Robbie Ray got the start versus division opponent, Los Angeles, and he racked up the strikeouts. The former 12th round pick finished the game with 7 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 10 K. Ray’s ERA is down to 4.25 on the season.
Ray took a no hit bid into the 7th inning, and lost it on a grounder that bounced off of his glove. Ray allowed Matt Duffy to reach scoring position in the 1st, nothing came of it. Ray struck out 2 in both the 2nd and 3rd innings, following those up with another clean inning in the 4th. Ray struck out the side in the 5th, pitched a clean 6th, and only allowed an infield single in the 7th inning. Ray did go back out to the bump for the 8th inning, but he allowed a triple and then a double before recording an out and being pulled.
Ray had success with all 3 of his pitches, he generated 6 whiffs on his sinker, 6 whiffs on his 4-seamer, and 5 whiffs on his slider. The biggest difference that Ray has made that turned him from afterthought to Cy Young winner, was getting ahead of hitters. In 2020, Ray walked 17.9% of hitters, which was in the bottom 2% of the league. In 2020 Ray’s 1st pitch strike percentage was 52.2%, now in 2022 it is 65.1% and his walk rate is down to 8.5% in 2022. Getting ahead in the count has now allowed Ray to put away hitters, using his slider which has a 42% whiff rate. Toronto was able to fix Ray, having him focus on the things he does well and getting his wildness under control, earning him 115 million from Seattle.