Hammel struggles in start

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

Jason Hammel survived a shaky fist inning to find his command and kept his fastball down, which is the mantra of every Rays pitcher this spring. So how do you explain Cleveland’s fourth inning when the Indians battered Hammel for six hits and seven runs in what became a 12-10 victory Monday at Al Lang Field?
“The game plan just went awry,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said.
Unlike Sunday when Maddon was annoyed with Edwin Jackson’s command in the strike zone during a six-run second inning by Cincinnati, Maddon was upset with how Hammel could stray from what was successful.
Hammel allowed nine runs on nine hits and three walks in 3 1/3 innings. He was touched for back-to-back-to-back doubles in the third inning when the Indians rallied from a 5-2 deficit for an 11-5 lead.
It’s lapses like that which Maddon said must be corrected if Hammel wants to keep his spot in the rotation. Hammel made 14 starts for the Rays last season and is one of five pitchers vying for the final two spots in the rotation.

Finally a home run at Al Lang
Before each game, the Rays introduce a fog horn that will sound when a Rays homers during a game at Al Lang Field. Until the third inning Monday, the only time the horn blasted was during the pregame announcement.
Rays center field changed that with a home run to center field.
It was the seventh home run hit by a Ray this spring, but the first at Al Lang, which is considered a pitcher’s park.
It was the first home run hit by a member of any team at Al Lang this spring.

First cuts
After the game, the Rays trimmed the roster by six, optioning outfielder Fernando Perez, catcher John Jaso and pitcher James Houser to their minor league camp, and assigning catcher Matt Spring and pitchers Wade Davis and Jake McGee to the minor league camp.
Friedman said the moves were made to get more innings for the pitchers, since they weren’t going to make the Rays roster anyway.
“I think it was a good experience for all of them, and we’re looking forward to big things from all of them,” Friedman said.

Longoria update
Rookie third baseman Evan Longoria was 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored and a stolen base. He’s now hitting .375 this spring.

Today’s action
The Rays make the first of two trips to Fort Myers this week when they play the Twins. James Shields will make his third start of the spring and should pitch four innings. Livan Hernandez is the Twins’ scheduled pitcher.

This & That
Former Rays minor league catcher Yamid Haad homered for the Inidans, marking the first time a visiting player homered at Al Lang this spring … Cliff Floyd’s bat showed signs of coming to life with a first inning double that drove in a pair of runs … Al Reyes and Trever Miller each threw a scoreless inning. Reyes has yet to allow a run in three innings this spring.