Rays Lose 5-4 While Dan Johnson Hits, David Price Struggles

Bradley Woodrum — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 23:49:59 -0000

Not that it really matters, but the Rays lost today to the Toronto Blue Jays, as Richard De Los Santos gave up a walk-off, two-run single.

What sort of mattered in the game was the second spring appearance from David Price, who went 2 innings and gave up 3 runs. It was not a pretty 2nd inning. Here's the cast, in order of appearance: Ground out, double, homer, walk, error (on Price's pickoff), walk (and wild pitch), ground out, strike out.

On the offensive side, Ben Zobrist cracked a ground-rule double in the sixth inning, but most of the fireworks came courtesy of the Dan Johnson Foundation. Johnson hit a bases-clearing, 2-RBI double in the 6th and nearly missed a home run in the 4th inning -- the announcers on the radio said the wind had recently shifted directions, knocking the hit just beneath the lip of the fence -- so Johnson had to settle for a standing triple. The noteworthy element of this event: Johnson hit said standing triple off a southern paw.

One of the more subtle storylines this off season has concerned the potential of Johnson playing against both lefties and righties. Andrew Friedman has said several times over the past few months he had indications Johnson could be -- wait for it -- ambatdextrous. His strong showing today marks a good first step.

Other noteworthy elements:

Ray Olmedo also had a double.
Jonah Bayliss and Wade Davis pitched quiet innings today, both not allowing a base runner. (Bayliss also got a strikeout.)
Felipe Lopez also had a two-hit day, both singles.
The Jays Brandon Morrow looked especially sharp today, allowing only 2 hits while collecting 4 strikeouts in his rather quiet 3 innings. I'm not looking forward to seeing more of him as the season begins in earnest.

SB Nation - Richard De Los Santos

Rays Lose 5-4 While Dan Johnson Hits, David Price Struggles