Jake Odorizzi hadn’t lived up to the standard that he has set throughout his career lately. That changed on Monday night. The right hander turned in what was probably his best start of the season. Odorizzi pitched 7 strong innings, allowing only 1 hit, a home run to Khris Davis. The offense got him just enough run support thanks to homers from Steven Souza Jr. and Evan Longoria. Things got interesting for Alex Colome in the 9th, but he rebounded to get Ryon Healy to groundout and draw the Rays within 2 games of 1st place in the AL East.
The scoring opened up early for the Rays again on Monday. Steven Souza’s 19th home run of the year gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning. The Rays were able to double the lead in the next inning when Mallex Smith scored after Oakland couldn’t turn an inning-ending double play on an Evan Longoria grounder.
Jake Odorizzi didn’t allow a hit until the 4th inning. That 1st hit was a big one for the A’s. Khris Davis sent his 26th homer of the season into the stand to cut the lead in half. The Rays would get that lead back to 2 the next inning thanks to the bat of Longoria. Evan added another homer in his home state to make it 3-1.
Odorizzi took advantage of that run support and continued to roll. Jake got through 7 innings allowing just the home run to Davis and retired the final 7 batters he faced. Tommy Hunter replaced Odorizzi in the 8th and only allowed a walk. Alex Colome came in to pitch the 9th and things got more interesting than he would’ve liked. Yonder Alonso led off the inning with a double and then scored on a wild pitch to make it a 1-run game. Colome was then able to hunker down and get Ryon Healy to groundout and end the game.
Tomorrow night will be another addition of Late Night With The Rays in Oakland. Lefty, Blake Snell, will take the mound for Tampa Bay against Chris Smith and the Athletics. 1st pitch is scheduled for 10:07 with coverage beginning at 9 pm with Steve Carney and the Inside Pitch right here on WDAE.