Kazmir not brilliant enough
The Rays ace records his first eight outs by strikeout but makes one big mistake.
By EDUARDO A. ENCINA
Published April 9, 2007
ST. PETERSBURG - Scott Kazmir said he wasn't keeping count, but everybody else watching the Rays left-handed ace open Sunday's game couldn't help but do so.
The 23-year-old began his second start of the season in dominating fashion. The Blue Jays hitters had no answers. And Kazmir made pitching against one of the top lineups in the American League look like child's play.
Kazmir recorded his first eight outs by strikeout, including a span of six straight K's to set a club record.
"Right from the get-go, he was excellent," Rays catcher Dioner Navarro said.
But Kazmir made one fatal error, and the high fastball over the plate he threw Reed Johnson in the fifth turned out to be the difference in a difficult 6-3 loss to the Blue Jays at Tropicana Field.
The Blue Jays began a two-out rally that inning on a Royce Clayton double and John McDonald single. Then, Johnson made Kazmir pay, hitting a 2-and-2 delivery about 12 rows up into the leftfield stands for a three-run homer.
"The two-out inning really hurt us," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "Other than that, we'd be celebrating right now."
Said Kazmir: "Just a couple of pitches I wish I had back. Coulda, woulda, shoulda."
Kazmir had the Blue Jays swinging out of their shoes early on, seemingly toying with the Toronto hitters - able to throw his fastball by them and spot his slider on cue - while stealing the spotlight from Toronto starter and 2003 Cy Young winner Roy Halladay.
"The last couple years, he comes at us with straight fastballs, and it just comes at you at 95, and it's pretty straight," Johnson said, "but now he is mixing that two-seamer, and it's really running well off the plate. ... It made it tough on us early."
Not even a homer by Vernon Wells in the first could faze Kazmir, who struck out the next six batters. When he struck out McDonald for the second out in the third, Kazmir became the first in nearly six years to record his first eight outs by strikeout and the first AL pitcher to do so in over two decades.
But by the end of the game, Kazmir - who struck out 10 and allowed four runs on six hits over seven innings - was still winless for his eighth straight start dating to July 8.
The Rays (2-3) had opportunities against Halladay, who allowed three runs in seven innings, but his defense saved him twice.
After Rocco Baldelli's leadoff homer in the fourth, the Rays had runners at first and second and one out, but McDonald made a diving stop at third on Elijah Dukes' rocket one-hopper and turned a 5-4-3 double play.
With one run in during the sixth inning on Delmon Young's run-scoring single, Navarro had the bases loaded with two outs. But he was robbed by second baseman Aaron Hill's diving backhanded stop on his line drive.
"I think they beat us a lot with their gloves today," Maddon said.
The Rays bullpen failed to keep the score close when reliever Brian Stokes, working for the fourth time in five games, allowed two runs in the eighth on run-scoring singles by Hill and catcher Gregg Zaun.
Blue Jays 6
Rays 3