What to watch for: Matt Garza has been a very different pitcher on the road than he has at home. Hopefully the pitcher-friendly confines of Safeco Field help him reverse that trend and pitch the Rays to a win.
Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Matt Garza – Coming off his first career shutout, Garza wasn’t nearly as economical on the hill on Monday night. The right-hander exited after five innings, in which he threw 102 pitches and was plagued by the long ball. Cleveland’s No. 9 batter, Asdrubal Cabrera, opened the third inning with a solo shot, and David Dellucci went yard for a two-run homer two innings later, as Garza never appeared to settle in on the mound. Garza has faced the Mariners once this season already, in an April 8 contest in which he left with radial nerve irritation after pitching a season-low 2 2/3 innings.
Ryan Rowland-Smith – The left-hander from Australia returns to the Mariners roster as a starting pitcher, possibly for the remainder of the season. Used exclusively as a long reliever, Rowland-Smith was sent to Triple-A Tacoma more than two weeks ago to be converted to a starter and he pitched well in three starts, surrendering two runs in each of them and working his pitch-count to 101 in his most recent outing. He isn’t overpowering, relying instead on command of this fastball and off-speed pitches to keep hitters on their toes. He replaces right-hander Miguel Batista in the rotation.
Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Ryan Rowland-Smith.
View the game preview from Baseball Reference.
| TAMPA BAY RAYS |
SEATTLE MARINERS |
| 2B – Akinori Iwamura | LINEUP 1 |
| CF – B.J. Upton | LINEUP 2 |
| LF – Carl Crawford | LINEUP 3 |
| 1B – Carlos Pena | LINEUP 4 |
| DH – Jason Bartlett | LINEUP 5 |
| SS – Ben Zobrist | LINEUP 6 |
| 3B – Willy Aybar | LINEUP 7 |
| C – Dioner Navarro | LINEUP 8 |
| RF – Gabe Gross | LINEUP 9 |
Be sure to join us in the chat room for some good Rays talk during the game!!!
Tags: Mariners
August 10th, 2008 at 12:36 am
Wheels :( Freaking brutal
August 10th, 2008 at 1:44 am
Wow, it was a late win, but a win nonetheless. Tied the franchise record in wins in early August, this is the dream season. Never thought we’d be in this position. The Rays have assured at least a series split in Seattle, but we want the series win!! JJ Putz threw 46 pitches in two innings tonight so he’s probably unavailable in the M’s pen tomorrow ;)