Seo Takes Step Back
Published: May 9, 2007
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BALTIMORE - The progress Jae Seo appeared to have made in his last start? Forget it.
The right-hander was back to laying it in there Tuesday night at Camden Yards, with the expected results. Three turbulent innings out of the chute led to a relatively quick hook from Manager Joe Maddon, but that move couldn't repair the damage in what became an 8-3 Devil Rays loss to the Orioles.
Seo has spent most of the season just getting by, and the Rays had ultimately prevailed in four of his six starts entering Tuesday, but it's safe to say he hasn't inspired much confidence with the way he has gone about his business.
Coming off a nice effort last week against the Twins in which he allowed seven hits, a walk and two runs in six innings, Seo matched that baserunner total in half the time against Baltimore.
"He just couldn't get the ball down," Maddon said. "Fastball, change-up - everything was up. He threw a couple decent breaking balls, but his bread and butter's pretty much fastball location and change-up location, and it just wasn't there today."
Seo had a slightly different view, saying command was an issue only with his change-up. He said four of the six hits he allowed came on the off-speed pitch and "everything else was OK."
He drilled the second batter he faced, Nick Markakis, to start the wheels turning on a two-run first inning for Baltimore. In the second, he served up a two-out, two-run homer to Markakis to blunt any momentum the Rays might have gained from pushing across a run in the top of the inning.
That RBI came courtesy of a Carlos Pena double, the first of his four hits in as many at-bats Tuesday night. Pena also was instrumental in the only other Rays offensive outburst, producing one of four singles off reliever Chad Bradford in the seventh that led to two runs.
The Rays should have had another run an inning earlier, when Carl Crawford launched a long fly to center that hit off the back wall before bouncing over the shorter wall and into play. It should have been a home run, but second-base umpire Jerry Crawford ruled it a double and stuck to it even after Maddon's lengthy discussion with all four umpires.
"I have so much respect for Jerry Crawford, and he was out there, he hustled on the play," Maddon said. "They just missed it. It happens."
Had the play been ruled correctly, the Rays still would have trailed 5-2 thanks to Seo's difficulties. Maddon has resisted queries about how long the Rays will continue handing Seo the ball, and he was temporarily vindicated the pitcher's last time out.
"I thought the outing a couple days ago may have turned the tide for him," Maddon said. "Today, the ball was elevated the whole time. We've been working on it, he's been working on it, I thought he had it kind of down - down in the sense that he had figured it out - but it just wasn't there tonight."
Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227 or mlancaster@tampatrib.com.
