Who would’ve thought that in a rotation with Edwin Jackson and Jason Hammel in it, Matt Garza would be pitching for his job on the first day of May? Though I think he needs to just be “okay” to remain with the big club, a bad start by Matt could make the Rays’ decision easier as it relates to who to keep and who to drop from the roster with the impending returns of Scott Kazmir and Al Reyes. Garza’s too good to be as bad as he’s been, though, so look for him to come out and have a great showing today. Besides, Murphy’s Law says that the decision will only get harder.
It’s an afternoon matinee, so fire up those radios at work. The Rays are looking to win yet another series.
What to watch for: The Rays hitters have knocked Burres around in the past (heck, Andy Cannizaro is a career 1.000 hitter against him!), so they should try to put the hammer down early and get Garza some breathing room. The more comfortable he is, in theory, the better he will be. If Garza struggles we could be looking at a 8-7 kind of game.
Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Matt Garza - Garza returned from the disabled list on Friday night to earn a no-decision in his third start of the season. He survived a three-run uprising by the Red Sox in the second inning — when he threw 40 pitches — and collected himself enough to give the Rays five innings. The 24-year-old right-hander has a mid-90s fastball, a curve, a slider and a changeup. Garza earned a no-decision against the Orioles on April 2 when he allowed earned runs in 5 1/3 innings. He is 3-0 with a 3.68 ERA in four career starts against the O’s.
Brian Burres - Burres threw eight shutout innings in his last outing and has fired 13 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings over his past two starts. The southpaw has pitched into the sixth inning or deeper in three of his four starts this season. Burres, who served as a swingman last season, has been Baltimore’s most reliable starter this year.
Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Brian Burres.
View the game preview from Baseball Reference.
| TAMPA BAY RAYS |
BALTIMORE ORIOLES |
| 2B - Akinori Iwamura | 2B - Brian Roberts |
| LF - Carl Crawford | 3B - Melvin Mora |
| CF - B.J. Upton | RF - Nick Markakis |
| 1B - Carlos Pena | 1B - Kevin Millar |
| 3B - Evan Longoria | DH - Aubrey Huff |
| DH - Jonny Gomes | CF - Adam Jones |
| RF - Eric Hinske | LF - Jay Payton |
| C - Shawn Riggans | C - Guillermo Quiroz |
| SS - Jason Bartlett | SS - Eider Torres |
Be sure to join us in the chat room for some good Rays talk during the game!!!
May 1st, 2008 at 11:12 am
No chat room for me today, boys. Just the comments.
May 1st, 2008 at 11:41 am
Two Crawford walks in two games?!?! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!? :)
May 1st, 2008 at 11:43 am
B.J.!!!
May 1st, 2008 at 11:45 am
/cowbell RBI groundout better than a K
May 1st, 2008 at 11:55 am
Not too bad… worked around that leadoff single. Nice job Matty.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:02 pm
6 walks this series for Hinske… dude keeps on doing good things.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:33 pm
JONNY GOMES!
May 1st, 2008 at 12:46 pm
I hate Aubrey Huff more than Satan-
May 1st, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Uh oh… hope BJ’s okay…
May 1st, 2008 at 12:59 pm
what happened?
May 1st, 2008 at 1:00 pm
just saw he got pinch hit for in the middle of an at bat…
May 1st, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Looks like he might’ve dislocated his shoulder swinging.
May 1st, 2008 at 1:08 pm
oh F…
he has done that before if I remember right and took forever to get his swing right after… this could be really bad…
May 1st, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Iwamura needs to seriously be dropped in the order….
May 1st, 2008 at 1:47 pm
CCCCCCCCC CCCCCCCCCC OWNS YOUR A– WALKER…
May 1st, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Ding ding ding… WE HAVE A WINNER!