SP David Price out dueled SP Roy Halladay to earn his 3rd victory of the season and secure the series sweep for the Rays early Thursday afternoon. Price looked much better than his previous start going 6 innings scattering 6 hits, 1 ER, 1 free pass while striking out 7. This was a VAST improvement from his last outing in Arlington! The thing that I found most impressive was his battery mate, Michel Hernandez. This guy works so well with young pitchers it’s awesome to watch. He called a great game for Price and Price hit his spots thus we win. Hernandez is by far, in my opinion, the best catcher on our roster. He calls great games, has confidence in what he does and the pitchers seem to respond well to him. I’d like to see him suit up more often especially in tandem with Price and Niemann.
The offense did just enough to get by this game. They were 3 for 11 with RISP but that’s all we needed with the pitching we got today. Carlos Pena came through with a big 2 run double in the 5th to put the Rays ahead for good. Carl Crawford continues to tear up the base path swiping #44 that lead to the Rays first run of the game.
This was a great series sweep heading into the weekend! It is nice to put a little cushion between us and the Jays and keep up with the Red Sox and Yankees. Looking forward to more of the same when the Rays take on the A’s this weekend!
See you at The Trop
