Rays 2, Giants 11: Not a good sign when Ben Rortvedt takes the mound
The Rays bullpen struggled again to throw strikes and the Giants took advantage, evening the series
Well, Ben Rortvedt pitched a pair of innings to close this one out and it wasn't because the Rays were up big... So, that is how Saturday afternoon’s game went for the Rays.
We will keep this one short and sweet as there isn’t much to say.
Ryan Pepiot got the start for the Rays opposite Logan Webb of the Giants. Pepiot surrendered a run in the first, a run in the fourth, and two in the fifth. The latter three runs all came with 2 outs and on mistake pitches. Overall it was another strong start for the prized return in the deal that sent Glasnow to the Dodgers this offseason. Despite taking the loss and surrendering four earned over five innings of work, The right hander struck out six and walked one. He allowed five hits, two of which left the yard.
Again, his stuff was good and his outing really boiled down to a pair of mistakes. In the fourth he surrendered solo shot to Thairo Estrada. The blast gave the Giants a 2-1 lead. The following inning, LaMonte Wade Jr. hit his first homer of the year to right-center. It was a two-run blast and extended the lead to 4-1.
With Logan Webb, a perennial Cy Young candidate, on the mound, four runs seemed more than enough for the Giants to even the series at one game a piece. Nonetheless, Devenski followed Pepiot and uhh... wasn't very effective. He covered two innings, walked three, allowed five hits, six earned runs, and two homers. The Giants would jump out to a 10-1 lead in the the blink of an eye and on came Rays catcher, Ben Rortvedt to close things out.
Rortvedt finished the game, throwing two innings and allowed one additional run to cross the plate courtesy of a solo shot, the Giants fifth of the day.
The final score was 11-2 and while a 4-1 lead may have seemed insurmountable with Webb on the mound, it wasn’t impossible. But, walks plagued the Rays pen yet again and the game quickly got out of hand. Webb took the win, his first of the year. He tossed seven innings of one run baseball and only walked one.
Blake Snell will make his first start at the Trop since his time as a member of the Rays came to an end in December of 2020 when they traded the southpaw to San Diego.