Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The first four and a half innings were a total pitchers’ duel, with Alex Cobb and Andy Pettitte matching each other pitch for pitch. Pettitte was getting more strikeouts, but Cobb was keeping his pitch count down and keeping runners off the basepaths.

Pettitte showed signs of a higher pitch count in the fifth, when he would start off the inning by hitting Jose Molina in the foot. This would be followed up by a Kelly Johnson single to right which would slip under the glove of Brennan Boesch and roll further toward the wall. But with Molina as the lead runner, the error did not score a run, but rather left runners at second and third with no outs.

This hasn’t been a great scenario for the Rays so far this season, and Desmond Jennings and Ryan Roberts would prove why, quickly tallying two strikeouts and killing the chances for scoring on an out. That brought up Ben Zobrist with two out, and he doubles to right-centerfield, scoring both runners.

That 2-0 lead would turn into a 3-0 lead when Sean Rodriguez hit one out over the farthest fence from homeplate, barely clearing the extended fence just to the left of straight-away center. This would be the first batter of Pettitte’s final inning, as the veteran hurler would finish with 6 innings of 7 hit baseball with 3 runs, 2 of them earned. He walked 1, struck out 10, and had only 68 strikes over 105 pitches.

Cobb would continue to deal, ending the eighth inning with 99 pitches, not allowing a runner to pass second base all night. He would start off the ninth with an out, and then give up a single on a seeing eye grounder, and give way to Fernando Rodney.

Rodney would then give up another single, and then a ground ball to advance both runners into scoring position. He would then face Travis Hafner with two outs and get him to pop out to short left to close out the victory.

The Rays would get another base hit from an improving Yunel Escobar in the bottom of the sixth, but he would leave the game due to tightness in his hamstring. It was announced he will be day-to-day.

Evan Longoria failed to reach base safely, and ended his streak that had lasted since late last season. Nevertheless, that was just a small negative in a big Rays win. The Rays look to continue their hot play of late as they head to Chicago to take on the White Sox at 8:10 PM on Thursday night.

C.C. has seen a decline in his velocity this season. Is it cause for concern? Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The same scenario seems to be unfolding before our eyes this April in the world of Major League Baseball. A few big-name pitchers aren’t throwing a baseball quite as quickly to home plate as they have before, so every national media outlet is reporting on lowered velocity and the impact is has had on pitching so far this season. Radio shows I listen to get call-ins daily asking if the decreased velocity of C.C. Sabathia should concern Yankees’ fans, and CBS Sports is reporting changes in pitch speed down to the one-hundredth. SO with pitchers like Halladay, Sabathia, and Haren struggling thanks to lowered velocity, it’s probably a good time to check the Rays’ pitching staff for signs of this obvious precursor to a pitchers’ downfall.

And after looking over the numbers, it appears one Rays’ starter is down 1.44 miles per hour on his fastball from this time last year, despite throwing it as often as he usually does. He’s not old (it’s not Jamey Wright or Roberto Hernandez), so it’s not age that’s causing the decline. So what’s the deal? Who is this Rays pitcher who is obviously struggling so mightily so far this season?

That pitcher is the now 4-0 Matt Moore, who has an ERA just above 1.00 and has looked very good, except for some control problems that have been more than made up for with excellent pitching from the slide-step as well as the windup. So what is it about Moore, a serially slow starter in his career, that is causing success despite decreased velocity?

Matt Moore’s velocity is down, too. I think he’s handling it okay. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

According to Brooks Baseball, Matt Moore is showing a lot more horizontal movement on his fastball this April compared to last April. The ball is sweeping across the zone rather than dropping down it, meaning batters aren’t convinced the pitch he’s throwing is a strike. This has led to a very sharp increase in called strikes on his fastball, up almost 7% from last April. He’s not getting players to swing and miss on his fastball as often, but that’s okay, because he’s still only allowing a .200 batting average against on his fastball, which is .050 points better than last year at this point in the season.

So the fastball is moving more, and traveling slower. The lack of velocity has been more than made up for by nastier stuff that’s more deceiving to hitters. And of course, the almighty velocity number doesn’t matter quite as much with the curveball, which Moore has been using to devastating effect in 2013. Last year, in a very small sample size, Moore allowed a hit every other at-bat that featured a curveball, and struck out about one-tenth of those batters. This season, he has 11 strikeouts and a .087 batting average against on the curve. He’s slowing down the fastball, and setting up a nasty curve, and it’s working wonders for the young Rays’ hurler, who is off to arguably the best start for a pitcher in Rays’ history.

So before you worry too much about your favorite fantasy baseball pitchers’ velocity  consider the case of Matt Moore first. Velocity is not the end-all, be-all for a MLB pitcher. Combine a crop in velocity with other warning signs and factors, and you may have reason for concern. But losing speed on a fastball doesn’t always mean a pitcher isn’t throwing it as well. Sometimes it just means he’s throwing it differently. And for Matt Moore, different is better so far in 2013.

Hellickson got his night off to a great start, striking out two of his first three batters faced en route to a 1-2-3 first frame. He would get some run support in the second inning, when Matt Joyce hit a solo home run to right field on a line drive that just cleared the fence.

That homerun was the only mistake for Jarrod Parker, who pitched very well for the Athletics. Other than the Joyce home run, he kept the Rays’ bats in check over the first two innings, despite some early issues with control.

Jennings may not have impressed at the plate, but he did have a unique night in the field. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

In the top of the third, Desmond Jennings would provide Hellickson with some very unique defensive support. With one out in the inning, Eric Sogard reached on an infield single that took an off bounce off the turf on its way to Evan Longoria. Coco Crisp would then fly out to shallow center, and Sogard took off on contact, and rounded second base hard, intent on reaching third. Desmond was on his way in to catch the ball, and simply continued to the dugout, tagging first base on his way, for an “8-unassisted” double play. Sogard didn’t even attempt to round the bases back to first, so it was a very easy, but unique, double play for Desmond.

The Rays would get some additional strong defense at first base in the fifth, as Derek Norris walked to start the inning. The A’s catcher would drift off of first with Josh Reddick up, and twice Jose Molina would come within milliseconds of catching him off the base, with James Loney‘s tags narrowly missing the A’s backstop. Justice would be served later in the at-bat, as Reddick would line out to Yunel Escobar, and Norris found himself too far off of first for the third time, and it would be his downfall, as Loney snagged a high throw from Yunel just in time.

Jarrod Parker would exit in the seventh inning, logging 6 1/3 innings pitched with 6 hits allowed, issuing 2 walks, striking out 5 and allowing only the one run on the Joyce homer.

Hellickson would be done after the seventh, when he would be replaced by Joel Peralta. Hellickson finished with an impressive line over 7 innings: 3 hits and 1 walk (and none of these runners would advance to second), 6 strikeouts, and no runs allowed. He had excellent control and did not struggle putting batters away, throwing some excellent put-away pitches on his strikeouts.

Peralta and Fernando Rodney would not let Hellickson down, as the A’s would only put one runner on base over the final two innings (Coco Crisp on an error by Ryan Roberts). The Rays would likewise fail to score down the stretch, but the one run from Joyce was all that was needed.

Rays Notes: Jose Molina was the only Rays’ player to get more than one hit, as the Rays’ lineup was held in check by A’s pitching. Ben Zobrist had a chance to hit with the bases loaded and grounded out, moving the Rays’ to 1-14 with the bases loaded in this brief season. Evan Longoria reached base on a single, meaning he has reached safely in every game this season, and dating back to last season the streak is 31 straight games. The Rays were able to keep Jed Lowrie in check, as the shortstop was 0-3 to follow-up his 4-4 performance last night.