David Price’s eight dominant innings helps Tampa Bay Rays beat Chicago White Sox 5-0 – MLB Update
Tampa Bay Rays’ starter David Price had a notable day with the ball as he struck out nine batters in the Rays’ 5-0 win against the Chicago White Sox at the Tropicana Field, Florida, on 18
April.
Price expressed his excitement as, “It was a big game for me. ... The White Sox have had my number ever since I've been in the big leagues. A very tough team to pitch against and they've got a lot of right-handed hitters that put the bat on the ball. It's
tough and it's fun.”
Price pitched eight scoreless innings on four hits to lift the Rays. He gave only two walks and attained 0-for-4 with an ERA of 4.88. The Rays’ closer Joel Peralta threw well in the ninth inning and struck out two hitters.
The White Sox’ Manager Ozzie Guillen also honoured Price and talked about his team’s errors against him. He said, “Price was outstanding. They played defence behind him very well. When you're pitching that way and you make plays behind him, it's hard to
beat them.”
Felipe Lopez played a vital role in the victory as he hit two home runs and forced three runs. Lopez shined in the last six games out of seven for the Rays. Ben Zobrist also struck his two-run homer. Zobrist took a 3-0 lead by scoring a two run shot after
the Felipe’s single. Ben did not play well in the last five games as he hit just one ball out of 13 at-bats.
The Rays took a lead of 4-0 when Lopez scored double in the fifth inning. He also hit a single home run against Matt Thornton in the eighth inning.
The Rays’ dominant hitter Sam Fuld made a single to begin the flow of runs for his team in the first inning and had four hits. Fuld was very athletic as he took a diving catch of Brent Morel hit towards centre-field spot in the third inning. Reid Brignac
also played energetically as he caught out Ramon Castro at first base and dived at the ball in the second inning.
The White Sox’ starter Edwin Jackson pitched seven innings and allowed just four runs on 11 hits but their batters did not do well in the game. Jackson was very effective for the White Sox as he struck out Elliot Johnson after a two-out jam in the second
inning.
Guillen said, “Jackson threw the ball pretty good. We just didn't score any runs.”
Jackson had a superb season last year also when he gave only eight walks in 149 pitched balls against the same rivals, the Rays.
Tags: