Romero, Jays look to even series in Tampa
Last Updated: Saturday, September 19, 2009 | 10:44 AM ET
CBC Sports
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Ricky Romero yells after a strikeout. Romero takes the hill tonight against Matt Garza and the Rays. Darren Calabrese/Canadian Press The Tampa Bay Rays haven't been able to count on much consistency from Matt Garza — except when he faces the Toronto Blue Jays.
Garza tries for his first win in nearly a month as the Rays continue a three-game series with the Blue Jays on Saturday.
After a promising first season last year with Tampa Bay in which he won 11 games and helped the club win its first pennant, Garza (7-10, 3.84 ERA) has struggled in 2009. He's 0-3 with a 4.23 ERA in his last nine starts, and the Rays have lost five of those games.
Garza's last win came against Toronto (66-81) on July 24, and his only other victory since June 24 also was against the Blue Jays.
The right-hander is 5-3 versus Toronto in his career and has an 0.92 ERA against the Jays over his last eight starts. The Rays have won all three of his appearances against them this year.
Garza's slump may not have been so pronounced had he gotten some help from his lineup. Over his last nine starts, Tampa Bay has given him 16 runs of support, scoring one or fewer runs in six outings, including Sunday against Boston. He gave up three runs and nine hits with eight strikeouts over 7 1/3 innings of the 3-1 defeat.
Garza will look to lead the Rays to their third straight win after the team opened the series with an 11-4 victory Friday. The Rays had dropped 14 of 16 before their current brief run to essentially drop out of the playoff race.
"We're rollin' now," said Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon, whose team has won 12 of 16 against the Blue Jays this year.
Carl Crawford and Ben Zobrist each had three hits Friday and Evan Longoria hit his 31st homer. The Rays scored six runs in the third en route to their highest-scoring game since scoring 11 on Aug. 31 against Detroit.
Toronto, meanwhile, has lost four of five. Scott Richmond became the second consecutive starter to fail to go beyond the second inning, getting pulled after allowing five runs and seven hits. Two nights earlier, Brian Tallet left against the Yankees after being hit in the foot by a line drive.
Toronto's starters are 1-2 with a 6.23 ERA in the last five games.
The Blue Jays will hand the ball to Ricky Romero (12-8, 4.22), who has lost three of his last four starts. He gave up four runs and 10 hits in six innings of a 7-2 loss at Detroit on Sunday.
The rookie left-hander has a 6.04 ERA over his last four starts.
"I thought he threw the ball pretty well. He's done a nice job this year for a rookie, and I don't think he's out of gas," manager Cito Gaston said.
Romero pitched eight innings against Tampa Bay on July 1, allowing four hits while striking out seven in the 5-0 win.
