It was the top of the first inning and something very strange was happening.
A Rays pitcher — in this case Ryan Pepiot — threw four balls to a player, who then took first base.
This, I’ve been told, is called a “walk,” and we hadn’t seen one from a Rays pitcher since Opening Day, when Pepiot and Pete Fairbanks had give up a total of three.
It was one sign that, while the Rays pitching was certainly not terrible, we were not looking at an elite, sterling performance.
Or at least we weren’t looking at an elite performance from the Rays.
We certainly knew runs would be hard to come by, facing last year’s Rookie of the Year, the acclaimed Paul Skenes. He delivered as expected, allowing the Rays just one run on three hits, all singles, and walking none.
Although Pittsburgh had four runs, the differentiators were in the form of two big hits. In the second inning, Ke’Bryan Hayes ended up on third base after Rays centerfielder Jonny DeLuca made the poor choice to dive for a sinking liner. He missed and the ball shot past him, allowing Hayes to turn it into a triple. In the fifth inning, Oneil Cruz homered for Pittsburgh’s second run.
They scored two additional runs by clustering a few well timed hits and productive outs against Rays relievers.
Given how little offense the Rays had — a few lonely singles, two walks — it’s amazing they got two runs. I guess the upside of not getting on base very often is that we can’t complain about lost opportunities — they only had 4 runners left on base.
Kudos to DeLuca and our new favorite player Jake Magnum for getting hits at all. On the negative side of the ledger, Ben Rortvedt has yet to get a hit this season (with limited playing time to be fair). Curtis Mead (whose “Hot Boy Spring” is clearly over) failed to deliver in the 8th inning, when the Rays were facing not Skenes but the bullpen, and had an opportunity to add a few runs. Mead, also, has failed to get a hit so far this season.
Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
Look, when you are facing the other team’s true ace, you have to get very lucky to eke out the win. That did not happen today, but I’ll take the series win.