The Heater

Video: Lueke on losing game

Reliever Josh Lueke talks about his difficulties in trying to get through the seventh inning Monday, which cost the Rays the game.

Video: Odorizzi on first Rays start

RHP Jake Odorizzi talks about his first start for the Rays, going 5 innings with a no-decision vs. Toronto.

Escobar's home run reaction concerns Maddon

After being booed throughout the afternoon in his first game back in Toronto, Rays SS Yunel Escobar got his say with a two-out homer in the ninth inning.

But Escobar may have gone too far when, after a slow trot around the bases, he slashed his arms - in an exaggerated "safe" gesture - as he crossed home plate.

Rays manager Joe Maddon didn't like it - and said he would talk to Escobar to make sure it didn't happen again.

"I'm sure that was an emotional moment for him,'' Maddon said. "The booing probably promoted the reaction that he had and I'm going to talk to him about that tomorrow. I loved the fact that he competed like he did. We've been talking about how well he's been doing. He's been doing great. I love him on this team, I love him in the clubhouse, I love everything about this young man. But I still want to talk to him about the reaction after the home run. And I'm certain you're not going to see that again.'

Escobar said, however, the gesture was not special for today and he has done it before. …

Lueke falters as Rays drop Odorizzi's debut, 7-5

TORONTO - Jake Odorizzi overcame a shaky beginning to give the Rays a decent first start, but reliever Josh Lueke couldn't do his part as the Rays ended up losing to the Jays 7-5 in a Victoria Day holiday matinee in Toronto.

 The Rays, who had won three straight in Baltimore, dropped to 23-21.

Odorizzi gave up two runs in a 29-pitch first inning and then another in the second, but settled down and retired 10 of his last 11 hitters in working five innings total. The 23-year-old, called up to take the place of injured David Price, allowed three runs on five hits, walking one and striking out six. He was pulled after 92 pitches.

The Rays tied with some hustle and muscle, Sam Fuld beating out a potential double-play to score Evan Longoria in the second, and then Longoria - who already had extended his career-best hitting streak to 14 games, doubling in Matt Joyce and Ben Zobrist.

The score was 3-3 until the seventh when the Rays turned to Lueke, who had been impressive since his call-up. But he was not sharp today, walking the bases loaded - around a sac bunt and a hard line out toleft - and then giving up a smash into the leftfield corner by Edwin Encarnacion that scored three runs.

The Jays tacked on another run vs. Kyle Farnsworth in the eighth.

The Rays closed the gap from 7-3 to 7-5 when former Jay Yunel Escobar, booed throughout the day by the Rogers Centre fans, hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth. He took a slow trot around the bases and slashed his arms - like an exaggerated safe sign - when he crossed the plate.

The Rays got two more on but Ben Zobrist struck out to end it.

The Rays play the second game of their series with the Jays on Tuesday night, with RHP Alex Cobb taking on veteran RHP Ramon Ortiz.

Maddon: Umps were wrong, it's 'baseball anarchy' to 'make stuff up'

Getty Images

Joe Maddon said had the umps changed the call to foul afer the review, he would have played the game under protest.

Rays manager Joe Maddon insisted Monday he was right — and the umpires were wrong — in their interpretation of the replay rules on Sunday and called it "baseball anarchy" and "sandlot" for crew chief Gerry Davis to "make stuff up on the field."

Maddon said he it waiting for clarification from MLB officials but is confident that his position was correct, that the umps could only use replay to determine if Matt Joyce's drive was a home run or, as called, a double, and not to determine if it was foul, as O's manager Buck Showalter argued.

Davis told a pool reporter after the game that, "If we go to replay, whatever we ascertain from the replay is the call we make. So a foul ball is a possibility in that situation."

Maddon said Monday, "I disagree because that would be just a rule that is made up on the spot. Doubles are not reviewable as a boundary call. Home runs are."

Maddon said had the umps changed the call to foul afer the review, he would have played the game under protest.

