Rays 4, Indians 0
Record: 78-58
Attendance: 15,294. Tropicana Field
Austin Pruitt, up and down nine times from the minors so far this season, was in unfamiliar territory Friday night when he was called on to start against the Cleveland Indians. All he did was throw five and a third scoreless innings giving up only four hits, no walks, and striking out six. That damn near makes him the ace of the staff right now--with apologies to Charlie Morton and Ryan Yarbrough.
Unfortunately, Pruitt was gone by the seventh inning when Avisail Garcia singled through the left side to drive in the fist run of the game. Before the inning was over, Jesus Aguilar pulled an outside pitch over the left field fence for a three-run homer making the final score 4-0. Timely hitting, some would say, while others might point out they were held scoreless in the rest of the innings and had eight hits in all.
Following Pruitt were Oliver Drake, the beneficiary of the seventh inning outburst and winner of the game (3-1), Colin Poche, and Andrew Kittredge--all yeomen shutout relievers.
Jose De Leon was sent down to Durham after the game, and righty reliever Ricardo Pinto was called up, having put together 123 and a third innings at the Double A and Triple A levels this year, according to the Tampa Bay Times. On Saturday the first, rosters can be expanded, which will bring new options to Manager Kevin Cash's pitching, hitting, fielding, and base running arsenals. Every game is critical at this point in the season, so Cash will have to find the right formula night by night if he hopes to manage the Rays into the playoffs. Should be fun if it doesn't kill us first.
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