Game 49: One Mistake Costs Moore in Strikeout-Rampant Pitcher’s Duel

We saw the Matt Moore we were waiting to see. We also saw fellow lefty Chris Sale for the White Sox at his best.

Both pitchers were completely on their games. Moore went 7 innings allowing just 4 hits, striking out 10 while walking 1. Sale went 7.1 innings allowing just 3 hits, striking out 15 (!) while walking just 2. He got 6 non-strikeout outs. The difference was the runs column. In the 4th inning, Ben Zobrist singled for the Rays, stole second base, on scored on a Jose Lobaton RBI single in his first game off the DL. That 1-0 lead would hold until the 6th inning.  After a 1-out Gordon Beckham single, Moore left a fastball right down the middle to Adam Dunn and Dunn absolutely destroyed it, drilling a 2-run blast as the White Sox took a 2-1 lead that would be the margin in the game. Sale (6-2) earned the win, Moore dropped to 1-5 despite his great showing, and Addison Reed earned his 5th save for the White Sox. The Rays have to be happy with what they saw from Moore, but in this game he had to be just about perfect and one mistake was enough to lose. James Shields opposes Phillip Humber as the Rays look to even the series on Tuesday night. An additional treat: Hideki Matsui will join the 25-man roster and likely be in the lineup.