Rookie Alex Cobb shines as Tampa Bay Rays defeat Los Angeles Angels 4-1 – MLB Update
Alex Cobb expressed his class with the ball to help the Tampa Bay Rays trounce the Los Angeles Angels 4-1 in second-straight game of the three-game series at the Angels Stadium on Monday, June 7.
The 23-year-old rookie struck-out three batters and went for only one run on seven hits over his six innings spell. Making his third start of the season, the right-hand hurler threw 58 strikes off 84 pitches to improve his ERA to 4.24.
In his first two starts on May 1 against the Angels and on May 31 against Texas Rangers, he scattered seven earned runs on combined 10 innings while taking seven batters to prove him a suitable substitute of Jeff Niemann, who is under rehab process after
injuring his lower back. According to recent reports, he is likely to make his comeback within next two weeks.
The Rays had achieved an early 1-0 lead in the first inning when Ben Zobrist touched to short-stop for an RBI single. B. J. Upton moved it to 2-0, hammering a dazzling one-run homer off the Angels’ starter Dan Haren. Then in the fourth inning, Johnny Damon
earned an RBI single to elevate it to 3-0.
After four strong innings from the Angels’ pitching depth and Torii Hunter drove in a single to trim it to 1-3, the Rays’ John Jaso singled to the centre-field for an RBI single to widen the advantage to 4-1.
The Rays’ reliever James Phillip Howell tossed seven strikes off ten pitches over an inning to hold the game. Closer Joel Peralta did not yield any run over one inning while striking-out two batters.
Haren, on the other hand, struck-out six batters, walked one and allowed just three runs on eight hits over seven innings but failed to make his sixth game of the season. Reliever Rich Thompson was wayward right in the start of the eighth inning and allowed
one run on three hits over barely an inning. Closer Kevin Jepsen scattered one hit but without any run over an inning.
With this defeat, the Angels lost their sixth game of the last seven competitions. Angels won their last game against the New York Yankees in the three-game series opener on Friday, June 3 after a close 3-2 competition. The Angels’ manager Mike Scioscia,
who has helped the Angels to their first World Series in 2002, seemed seriously worried about the poor performance of his team in this season.
Tags: