Rays' 2-1 Victory Over Mariners Another Open-And-Shut Case
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — To the outside world, the Tampa Bay Rays' use of an ''opener'' on a fairly regular basis seems like an act of necessity or — even worse — an act of desperation.
The Rays? They love it. And why? Because they win games that way and completely shut down hitters.
They did it again on Thursday afternoon, beating the Seattle Mariners 2-1 with another impressive display from six pitchers. They combined to allow only one run and six hits, and worked out of trouble any time things get hairy.
But this is no desperate act. For instance, four of the six pitchers used on Thursday — opener Jeffrey Springs and relievers Jalen Beeks, J.P. Feyereisen and Ryan Thompson — had pitched a combined 29 innings before the game, and hadn't allowed a single run all season.
Twenty-nine innings, ZERO runs.
That's just what they do.
"I was very impressed overall with our pitching. Bullpen days can get a little tricky at times, but everybody did a great job of being efficient and attacking the strike zone,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "I thought (Springs) really set the tone. I know he gave up a run, but his strike-to-ball ratio was tremendous.
"All in all, we really played well. You have to play well to win a 2-1 game, and I thought we did that today.''
Springs, who had pitched seven scoreless innings out of the bullpen so far, got his first ''opener'' call and when 2 2/3 innings. He gave up a run in the first off a leadoff single from Adam Frazier and a triple from designated hitter Eugenio Suarez with two outs.
But then that would be it. Through the next 25 Seattle outs, they never scored another run.
Jason Adam ended the threat in the third, when Seattle had two runners on, but he struck out Suarez and pitched a four-batter fourth.
Beeks, who had pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings prior to Thursday, ran into trouble in the fifth, loading the bases with two singles and a walk, but then he got a double-play ball off the bat of Seattle designated hitter Eugenio Suarez. It was hit hard right at Rays third baseman Taylor Walls, who handled in flawlessly and started the 5-4-3 double play to end the threat.
Beeks pitched a perfect sixth inning, and then J.P. Feyereisen was perfect in the seventh and eighth innings and has now retired 22 batters in a row dating back to April 11. He has pitched 9 1/3 scoreless innings now in 2022.
Lefty Colin Poche, who gave up a home run in Wednesday's 3-2 win, came on in the ninth but allowed a leadoff single by shortstop J.P Crawford to deep right that Brett Phillips, who had moved over from center field for the final inning, cut off and held him to one base.
Third baseman Abraham Toro then blooped a ball over the infield that Brandon Lowe dashed back for, but it bounced off his glove. Phillips, who charged the ball hard from the beginning, scooped it up and threw to second to force out Crawford. Poche got a ground ball from Julio Rodriguez for the second out.
Tom Murphy, a right-handed hitter, came on to pinch hit, so the Rays brought in righty Ryan Thompson, who has pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings so far. He got a called strike three on Murphy to end the game.
Phillips accounted for both of Tampa Bay's runs. Harold Ramirez walked to lead off the second inning, but advanced to third after two outs. Phillips then looped a single to right to tie the game.
Tampa loaded the bases in the seventh inning, with singles from Ramirez, Josh Lowe and Walls. With two outs, Phillips ripped a line drive right back at relief pitcher Diego Castillo, and the ball hit his leg and rolled out to left field, with Ramirez scoring.
"Philly came up with two really big at-bats,'' Cash said. "We needed it because their pitcher, (Chris) Flexen, really did a tremendous job. It was really tough for us to adjust, but Philly got enough of one to get a hit to right, and then enough of one on the richocet.
"It's a good thing we had guys on base, and it was Ramirez who scored both times. In spring training we practice getting out of the way on those balls, but I'm not sure he could have let that one go.''
It was the third straight series win for the Rays, who are now 11-8 on the season. It was nice to beat the Mariners, who won six of seven meetings a year. They meet again in Seattle next weekend for four games.
The Rays are now 4-1 in ''opener'' games. On Saturday, they had a no-hitter through nine innings. On Tuesday, they took their only loss, but that was because Seattle scored seven unearned runs in the fourth inning. In the past two seasons, the Rays are now 18-8 in games started by ''openers.''
Open and shut, for sure.
"Our bullpen has been amazing since I've been here, and even before I got here, it was outstanding,'' said Thompson, who got his second save of the season. He's been with the Rays since the summer of 2020. "This year, especially with some of the injuries we've had, our bullpen has had to take on a lot more of a load, and we've done a really good job of taking on some roads that maybe some of us aren't accustomed to.
"We've just done a really good job down there (in the bullpen) of being a team, and keeping each other in the game. We love (opener games). We get this opportunity and we thrive in it. Days like to today, you're down there and you're constantly ready, and when you're name gets called, you're ready to go to work.''
The Rays open a three game series with Minnnesota on Friday at Tropicana Field. Game times for the weekend are 7:10 p.m. ET on Friday, 4:10 p.m. on Saturday and 1:10 p.m. on Sunday. Seattle heads to South Florida for three games with the Miami Marlins.
Related stories on Rays baseball
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