Tyler Glasnow leads the way as Rays beat A’s again - Tampa Bay Times

kembaliui.blogspot.com

ST. PETERSBURG — Not everything went smoothy for Tyler Glasnow on Wednesday.

As he headed back to the mound for the seventh inning, he felt a cramp in his right calf, similar to what ailed him — albeit a bit more dramatically — in a few areas a couple weeks ago in New York.

Glasnow ran off the field and back to the Rays dugout, chugged a couple bottles of electrolytes, then went back to complete his impressive night’s work with a seventh shutout inning and 10th strikeout to lead the Rays to a 2-0 win over the A’s.

“You know when Tyler pitches, generally you can expect something that’s going to make you scratch your head,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Almost got through, but that last inning he needed to do something to us.”

Glasnow has that effect on people, even himself.

He made a couple references in his postgame Zoom interview about what wasn’t working Wednesday — how he felt “weirdly uncomfortable,” that his timing and rhythm were again off, how it was almost like he had to grind through the outing, then realized how that sounded given how well he did.

“Can we just forget I said that?” he said later. “I feel like an idiot even saying that.”

He also shared that his mother, Donna, was on his case for the bad words he was shown saying on TV when Kevin Kiermaier made a tremendous running catch in deep center in his final inning.

“My mom texted me like, ‘You’ve got to stop cussing on TV. Cover your mouth or something,’ ” Glasnow said. “But that’s my only reaction I can give him. It’s just unbelievable. Every time he does something, I’m like in shock every time.”

The Rays logged their fourth shutout (tied for most in the AL), but pitching — with Jeffrey Springs and Diego Castillo teaming for the final six outs — and defense weren’t the whole story.

Rays third base coach Rodney Linares congratulates Mike Zunino on a solo home run off starter Cole Irvin during the fifth inning. [ STEVE NESIUS | Associated Press ]

The Rays (13-12) are still having some issues at the plate and gave away two outs with baserunning mistakes — “I asked (bench coach Matt Quatraro) if it was a full moon,” Cash said — but got the runs they needed on a brief outburst with two outs in the fifth.

First on a quick strike by catcher Mike Zunino, who crushed a 2-2 sinker from lefty Cole Irvin for his fifth homer of the season. The ball was clocked at 113 mph off his bat and estimated at a distance of 466 feet by Statcast, though its actual flight was interrupted by hitting the C-ring catwalk.

“I would have liked to have seen where the ball would have gone had it not hit one of the rings, because he got every bit of it,” Cash said.

Then Brett Phillips came back from an 0-2 count to draw a walk. Randy Arozarena sent him to third with a single. And Manuel Margot — who made one of the baserunning blunders, with Yandy Diaz the other — got Phillips home with a rarity for the Rays: an actual hit with a runner in scoring position, just their second in their last 38 opportunities.

The paucity of scoring — 15 runs total over the first six games of the homestand — made what Glasnow did even more important. He scattered five hits and two walks while reaching double digits in strikeouts in back-to-back games for the first time.

He worked ahead, throwing first-pitch strikes to 22 of 27 batters, including 13 straight. And he got out of what little trouble he had, striking out Aramis Garcia with two on to end the second, and getting Seth Brown to ground out with runners on third and second with two outs in the sixth.

“He recognizes, I think all of our pitchers recognize right now, that runs are at a premium and they’re not coming easy for us,” Cash said. “Just really appreciative of Tyler’s efforts to keep it right there and buy the offense a little bit of time to give them a little bit of support.”

And provide the entertainment for the night as well.

• • •

Sign up for the Rays Report weekly newsletter to get fresh perspectives on the Tampa Bay Rays and the rest of the majors from sports columnist John Romano.

Never miss out on the latest with the Bucs, Rays, Lightning, Florida college sports and more. Follow our Tampa Bay Times sports team on Twitter and Facebook.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

"again" - Google News
April 29, 2021 at 09:34AM
https://ift.tt/3aNF0YJ

Tyler Glasnow leads the way as Rays beat A’s again - Tampa Bay Times
"again" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2YsuQr6
https://ift.tt/2KUD1V2

Bagikan Berita Ini