"Regardless of what they say, that rule is not in the book where you can change a double to a foul ball, as far as I know," he said. …

For starters: Rays at Jays, on Victoria Day

JAMES BORCHUCK | Times

Jake Odorizzi makes his debut for the Rays after being acquired in December from the Royals.

UPDATE, 12:27: Maddon said he got a good vibe from seeing Odorizzi last night and this morning in the hotel lobby and the clubhouse. ... C Jose Molina ran today and is feeling better. Maddon said Molina, who left Saturday game with left hamsting tightness, is available today and "hopefully he can play tomorrow.'' ... Maddon said wished it hadn't rained in New York on Sunday, leading the Jays to push knuckleballer R.A. Dickey back to today's start.

Jays lineup:
Cabrera lf
Bautista rf
Encarnacion 1b
Lind dh
Lawrie 3b
Rasmus cf
Bonifacio 2b
Blanco c
Kawasaki ss
Dickey p

DEVELOPING: Coming off an impressive three-game sweep of the Orioles, the Rays have a holiday matinee date with the Jays today on Victoria Day.

It will be a special day for RHP Jake Odorizzi as well, as he makes his debut for the Rays after being acquired in the December trade - with that Wil Myers guy - for James Shields.

Odorizzi will be only the 17th starter used by the Rays since the start of the '08 season, three fewer than any other team (Giants 20) and eight fewer than any AL team (Twins 25). The Jays have used 35 in that stretch. …

Morning after, more on Moore

There are multiple ways to quantify and compare what Rays LHP Matt Moore has done in starting the season 8-0. Here's a pretty good breakdown from the Rays:

* He leads the majors in wins.

* At 23, he is the youngest pitcher with 8 wins on this date since CLE Greg Swindell had 8 wins in 1988.

* His 8 wins are as many wins as the entire starting staff of the Marlins.

* He is the youngest pitcher to start the season 8-0 exclusively as a starter since LAA Jered Weaver started the season 9-0 in 2006.

* Is the first lefty to start the season 8-0 exclusively as a starter since BAL Jimmy Key in 1997 (8-0).

* He is the youngest AL lefty to start the season 8-0 exclusively as a starter since BOS Babe Ruth began the 1917 season 8-0 at age 22.

Video: Odorizzi on starting Monday

Rays RHP Jake Odorizzi talks about getting called up to replace injured David Price and starting Monday in Toronto.

Video: Rays Moore on going 8-0

Rays LHP Matt Moore reached a major accomplishment in going 8-0, though you can't really tell by his reaction.

Moore gets 8th win as Rays sweep O's

  LHP Matt Moore became the first eight-game winner in the majors as the Rays completed a three-game sweep of the Orioles with a 3-1 win.
  Moore moved to a perfect 8-0 in working seven innings, allowing the one runs and five hits, striking out three. Joel Peralta worked the eighth and Fernando Rodney, who blew his last save chance on Thursday, the ninth for his eight save.
  The Rays moved to a season-high three games over .500 at 23-20, and open a three-game series at Toronto on Monday.
  The Rays took a 1-0 lead in the third when Yunel Escobar, the first batter to reach for either team, drew a two-out walk and came around on Desmond Jennings’ double to left. The O’s tied it in the fourth when Joyce and Desmond Jennings nearly collided on Manny Machado’s drive to right-center, resulting in a triple, then the run on Adam Jones’  single.
   The Rays took the lead with a pair of home runs. One was simple, a leadoff shot by ex-Oriole Luke Scott in the fifth.
    The other, not so much. Matt Joyce lined a ball that hit at the top of the rightfield wall and just below the foul pole. The umpires initially called it fair, and, with Joyce at second, thus a double.
  Which led to both managers protesting – the Orioles Buck Showalter that it was foul, the Rays Joe Maddon that it was a home run. The umps talked it over with each manage, then amongst themselves, then paired off two with each manager, then huddled again before finally going to the replay – and ruling it was, as most viewers knew, a home run.

