The Tampa Bay Rays will try “bullpenning” against a veteran pitcher who has gone on record despising the concept when they continue a three-game interleague series in San Francisco against the Giants on Saturday afternoon.
The Rays went the traditional route on the mound in the series opener, getting six shutout innings from right-hander Tyler Glasnow in a 5-2 win.
Tampa Bay followed its starter with four relievers, including closer Jose Alvarado, who retired former Rays fan favorite Evan Longoria on a fly ball to right field to end the game when Longoria represented the potential game-tying run.
The disappointing finish no doubt left Longoria in no mood to follow up on a pre-series plan to catch up with some of his former teammates off the field during the three-game set.
Day games on Friday and Saturday would allow for such a casual hook-up to occur.
“I’d like to be able to make time if not for just a beer or something, just to say hello outside of kind of competing on the field,” Longoria told reporters before the series. “I think they owe me that. And I owe them that.”
Longoria, acquired by the Giants in a trade in December of 2017 after having spent his first 10 seasons with the Rays, went 0-for-5 with a strikeout Friday in his first game against his old mates.
Rays manager Kevin Cash announced after the win that right-hander Ryne Stanek (0-0, 0.00) would be his “opener” in Saturday’s rematch.
Stanek is expected to set the stage for righty Yonny Chirinos, who threw seven innings of two-hit ball in a 3-1 win over Houston on Sunday.
Neither Stanek nor Chirinos has ever faced the Giants.
San Francisco is slated to counter with veteran Jeff Samardzija (0-0, 0.00), who began his 2019 season in impressive form by giving up only one unearned run over five innings in a 3-1 loss to San Diego on Sunday.
The 34-year-old has started three times against the Rays in his career, going 1-0 with a 2.35 ERA.
On Saturday, he’ll have to deal with Tommy Pham, who broke Johnny Damon’s club record by reaching base in his 40th straight game in the series opener via a third-inning single.
Samardzija, who has come out of the bullpen in 123 of his 329 career appearances, went on record during spring training to note that he prefers starting, not “bullpenning.”
That’s not an unusual stance for veteran pitchers on veteran-laden teams, Cash has recognized. The Giants began the season with the oldest average player age in the National League.
Cash has noted the concept works well for his young staff. And it doesn’t impact how his team closes games, with impressive lefty Alvarado being saved for the end.
Alvarado threw 21 pitches to record his third save of the season Friday. All but four were his power sinker, which ranged from 96 to 99 mph.
“As long as that pitch keeps making that effect, I have to keep throwing it,” Alvarado insisted to reporters this week. “The movement that I’ve been able to get on that pitch is incredible.”