Jeff Keppinger pinch-hit for Sean Rodriguez to start the 9th and singled, giving the Rays some hope. But Reid Brignac was blown away by a 98 MPH Verlander fastball, and it looked like he was back in control. Verlander quickly got ahead of Desmond Jennings 1-2. But he missed with a curveball to even the count and then he threw a 99 MPH fastball over the outside corner of the plate and a little up, and somehow Jennings connected, drilling a line drive single to right field to give the Rays first and third with 1 out. The Rays had the tying runs on base… but Verlander was just one groundball from a complete-game shutout as Carlos Pena entered the batter’s box. Pena battled back from 1-2, staying home on two Verlander curveballs down and out of the zone, and then Verlander lost control of his fastball as he ratcheted it up to 100 MPH, throwing a wild pitch for ball four that also allowed Keppinger to score, and suddenly the Rays were within 2-1 with 1st and 2nd and 1 out. Up came Evan Longoria to the plate. Verlander’s 1-1 pitch was another 100 MPH fastball, this one a great pitch down in the zone, but Longoria was able to put bat on ball and hit a bullet groundball just past Miguel Cabrera and into left field, tying the game at 2. That was it for Verlander, but the Rays were not done. After pinch-hitter Elliot Johnson walked versus lefty Daniel Schlereth, Tigers closer Jose Valverde came in to face Ben Zobrist with the bases loaded and the go-ahead run at third base. Zobrist battled with Valverde, working the count to 3-2, and then Valverde gave Zobrist a fastball up and over the plate, and Zobrist drilled a hard single to right-center, scoring 2 as the Rays came all the way back to take a 4-2 lead. After Fernando Rodney worked an easy 1-2-3 ninth inning, that was the final as the Rays came away with a satisfying win from the clutches of defeat.

James Shields didn’t give up. He was put in a tough position to begin with, matched up against Justin Verlander, one of the best pitchers in baseball. And his rough first inning had to be even more disparaging. Shields allowed a single to the red-hot Austin Jackson to begin the game, and after Jackson moved to 2nd on a Brennan Boesch grounder to 1st, Shields allowed an RBI single to Miguel Cabrera to give Detroit a 1-0 lead before Prince Fielder bounced into a 3-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Shields worked around a leadoff baserunner in the 2nd and a Cabrera single coupled with a Fielder walk to allow just the one 1st inning run through the first 4 innings. But Shields was unable to work around an Andy Dirks double to begin the 5th as Dirks advanced to 3rd on a groundball and scored when Shields wanted to throw a pickoff throw to 3rd but Evan Longoria was not covering the bag, leading to Shields stopping his delivery and making the throw, but he threw to Longoria at his normal third base position rather than covering the bag. That was ruled a balk, allowing Dirks to score. But Shields came back with perfect innings in the 6th and 7th and a shutout 8th to finish off his outing and keep the Rays close. Shields tossed 8 innings of 6-hit ball, allowing 2 runs while striking out 5 and walking just 1. 67 of his 105 pitches were strikes. Shields looked uncomfortable all afternoon against the powerful Tigers lineup, but refused to lose his composure on the mound and came away with the win in the game, improving his record to 1-0, as the Rays came back in the 9th.

For those of you who thought James Shields was heading for a rough 2012, don't get ahead of yourselves. Credit: Andrew Weber-US PRESSWIRE

It was huge for Shields to get back on track after his opening day disaster, and his efforts weren’t wasted as the Rays finally figured out something on offense in the 9th, rallying against Verlander and the Tigers relievers to come away with a well-deserved win. After the Tigers pulled away from the Rays in the 8th on Tuesday, the Rays left the Detroit crowd stunned on Wednesday afternoon and let the baseball world know not to disregard their offense. After looking like a team about to be swept for 8 innings on Wednesday, the Rays go for the series win on Thursday with Jeff Niemann making his season debut versus the Tigers’ Drew Smyly in his first major league start. It should be another thrilling game, and hopefully the end result will be the same as today.