For starters: Rays at Orioles, seeking Moore's 8th

UPDATE, 12:23: With a fresh arm in LHP Jeff Beliveau, Maddon said the bullpen is pretty much back to full strength, with only Cesar Ramos likely unavailable. .. C Jose Molina is available on what Maddon said was an emergency basis. ..A break for Matt Moore in that O's are not playing C Matt Wieters, who was 6-for-11 against him with two homers.

Here is the Orioles lineup:

Markakis rf
Machado 3b
Jones cf
Davis 1b
Pearce lf
Hardy ss
Valencia dh
Navarro 2b
Snyder c
Tillman p

DEVELOPING: After two straight tense wins over the Orioles, the Rays will look to make it a clean sweep today, and will have major-league wins leader Matt Moore on the mound looking to go 8-0.

C Jose Molina, who left Saturday's game with left hamstring tightness, was moving around the clubhouse okay this morning but is not in the lineup.

Here is the Rays lineup:
Jennings cf
Joyce rf
Zobrist 2b
Longoria 3b
Loney 1b
Scott dh
Johnson lf
Lobaton c
Escobar ss
Moore p

Torres demoted, Beliveau promoted, Odorizzi next

The Rays took the next move in a multi-step shuffle to get their pitching staff back to full strength and replace injured David Price in the rotation.

After Saturday's impressive outing, LHP Alex Torres was optoned back to Triple-A Durham, and reliever LHP Jeff Beliveau was promoted.

Beliveau, acquired last month from Texas, is likely only here for the day, an extra arm to help out a bullpen that has been shorthanded due to heavy use.

After today's game, Beliveau is set to be sent back to Triple-A Durham so the Rays have room to add RHP Jake Odorizzi, who will start on Monday in Toronto in Price's place.

Odorizzi is Monday starter

The Rays made the official announcement after Saturday's game that RHP Jake Odorizzi will start Monday in Toronto in place of David Price.

The corresponding move to create space on the roster for Odorizzi will be announced after Sunday's game.

Odorizzi was the Rays choice based on his work on Durham, and the decision was not dependent on Saturday's game - such as whether Alex Torres was used - since Odorizzi was already in Baltimore before the game was over.

Rays rally big in 9th for 10-6 win

   Whatever momentum the Rays had left after Friday's tenser-than-it-had-to-be 12-10 win over the Orioles seemd to be sapped by a rough first inning Saturday when starter Roberto Hernandez put them in a four-run hole.
  But the Rays (22-20) scored enough to get back in, and relievers Cesar Ramos and Alex Torres did a good job keeping it close to set up a big finish, a rally for six runs in the ninth that instead gave them a rewarding 10-6 win on a cool, damp Preakness afternoon in Baltimore.
    Matt Joyce was the offensive star, knocking in a career-high matching five runs, most importantly witrh a two-run double that put the Rays ahead 7-6 as they rallied against usually dominant Orioles closer Jim Johnson. Joyce also homered in the third and doubled in a run in the fifth.
   Torres got the win for his impressive work, four innings with no hits and two walks.
    The six runs in the ninth were one short of the Rays record. Their rally started with a one-out homer by Kelly Johnson, then walks to Jose Lobaton and Yunel Escobar, and a bloop, broken-bat single by Desmond Jennings. Joyce dodubled in two runs, then Ben Zobrist did the same.After a bloop double by Evan Longoria - extending his hitting streak to a career-high matching 12 - James Loney was walked and Luke Scott drew a walk to force in the final run.
  The Rays did tie a team record with eight doubles in the game, and logged 10 extra base hits for the first time since June 2009 vs. Colorado.

Molina leaves game in 5th with left hamstring tightness

UPDATE, 6:09: Molina left the game with tightness in his left hamstring and is day to day, the Rays said.

DEVELOPING: Rays catcher Jose Molina left the game in the fifth inning Saturday with an apparent lower body injury.

Molina was running hard to get to second after lining a ball off the CF wall, and just after arriving, standing up, he called time and left the field with a trainer.

Molina had twice left games this season with right knee bruises after being hit by foul tips.

Jose Lobaton took Molina's place.