Just For Starters: Jeffrey Springs Pitches OK — But At Least Gets Run Support

BALTIMORE, Md. — It was no surprise to see Jeffrey Springs pitch well for the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday. He's been doing that all year.

But what was a pleasant surprise was that the Rays' bats woke up during his start. Springs left in the fifth inning with a 6-3 lead.

Springs fell in a hole in the second inning, giving up a two-run double to Baltimore catcher Robinson Chirinos, but the Rays bounced right back with four runs in the top of the third and two more in the fifth. Springs got into some trouble in the fifth, and was charged with two more runs. There was a questionable managerial decision too, playing the infield in with a 6-2 lead.

His ERA jumped from 1.45 to 1.83 for the season. 

Here are the numbers for Jeffrey Springs' outing on Saturday in our ''Just For Starters'' series, plus the ever-improving cumulative numbers of the Rays' rotation.

Rays' Starters By The Numbers

• Starter: Jeffrey Springs
• Game: Saturday (June 18) at Baltimore Orioles
• Decision: Pending
• Team result: Pending
• Innings pitched: 4.1
• Total pitches: 86
• Strikes: 52
• Runs allowed: 4
• Earned runs: 4
• Hits allowed: 7
• Walks allowed: 1
• Total strikeouts: 6
• Status upon departure: Jeffrey Springs got into some trouble in the fifth inning, and with his pitch count getting high, he was pulled with one out. He was replaced by Matt Wisler, but he got hit around, too, and Springs's two base runners scored. It was the first time he had allowed four earned runs or more since July 27, 2020 against the New York Mets when he was pitching for the Boston Red Sox
  
• The skinny: Springs got hurt by manager Kevin Cash's decision to play the infield in with a four-run lead in the fifth inning. It contributed to those other runs scoring. Springs talks a lot about being more efficient, and he definitely was out of the zone too much on Saturday. 

Season Totals for Rays Starters

• Starters: Shane McClanahan (13), Drew Rasmussen (12), Corey Kluber
  (12), Jeffrey Springs (8), Ryan Yarbrough (6), Shane Baz (2), Josh Fleming (2), Luis Patino, Tommy Romero,
• Games: 57 (8 openers, not included in numbers)
• Team record: 35-29 through Friday
• Decisions: 19-18 through Friday
• - Most wins: Shane McClanahan (7)
• Innings pitched (avg.): 280.2/4.91
• - Season high innings: 8.0, Shane McClanahan (June 9)
• - Season low innings: 2/3, Luis Patino (April 11)
• Total pitches (avg.): 4,461/78,37
• - Season high pitches: 100, Shane McClanahan (May 11)
• - Season low pitches: 13, Luis Patino (April 11)
• Total strikeouts (avg.): 280/4.91
• - Season high strikeouts: 11, Shane McClanahan (April 30, May 11)
• Runs allowed (avg.): 121/2.12
• Earned runs (avg.): 107/1.88
• Hits allowed (avg.): 242/4.25
• - Season most hits allowed: 11, Corey Kluber (April 22, May 10)
• Walks allowed (avg.): 71/1.25
• Starter ERA: 3.43