Price’s Start Begins a Nearly Perfect Day for the Rays

May 5, 2011

v. Toronto Blue Jays

Attendance: 12,682

W: David Price (4-3) 3.26 ERA

L: Kyle Drabek (2-2) 4.50 ERA

Summary:

When David Price took the mound today, he looked angry. His last start against the Angels was one of the worst of his career. He went 4.1 innings, gave up 12 hits and five earned runs. He rectified that poor outing with a stellar one today. He overpowered the first three Blue Jay hitters in the first, striking all of them out on swinging strikes.

The Rays took the lead in the third inning against the young stud Kyle Drabek on back to back doubles by Sean Rodriguez and John Jaso. The Rays added two more in the inning on a Johnny Damon single and a Matt Joyce sac fly.

That was all Price would need. He ended up with ten strikeouts–a season high for him. He went into the ninth, looking for a shutout, but the defense betrayed him a bit. John McDonald reached to lead off the inning on a throwing error by Rodriguez. He eventually scored on a couple of productive outs by Blue Jay hitters. Kyle Farnsworth came in to get an out and nail down the 3-1 win.

Johnny Damon had three knocks, and picked up hit number 2,600 today which moved him to 74th on the all-time hit list. It is not out of the realm of possibility that he could hang on to get 3,000 hits.

The Rays picked up another series win by taking two out three from Toronto, but they have yet to really play well at home. They are just 8-9 at Tropicana Field as opposed to an 8-4 mark on the road. In the early going, the Trop has been a pitcher’s park with the Rays only scoring 2.84 runs per game. Meanwhile, they have scored 6.08 runs per game on the road. Their pitching has been slightly better at home–3.17 ERA at Tropicana Field, 3.55 ERA on the road.

Every other AL East team lost today, capping a wonderful day for the Rays. Both the Orioles and the Red Sox got blown out, while the Yankees lost their third in a row to the Tigers. Suddenly, the Rays are only a game out of first heading to Baltimore.

Player of the Game: David Price