Rays of Light

Game 11
We don’t yet know if it’s for 4 weeks for 15 years, but we do know that the Evan Longoria Era begins tonight at Tropicana Field, as the third baseman makes his much anticipated debut against Daniel Cabrera and the Baltimore Orioles. It’s hard to imagine that anyone could live up to the kind of expectations that Longoria is going to have on his shoulders - heck, can you imagine how nervous he’s going to be? - but you can bet there will be a fun kind of electricity in the ballpark tonight as Evan Almighty prepares to take his first cuts in a real live big league game.
Oh yeah, and Jason Hammel will continue to try and prove that he belongs in the big league rotation. Though you suspect that his spot is safe once Scott Kazmir comes back thanks to the injury to Matt Garza, you can bet that if Jeff Niemann outpitches him for a few starts that the Rays brass will think long and hard before sending the 8-foot freak of nature back to the minors. Of course, with the way Edwin Jackson’s throwing, this is quite moot as when Garza’s back, the starting rotation is essentially set. Still, Hammel gets a chance to prove that he’s still deserving of a big league paycheck tonight.

What to watch for: I like this match-up for a few reasons. Hammel had a respectable outing against the Yankees last time out and is catching an Orioles team that is really scuffling over the last few days. They are tired, they are cranky, and they are probably a little down on themselves. If Hammel can work ahead and utilize his breaking pitches, he could be in for a nice outing tonight. Moreover, I love the matchup of the Rays’ suddenly alive lineup against the very iffy Daniel Cabrera. We hit him pretty well in Game 2; in fact, everyone looks like they can hit him right now.

Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Jason Hammel - Hammel got off to a rough start against the Yankees Monday night when he surrendered a two-run homer to Bobby Abreu in the first. But he settled into a rhythm, showing good composure and command of his pitches while adding four scoreless frames to his line. The Yankees added two more in the sixth to hand Hammel his first loss of the season, but overall he had an encouraging outing. Hammel is 0-3 with an 8.84 ERA in four starts against the Orioles; he is 0-5 with a 6.87 ERA at Tropicana Field.

Daniel Cabrera - Cabrera completed six innings in his last start, but he also gave up two home runs and four earned runs. The right-hander has given up 10 earned runs in his first two outings of the year, and he’s walked nine batters against seven strikeouts. Cabrera has led the American League in walks for two straight seasons and is a distinct threat this year.

Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Daniel Cabrera.

View the game preview from Baseball Reference.


TAMPA BAY RAYS
BALTIMORE ORIOLES
2B - Akinori Iwamura 2B - Brian Roberts
LF - Carl Crawford 3B - Melvin Mora
1B - Carlos Pena RF - Nick Markakis
CF - B.J. Upton 1B - Kevin Millar
DH - Eric Hinske DH - Aubrey Huff
3B - Evan Longoria LF - Luke Scott
RF - Nathan Haynes C - Ramon Hernandez
C - Shawn Riggans CF - Adam Jones
SS - Elliot Johnson SS - Luis Hernandez

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