Price Makes His Pitch In Rays' 4-2 Victory Over Baltimore

Take a look at the two long outings David Price has had in the major leagues and it's easy to envision how tantalizing an option he would be for the Rays in the playoffs.

The rookie left-hander probably wouldn't get a start in the postseason, as he did for the first time in the majors in Monday's ugly 4-2 win over the Orioles. But he could serve as a potentially dominant multi-inning stopgap - particularly against hitters who haven't faced him before - and the idea of him bridging a couple of key innings might be too tempting to pass up.

Price didn't allow a hit through the first four innings Monday, eight days after he surrendered just one hit - a Derek Jeter homer - through the first four innings of his major-league debut at Yankee Stadium. Clearly, it takes opposing batters some time to get a feel for Price's mid-90s fastball and occasionally nasty slider, and that might make him an ideal weapon for an October bullpen.

Rays manager Joe Maddon has given it some thought, saying he thinks Price certainly could be effective one time through the order or even as a situational lefty in the playoffs. He just isn't sure about the recovery time that would be required for the career starter.

"The biggest concern is, if you do something like that, how quickly can he come back?" Maddon said. "The back side is what he's not used to."

Maddon raised the possibility of getting Price some work in relief this weekend in Detroit - possibly running him out on consecutive days or having him pitch twice in a three-day span - as a dry run of sorts. Price doesn't think it would be a problem.

"My arm's felt good all year. I don't think that's a big transition," he said. "I think the biggest thing in being a reliever is preparing yourself to come in with runners on. That's about it."

Price allowed a couple of runners inherited from James Shields to score in that situation in his only other appearance for the Rays, but he has been very effective early in the two outings in which he has started with a clean slate.

Monday, the Orioles started to figure Price out as he went through the bottom of their batting order for the second time. After Evan Longoria's third error in two days opened the fifth, Ramon Hernandez recorded Baltimore's first hit with a single to left-center. Lou Montanez followed with a sharp single to right and suddenly the bases were loaded.

Price got rattled at that point, allowing veteran defensive specialist Juan Castro to work the count full and then walking the .187 hitter on a fastball that wasn't close to being a strike to force in a run.

"He yanked it - that just tells me he's trying to overthrow it," Maddon said.

For his part, Price took a wider view of that moment.

"Those are the situations you want to learn how to really pitch out of - get a groundball back to third base, get a groundball back to you or get a big strikeout," he said. "That's part of the process."

Brian Roberts added a sacrifice fly that tied the game at 2-2 before Price settled down to escape the inning. But Aubrey Huff and Oscar Salazar singled to open the sixth, and Price got the hook after striking out lefty-swinging Luke Scott, turning matters over to Grant Balfour and the rest of the bullpen.

Pitching was about all the Rays had to hang their hat on Monday, as their offense was hardly clicking on all cylinders against a series of mediocre Orioles pitchers. Tampa Bay managed only three hits - a pair of doubles by Jason Bartlett and an Akinori Iwamura single - but combined them with a bounty of gifts from the Orioles to put together a couple of rallies.

The Rays scored all of their runs in the fifth and seventh, getting a pair in each frame with a total of two hits. But Baltimore helped out in a big way by issuing six walks - two of them intentional - in those two innings. In fact, walking the bases loaded with two out in the fifth got starter Brian Bass pulled from the game despite the fact that he had yet to allow a hit.

That matter was resolved immediately after his departure, as Iwamura greeted Randor Bierd with a two-run single. The Rays' only other offensive push came in the seventh, with a Bartlett double bringing home one run and Carlos Pena drawing his ninth bases-loaded walk of the season to pick up his 100th RBI.

After J.P. Howell and Dan Wheeler wrapped it up, the Rays were left to keep an eye on the other half of their magic number. When Price's former Vanderbilt teammate Jensen Lewis got the final out for Cleveland at Fenway Park, cheers erupted in the Rays' clubhouse.

Any combination of four Rays wins and Red Sox losses gives Tampa Bay the division title, and management will be free to ponder the Price conundrum full-time.