Well, so much for that skid. David Price led the Rays out of their recent slump in dominating fashion last night, striking out twelve Indians while only allowing four hits over 7 innings. After having a slightly down velocity during his last start, Price was pumping gas last night, averaging 95 MPH with his fastball and generating an excellent 15 swinging strikes with his fastball (18.5%).
And if that’s not all, we also got to witness some acrobatics from Price last night. Or as DRaysBay said:
Is David Price a Vampire?
Sadly, no.
Before the game, there was much controversy amidst the voices in my head that David Price was a blood-sucking member of the undead a la Bill Compton. This notion was put to rest this evening as Grady Sizemore, in an attempt to give the Indians a fighting chance, sent a broken-bat ground out to second. The ball was easily played by Ben Zobrist, but the bat barrel was sent hurling towards Price on the mound. Price got out of the way… mostly. The bat grazed his head and altered its flight path, but Price came up unharmed. Surviving a wooden stake to the head is proof of one of two things: Either David Price is not a vampire, or he is the most powerful vampire on the planet and will soon rule us all.
While Price shut down the Indians, the Rays’ offense was led by Matt Joyce, Casey Kotchman, and Sam Fuld. Joyce continued his recent hot streak, going three for four with a double, and Kotchman went 2-4 with his second homerun of the year. Sam Fuld also hit a homerun, likely inspired by all the Rays wearing Super Sam capes before the game.
This win keeps the Rays only 1.5 games behind the first place Boston Red Sox. The Rays and Indians will face again today at 4:10 PM.