After Jeremy Hellickson's complete game shut out against the Orioles last night, Wade Davis will have his work cut out for him to match that performance. He'll be facing off against Brad Bergesen in an afternoon game (4:10 PM) today at the Trop.
Wade Davis (3.07 ERA, 4.07 FIP) had a rough time against the Orioles during his start last weekend, allowing three runs in five innings while walking five and only striking out three. He averaged nearly two baserunners per inning, and was lucky in the end to escape with only allowing three runs. It was an off performance for Davis this year, as he has lowered his velocity to give him increased control for the most part, and he won't be able to continue succeeding with this wildness if his strikeout rate doesn't increase. Tonight will be a bit of a test for him, as we see how Davis adapts to the O's after a week and if he can improve his control or not.
Facing Davis is Brad Bergesen (5.57 ERA, 4.32 FIP), a 25 year old right-handed pitcher that succeeds by limiting walks and inducing a high number of groundballs. So far this season he only has a 35% groundball rate, though, and that will need to come up if he wants to have success in the majors. In his start last weekend against the Rays, Bergesen got hit around, allowing five runs and nine hits in just 4.2 innings. This is a good match up for the Rays, and we'll have to see if their hitters can continue to take advantage of Bergesen.