TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2015 at TORONTO BLUE JAYS RH Matt Andriese (0-0, 0.00) vs. LH Daniel Norris (1-0, 4.76) First Pitch: 7:07 p.m. | Location: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ont. | TV: Sun Sports | Radio: WDAE 620 AM, WGES 680 (Spanish) Game No.: 8 (4-3) | Road Game No.: 5 (3-1) | All-Time Game No.: 2,760 (1,276-1,483) | All-Time Road Game No.: 1,382 (573-808) RAY MATTER—The Rays won their third straight game 2-1 here last night RAYS MATCH 2ND-BEST ROAD START— BEST ROAD RECORDS to go over .500 for the first time (4-3) under first-year Manager Kevin The Rays have won 3 of their first 4 road SINCE 2010 Cash…after losing the first 2 games of the season, the Rays have won 4 of games…only twice in their 18-year history have Rays 220-190 .537 5…they are 3-1 on this 7-game road trip (2-1 at Miami and 1-0 here)…three they gotten off to as good a road start: 2008 (3- Yankees 213-193 .525 of the Rays 4 wins this season have been by scores of 2-0, 2-0 and 2-1… 1) and 2010 (4-0)…the Rays were 41-40 on the Dodgers 211-196 .519 Rays have now won 17 games since the start of the 2014 season when they road in 2014, the fifth straight season in which Angels 209-200 .511 scored 2 runs or fewer, tops in the majors…five of their 7 games this year they played .500 or better in road games, lon- Giants 209-202 .509 have been decided by 2 runs or fewer. gest active streak in the majors…they own the majors’ best record on the road since 2010 at 220-190 (.537) 4-3 START MATCHES RAYS BEST—Despite having 9 players on the dis- abled list (see page 6 of notes for complete list), the Rays 4-3 record match- DES TIES CLUB MARK—Last night Desmond Jennings stole 3B twice for es their best ever 7-game start (8th time)…only once have the Rays been the first time in his career…he came the fourth Ray to do it and the first since 5-3…that came in 2010 when they got off to a 10-3 start. B.J. Upton on Aug 2, 2010 vs. MIN…Upton did it one other time in 2009… the others to do it were Jason Bartlett in 2008 and Julio Lugo in 2005. 3-GAME WIN STREAK—During the current 3-game win streak, Rays start- ing pitchers have put together three straight games in which they have LONGO NEEDS ONE MORE DOUBLE TO STAND ALONE—With his pitched 7 or more innings and allowed 2 hits or fewer…according to the double Sunday off MIA Henderson Alvarez, 3B Evan Longoria tied Ben Elias Sports Bureau, that’s only the second such streak in AL history…the Zobrist for the Rays franchise record for most career doubles (229)…on only other time it happened was July 11-16, 1992 when Oakland A’s starters Saturday at MIA, he broke the club mark for career extra-base hits held by Mike Moore, Ron Darling and Kelly Downs did it. Carl Crawford…Longo is now the franchise leader in doubles (229), home Saturday at Miami W, 2-0 Chris Archer 7.0-IP, 2-H, 0-R, 0-ER runs (185), RBI (637) and extra-base hits (426). Sunday at Miami W, 8-5 Nathan Karns 7.0-IP, 2-H, 2-R, 1-ER Monday at Toronto W, 2-1 Jake Odorizzi 8.0-IP, 2-H,1-R, 1-ER WORKING THE COUNT—The Rays and Red Sox lead the majors with a rate of 4.20 pitches per PA…rookie Steven Souza Jr. leads the majors at 5.13. MORE ON LOW-HITTERS—Despite having starting pitchers Alex Cobb, Matt Moore, Drew Smyly and Alex Colome on the disabled list, yester- BUEHRLE 200, RAYS 102—Tomorrow night’s Blue Jays starter Mark day was the fourth time in 7 games in 2015 in which a Rays starter has Buehrle won his 200th game last Friday at BAL…the Rays entire starting gone 6-plus innings and allowed 2 hits or fewer and 1 ER or fewer…the staff has 102 wins …Buehrle won his first major league game on July 19, Rays have had 15 of those type games since the start of 2014, tops in the 2000…seven of the Rays pitchers were not yet teenagers on that date. majors…in their last 34.1 IP, Rays starters have allowed 9 hits and 3 ER… there have been 15 such games in 2015 and the Rays have 4 of them… ROOKIES ON THE ROSTER—One of seven rookies on the roster, RH Rays starters