Nick Martinez has been the guy the Rays have needed time and time again. He’s been the clubhouse leader. He’s changed and set tones left and right. And on the field, on his bump day, Martinez has delivered.
Nick Martinez has had a few bumps along the road, but the thing that has made Martinez the true stopper the Rays have needed is he basically doesn’t have two bumps in a row.
Last time out, Martinez was not sharp at home and Toronto chased him early. Today, with the Rays continuing to drop series and facing down a sweep in Baltimore, Martinez came out and delivered the ace level performance that the Rays have counted on all year.
6 innings pitched, 0 walks, and just 1 measly hit (although more on that later thanks to Johnny DeLuca defense). Most importantly for a Rays club that has struggled in every facet: 0 runs given up. Kept the game tied and allowed the Rays bats to not have to chase or claw their way back.
After the Rays were able to score, Martinez came back out for the bottom of the 6th and again delivered the shutdown inning that has eluded the Rays during this recent 3 series losing streak.
Rays needed a starter to give them length, to shut down a team, to give their offense a chance to steal a win, give the bullpen a breather, and Nick Martinez delivered in every possible way.
It’s been awhile since the Rays were able to contributions in the clutch from their big 3. We have seen Yandy and Junior have individual heroics, and while Aranda is still very much in his multi month long slump, Aranda is still capable of some quality of his own. Finally, closing out yet another disapointing series for a team really scuffling to put anything good on film lately, they all three came through to give the Rays a lead.
With 2 outs in the 6th, Yandy got it started with a classic Diaz oppo field sharp groundball single. Aranda followed it up with a sharp grounder that found space to get Yandy to 3rd. That extra bit of hustle from Yandy would prove useful as a wild pitch would allow the big man to rumble home to give the Rays a 1-0. Junior followed it up with a base hit up the middle to score Aranda, and suddenly the Rays offense had a pulse! Liam Hicks would draw a walk, and then the red hot Chandler Simpson would knock in the 3rd run, driving home a hustling Junior Caminero with the smooth trea Turner-esque slide.
Rays are built around pitching, timely hitting, and defense. We got the first two, and oh boy did we ever get the last one too. Particularly, Johnny DeLuca was a man possessed in the field today.
DeLuca saved a run early with a spectacular route and leaping catch at the wall.
And later on DeLuca doubled up with a diving catch to erase yet another hit
In a game so tight, with so few opportunities for the Rays offense to mount a threat, it was DeLuca who proved to be the difference. Baltimore yet again came within a swing of extending the game, and a few of their swings seemed destined for damage if not for DeLuca’s dynamite day in the field.
Baltimore gave the Rays a threat in the 9th, once again bringing the tying run to the plate three times. However on this day, Bryan Baker was able to lock in and close it out to extend his MLB best 37 saves.
Rays continue to cling to a fleeting division lead while they travel to Detroit to conclude this lengthy road trip.
