The Rays might not be headed for the postseason in 2017, but Friday night assured they will finish right behind the 2 playoff teams in their division. The Rays topped the Baltimore Orioles to clinch 3rd place in the American League East with a 7-0 victory. Evan Longoria reached a milestone with his 20th homerun of the season and Logan Morrison continued his push for 40 with his 38th blast of the year. The Rays pitching also combined for a shutout after Jake Odorizzi had to leave early with an apparent injury.
Things started slow for both teams. Jake Odorizzi rolled through Baltimore for the 1st few innings and Wade Miley looked like he would have one of his better starts of the year. It didn’t take long though for Miley’s achilles heel all season to creep up. He started walking batters early and Evan Longoria’s fielder’s choice got the Rays on the board in the 3rd. Miley’s control struggles continued in the 4th when he would walk Daniel Robertson with the bases loaded to double the Rays lead.
Jake Odorizzi’s night would end earlier than expected. The right hander left before starting the 5th inning with right knee soreness. His bullpen, starting with Brad Boxberger and Ryne Stanek, wouldn’t leave him hanging though. The bats also would continue to add on insurance. Longoria would assure that he reached 20 homeruns for the 9th time in his 1st 10 seasons with a 5th inning blast. Tampa Bay would add 3 more in the bottom of the 7th. The scoring was started by a Morrison homer and then followed by Curt Casali and Brad Miller sacrifice fly-outs. The bullpen would then secure the victory and finish off one of the more complete games of the season for the Rays.
The Rays will continue the final series of the season on Saturday night. Miguel Castro will go for Baltimore against Chris Archer for Tampa Bay. 1st pitch is scheduled for 6:10 for the final game on WDAE in 2017. Our coverage begins at 4 pm as Jay Recher hosts the Inside Pitch.