own a 2.57 ERA, 4th best in the majors. Matt Andriese is making his first major league start tonight, the second Rays rookie to do so this season (also Steve Geltz)…it will be the fourth NO BAT REQUIRED—Last night the Rays became the first team in nearly (out of 8) games started by a Rays rookie in 2015 (also Nathan Karns-2 10 years to win a game while scoring 2 or more runs with all runs coming and Geltz)…the Rays will become the first team to start three different rook- courtesy of bases-loaded walks…last night it was R.A. Dickey who walked ies this season…he becomes just the 25th different pitcher to start a game David DeJesus and Steven Souza Jr. to force in both runs in the 2-1 win… for the Rays since 2008, fewest in the majors…San Francisco is next at 26 the last time it happened in a major league game was May 5, 2005—and and Cleveland at 33, is the next closest AL team…the Jays have used 43. DeJesus witnessed that one as well, on the losing side…his Royals lost to the White Sox, 2-1, as relievers Andy Sisco and Ambiorix Burgos walked KIERMAIER TOPS A.L.—24-year-old OF Kevin Kiermaier continues Juan Uribe and Scott Podsednik in the 8th inning to wipe out what looked to lead the AL with 7 extra-base hits…7 of his 8 hits have gone for extra like a Zack Greinke 1-0 win…source: Elias Sports Bureau. bases…only once has a Rays player had as many XBH through the first 7 Ê The Rays now have 6 bases-loaded walks this season, including 5 on games of the season: Evan Longoria had 9 in 2009. this road trip…there have been 15 bases loaded-walks in the majors thus far and the Rays have six of them. BACK TO THE A.L. EAST—Starting with this series the Rays play their 22 Ê The Rays record for most bases loaded walks in a month is 7 in Sep- straight games against the four AL East teams…of the Rays first 28 games, tember 2010…in 2014, there were 7 teams that didn’t have 6 bases- 25 are against the AL East…the Rays 31-game spring training schedule loaded walks all season. included 16 games against all four AL East teams, meaning of their first 59 Ê Last night was the 14th time in club history the Rays have won with 3 spring training and regular season games combined, 41 are vs. the AL East. hits or fewer, but just the 5th time they’ve won without one of those hits being a home run. BASEBALL’S YOUNGEST SKIPPER—37-year-old Manager Kevin Cash is the youngest major league manager since ARI A.J. Hinch (34) in 2009… ODORIZZI, OGANDO AND RUNELVYS—Last night, Jake Odorizzi be- he is one of four first-time managers in baseball, along with MIN Paul Mo- came just the 3rd American League pitcher in the last 100 years to begin litor, TEX Jeff Bannister and ARI Chip Hale…he’s one of six skippers the season with two starts of 6-plus innings, 2 hits or less and one run or new to his team: Molitor, Bannister, Hale, CHC Joe Maddon and HOU A.J. less…he joins TEX Alexi Ogando in 2011 and KC Runelvys Hernandez in Hinch…Kevin is one of three active managers who played for the Blue 2003…source: Baseball-Reference. Jays, joining Mike Matheny and Paul Molitor. RAYS vs. BLUE JAYS—The Rays had been 0-2 in Blue Jays home open- REHAB UPDATES—This morning LH Drew Smyly (left shoulder ten- ers before last night’s win…the two teams play 19 times this season…they donitis) made his second rehab start for Class-A Charlotte vs. Daytona also met four times in spring training (2-2)…Rays 156 wins are their most (Reds)…his line: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 40 pitches…he allowed an against an opponent…their 156-140 (.527) record is their 3rd best vs. an opposite-field single to the first batter, then retired the final nine batters he AL opponent behind Houston (10-4, .714) and KC (70-62, .530)…the Rays faced…threw 12 more pitches in the bullpen…in 2 rehab appearances so lost the season series to Toronto last season (8-11), ending a streak of six far: 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO…his next start is expected to be Sunday for straight winning seasons vs.