant beating a rival, winning a series, starting a winning streak, getting closer to first place and having a reason for a very happy flight back home to Tampa.

It also meant not screwing up, and not blowing a game that looked like a rout for most of a rainy Sunday in the Bronx. Blowing a five-run lead — twice, no less — would have been devastating for a team that's been down in the dumps a lot already in the first month of the season.

Enter Fairbanks. He came in to pitch the ninth with the score at 7-5 after the Yankees plated three runs in the eighth inning. The Yankees crowd, silent for most of the day, was re-engaged after the eighth inning rally. They were feeling it, sensing it, breathing it. A comeback win seemed on the table.,

Until it wasn't.

All Fairbanks did was blow right through the top of the New York order. He struck out Trent Grisham, then fanned superstar Aaron Judge and closed out the game by blowing away Cody Bellinger.

Victory.

The Rays, 16-18 now and just three games out of the AL East race despite going long stretches without hitting, have done some good things. The starting pitching — especially Drew Rasmussen, Shane Baz and Taj Bradley — has been mostly good and Jonathan Aranda is turning into an All-Star at first base. Rookie center fielder Chandler Simpson has added a huge spark with his speed and bat-to-ball skills.

But there may not be a more important player on the Rays roster than Fairbanks, the 31-year-old right-hander. Part of it is the nature of the job. He's the closer, and getting the last three outs in any game are always the toughest to get.

But Fairbanks has been perfect in that high-profile role this season. He got his eighth save in eight tries on Sunday. He's locked down eight straight wins, and he's done it in dominant fashion. Not a single blown save all year.

And rarely a scary threat either, to be honest.

You can't do any better than Sunday, of course, closing out the ninth with three straight strikeouts. He was filthy, and New York's best players couldn't even get a ball in play.

But he's been nearly that dominant in all his saves, and that gives manager Kevin Cash — and all of Fairbanks' teammates — plenty to be confident about.

Here's what he does so far in his eight saves:

Sunday: Faced three hitters, had three strikeouts in just 15 pitches in a 7-5 Rays win on the road over the Yankees for his eighth save.
Saturday: Faced three hitters, got three groundouts in just 11 pitches in a 3-2 Rays on the road win over the Yankees for his seventh save.
April 27: Faced three hitters, got a fly ball, line out and ground out on 15 pitches in a 4-2 Rays win on the road over the San Diego Padres, securing a sweep and his sixth save.
April 26: After a strikeout, gave up a one-out double to Manny Machado but then got a pop-up and groundout to end the game in a 4-1 Rays win on the road over the Padres. It was his fifth save.
April 24: Walked a batter with one out, but had two ground balls and a strikeout in the 10th inning, securing a 7-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks after the Rays had lost five of six. It was his fourth save.
April 11: Gave up a one-out double, but got two groundouts and a fly ball to end a 6-3 Rays home win over the Atlanta Braves for his third save.
April 9: Had a two-out walk after a ground out and strikeout, but got Los Angeles Angels All-Star Mike Trout to foul out to end a 5-4 Rays home victory for his second save.
March 30: Gave up two singles after a strikeout, but then got a groundout and a Mickey Moniak strikeout to secure a 6-4 Rays home win over the Colorado Rockies in the first series of the year.

There's a lot that jumps out in Fairbanks' run. Most notable is the recency bias. because he's gotten 11 outs in a row in his last four saves in the past eight days. All on the road, no less, which is awesome, and against a bunch of All-Star hitters.

During the eight saves, he's allowed just four hits and two walks — and only one has gotten to third base. That's crazy, Opponents are hitting just .143 against him and, of course, they haven't scored a single run. A 0..00 earned run average is always good.

He's pitched 14 games overall — six were non-save situations — and he did give up two runs to the Yankees on April 19 when he allowed three hits and two walks and had to be yanked. The Rays scored four times in the bottom of the 10th to get him off the hook. He also gave up a run to the Angels in a tie game and took the loss.

So he's not flawless, but with the game on the line. being perfect in save opportunities is a big deal. Only Robert Suarez (13) of San Diego and Andres Munoz (12) of Seattle have saved more games this year without a blown save.

Peace of mind is a big deal, especially in the ninth inning of a tense game. Fairbanks has been there for the Rays. Every. Single. Day.

And that's a great way to start the season.