Monday, 3 a.m.
Who are these guys? And is there any limit to their arms?
Josh Fleming.
John Curtiss.
Pete Fairbanks.
The seemingly bottomless pitching of the Tampa Bay Rays scraped a little deeper Sunday afternoon, and still, it came up aces. The Rays won their seventh game of their last eight, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4.
Pete Fairbanks.
Aaron Siegers.
Anthony Banda.
And on and on.
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Despite the Rays' 19-10 record, which leads the American League East, the team has been troubled with pitching injuries, perhaps because training was not long enough for proper build-ups. The Rays have nine pitchers (not counting minor leaguer Brendan McKay) on the injured list, yet still lead the division.
So far, they have 10 pitchers with a win this year, and eight with a save. They've started 11 different pitchers in 29 games.
The latest was Fleming, who made his major league debut and was impressive. He gave up only four hits -- and two runs -- in his five innings. Curtiss was the last of five pitchers, getting his first save.
“I'm very happy for him," said Rays' manager Kevin Cash. "He was very impressive. The poise he showed in the big inning (the Jays fourth) when only one guy came in...we hear he was a competitor, and you could see it in day one. Hopefully everyone enjoyed that. He picked us up in a big way."
The Rays win Sunday was their 11th come-from-behind win of the season. Austin Meadows drove in runs with a single and a sacrifice fly.
The Rays play their fourth game in the series against the Blue Jays today at Tropicana Field at 3:10 p.m. Blake Snell will pitch for the Rays. The Blue Jays have not announced a starter.