They say in business “location, location, location.” That sounds like a nice game plan for a big league starting pitcher as well. Matt Moore‘s control and command were off on the cold afternoon on Tuesday that actually featured occasional snow flurries, so he had to survive with a different slogan “movement, movement, movement.” Moore threw just 59 of his 106 pitches for strikes but allowed just 1 run through 6.2 innings thanks to outstanding movement on his pitches. He was able to utilize the nice late bite on his fastball to force weak pop-ups and get out of trouble. Moore allowed just 4 hits on the day, the final of which was a game-tying solo home run by Austin Jackson, who gave Moore fits all day, seeing 24 pitches as he went 1 for 2 with the homer, 2 walks, and 2 run scored. The earlier run came in the third inning after the Tigers strung together a Jackson walk and a Brennan Boesch single and Jose Molina was unable to block a Moore changeup after the ball apparently hit off of home plate, allowing Jackson to trot home. On the day, Moore went 6.2 innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits, striking out 4 while walking 5 (1 intentional). His numbers weren’t pretty, but he got the job done. Hopefully he can have better command next start and showcase the dominating swing-and-miss stuff we’ve heard legends about from the minor leagues and saw firsthand when he struck out 14 Yankees in 5 innings in his first major league start.

The Rays jumped off to a 1-0 lead in the third after Reid Brignac and Desmond Jennings singled with 2 outs, Carlos Pena was hit by a pitch, and Evan Longoria worked a bases-loaded walk off of Rick Porcello. The Rays grabbed a 2-1 lead in the 7th after Jose Molina doubled (there was fan interference on the play), advanced to third on a Reid Brignac groundout, and scored on a Jennings infield single. That was all the Rays could get off of Tigers starter Rick Porcello, who matched Moore with 7 innings of 2-run ball, allowing 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 4.

Moore exited following the game-tying blast by Jackson and was replaced by Jake McGee, who got out of the inning on a Boesch lineout. But McGee left a fastball up to Miguel Cabrera in the 8th, leading to a double, and Prince Fielder gave the Tigers the lead one batter later with a single up the middle. The Tigers added 2 runs later in the inning off of Burke Badenhop on a Jhonny Peralta sac fly (run charged to McGee) and a Gerald Laird RBI single to put the Rays in a 5-2 hole. Badenhop nearly escaped at 3-2 after forcing a groundball to short that could have been a double play had the Tigers not sent the runners at first and second, but pinch-runner Clete Thomas beat the throw to second, making the Peralta flyball just the second out and another run for the Tigers. 5-2 would be the final as the Rays went down quietly in the 9th against Tigers closer Jose Valverde. Phil Coke (1-0) earned the win for the Tigers while McGee (0-1) took the loss.

Moore survived with little command thanks to the outstanding movement on his pitches, but he finally missed badly on the Jackson homer in the 7th to force the Rays’ hand, and the bullpen simply imploded in the 8th inning. The Rays have to like the resiliency they saw from Moore this afternoon even after he faltered a bit in the 7th, but Jake McGee is a guy who really needs get on track and Badenhop got frustrated after the Tigers avoided a double play on the groundball he forced, and he needs to stay more composed in high pressure situations. The Rays showed some good signs on Tuesday afternoon, specifically from Moore, Desmond Jennings (2 for 4), and Reid Brignac (1 for 3),  but the results were simply not there. The Rays look to rebound tomorrow afternoon against the Tigers with the marquee pitching matchup pitting James Shields against Justin Verlander.

In news that hits closer to home for the Rays, the Blue Jays also completed a deal today. They signed Francisco Cordero to bolster the back of their bullpen. The Blue Jays added Sergio Santos earlier this offseason, and Ken Rosenthal is reporting Cordero will set-up for Santos. Cordero had been the brilliant closer for the Reds, but had to find a new home after the Reds inked Ryan Madson. These two stories are not really Rays related, but certainly change the face of the American League.

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