Another series finale, another game where the Orioles are just hoping to avoid a sweep. The team is on a five game losing streak, and will likely need a very strong start from Brad Bergesen. In won't be an easy day for O's batters, having to face hard-throwing lefty David Price. Definitely a contrast in styles between the two starters.
Rays' line-up:
| |
Bat |
Pos |
Batting |
| Rodriguez, Sean |
R |
2B |
.176/.222/.176 |
| Crawford, Carl |
L |
LF |
.360/.433/.640 |
| Zobrist, Ben |
S |
RF |
.323/.364/.548 |
| Longoria, Evan |
R |
3B |
.286/.344/.536 |
| Pena, Carlos |
L |
1B |
.308/.379/.577 |
| Upton, BJ |
R |
CF |
.250/.344/.321 |
| Burrell, Pat |
R |
DH |
.200/.304/.250 |
| Brignac, Reid |
L |
SS |
.556/.556/.889 |
| Navarro, Dioner |
S |
C |
.227/.261/.227 |
Price's strong 2010 debut:
| K/9 |
BB/9 |
HR/9 |
GB rate |
FIP^ |
xFIP^ |
|
| 8.2 |
3.5 |
0.0 |
47.8% |
2.29 |
4.07 |
|
His stuff
^ from that start:
He throws a hard fastball, but then can also take a little off to add some movement to it. The change isn't a fantastic pitch, but there is that big speed disparity to deal with. He compliments the heater with a hard slider and a slower curve that had a fair bit of movement on it. Another Rays' pitcher with very good stuff, but the control isn't always there.
The O's crew:
| |
Bat |
Pos |
Batting |
| Jones, Adam |
R |
CF |
.229/.250/.400 |
| Wigginton, Ty |
R |
2B |
.286/.286/.714 |
| Markakis, Nick |
L |
RF |
.192/.417/.269 |
| Tejada, Miguel |
R |
SS |
.212/.278/.364 |
| Reimold, Nolan |
R |
LF |
.158/.273/.368 |
| Scott, Luke |
L |
DH |
.227/.320/.545 |
| Atkins, Garrett |
R |
1B |
.250/.276/.357 |
| Tatum, Craig |
R |
C |
.000/.000/.000 |
| Izturis, Cesar |
S |
SS |
.250/.318/.250 |
More movement, with Adam "Mr. Swing at Everything*" Jones in the lead-off spot. Wieters finally gets a day off. If the line-up manages 4 runs I'll be pretty happy.
* By "Everything" I mean almost half of pitches out of the strike-zone (45.1% according to FanGraphs). Yikes.
Bergesen:
| K/9 |
BB/9 |
HR/9 |
GB rate |
FIP |
xFIP |
|
| 3.9 |
1.9 |
1.9 |
42.1% |
5.51 |
5.07 |
|
If Bergy's locating the ball at the bottom of the strike-zone he'll be effective .
