The Tampa Bay Rays have decided against giving the San Francisco Giants a second helping of their “opener” strategy in Sunday’s finale of a three-game series finale in the Bay Area.
After the Rays’ familiar pitching move backfired Saturday, when their third pitcher over the first five innings was responsible for a rally that put the Giants in the lead for good, Tampa Bay now will go with a traditional starter.
Sunday’s Rays’ starter had been listed as “TBA” until shortly after Saturday’s 6-4 defeat to the Giants.
Yonny Chirinos (1-0, 1.29 ERA), who was expected to follow an opener Saturday, will now start Sunday’s game against the Giants, a team he has never faced. The Rays did not use the right-handed Chirinos on Saturday since the Giants had five left-handers in their lineup.
The difficulties of using an opener in a National League park were evident Saturday. Rays manager Kevin Cash essentially went with two openers to combat the pitcher coming to the plate every ninth batter.
So after Ryne Stanek started and went two innings, Jalen Beeks went two more innings before Cash went to Ryan Yarbrough to absorb a bulk of the innings. Instead, the Giants not only put the first four batters on base against Yarbrough, all four scored.
The Rays used the opener plan opposite Giants starter Jeff Samardzija, who was derisive of the strategy this spring.
“Where did the pride go from the players’ standpoint?” Samardzija said to the San Francisco Chronicle this spring. “Where were the guys in Tampa Bay saying, ‘No, no, no, I’m good enough to go seven innings and get all these outs. You don’t need to do this.’ Everybody’s just accepting what they’re told.”
Despite the defeat Saturday, the Rays remained the surprise early leader in the American League East at 6-3, ahead of expected 2019 powers like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
Even while giving up six runs Saturday, the Rays’ pitching staff still has not allowed 20 runs this season, the only team in baseball under that mark. The Rays can show their 2.09 team ERA, the best in baseball, as a clear sign they know how to manage a pitching staff.
“We can pitch; there’s no denying that,” Cash said, according to mlb.com. “We’ve got some guys that are coming into their own in their careers, and then we have some established guys that kind of complement them.”
After Samardzija gave up three runs on six hits over 4 2/3 innings Saturday, the Giants will turn over the pitching duties to Drew Pomeranz (0-0, 3.60).
Pomeranz was 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA against the Rays last season as a member of the Boston Red Sox. He is 4-3 lifetime against the Rays with a 3.98 ERA in 11 appearances (nine starts).
The Giants drew just 31,828 fans Saturday, their smallest for a game since 2010, with Pomeranz out to give the Giants their first series victory of the season.
“You gotta win to make the playoffs and get people to come to the game,” Samardzija told reporters after Saturday’s game. “It’s an amazing fan base, so loyal and smart about the game. … We have to go out and do our part, too, and start winning a lot of games, start selling out.”