ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. ā The Tampa Bay Raysā much-ballyhooed experiment to use reliever Sergio Romo to open games didnāt work out well Friday, as the Orioles opened their three-game weekend series at Tropicana Field.
Romo made his third āstartā for the Rays on Friday ā heās also scheduled to start Sunday ā but received a quick hook after the Orioles scored the first run of the game five batters into their eventual 2-0 win over Tampa Bay.
Danny Valencia hit a two-out RBI double off Romo to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead, a hit that followed Adam Jonesā one-out single and Jonathan Schoop reaching on a strikeout that ended with a wild pitch.
Romo was pulled after just 14 pitches.
āEveryone knows him and everybody knows what heās going to do,ā Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. āHe does a good job and thatās why he still here. But Danny had a big hit, I think he had a home run off him before. And Adam had a couple hits off of him.ā
The Raysā new strategy, which they use primarily against right-handed-heavy batting orders like the Oriolesā, makes Romo responsible for three to six outs before handing the game off to another pitcher. Romo had been used as a seventh- and eight-inning setup man for the seasonās first six weeks.
Tampa Bay is also planning to start hard-throwing right-handed reliever Ryne Stanek on Saturday. All 27 of Stanekās previous major league appearances have come in relief.
āItās new,ā Schoop said. āItās new seeing it. But itās the same thing because you [are going] to see him later on in the game. But if heās going to start the game and throw one inning, you know youāre going to face him just one time. Itās a little bit new, but tomorrow weāve got the same thing with someone else, so weāve got to forget about it and just go out there and compete.ā
On Friday, the Rays flipped the Orioles lineup around by inserting left-hander Ryan Yarbrough, who came into the game after Valenciaās double to face left-handed-hitting first baseman Chris Davis, who grounded out to third to end the inning.
Showalter was prepared for that, and indicated before Fridayās game that he was tempted to tweak his lineup to account for it. Yarbrough pitched well in relief, limiting the Orioles to just one run ā Schoopās solo homer in the sixth ā over seven innings, striking out out eight, walking none and scattering seven hits.
āWe spent most of our time [in the advance meeting] on Yarbrough,ā Showalter said. āMaybe we should have shortened it up and done it the other way around because Yarbrough was really good. Heās a good-looking pitcher.ā
Romo had made his previous two starts last weekend when the Rays were in Anaheim, Calif., playing the Los Angeles Angels, another predominantly right-handed lineup. He tossed a perfect first inning, with three strikeouts in his first start May 19 and struck out three and walked two in a 1 1/3-inning scoreless outing the following day.