Just For Starters: Breaking Down Corey Kluber's Start Saturday Against the White Sox
CHICAGO, Ill. — Tampa Bay pitcher Corey Kluber pitched well for the second straight start on Saturday, making just one mistake in allowing a two-run homer to Chicago first baseman Jose Abreu.
Kluber went five innings and was up to eight scoreless innings on the season when Abreu hit a shot over the left-field wall, scoring Tim Anderson, who had singled earlier. He pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings in his first outing against Baltimore last Sunday. Kluber left Saturday's game with the score tied 2-2
Here's our "Just For Starters'' daily story breaking down the Rays' starting pitcher, with cumulative numbers for all the starters, now through seven games.
Rays' Starters By The Numbers
- Starter: Corey Kluber
- Game: Saturday at Chicago White Sox
- Decision: None
- Team result: Lost 3-2
- Innings pitched: 5.0
- Total pitches: 75
- Strikes: 49
- Runs allowed: 2
- Earned runs: 2
- Hits allowed: 4
- Walks allowed: 0
- Total HBP allowed: 0
- Total strikeouts: 4
- Status upon departure: Corey Kluber came out after the fifth inning with the score tied at 2-2. He was replaced by Ryan Thompson to start the bottom of the sixth.
- The skinny: Kluber has been very good through two starts, with the Abreu homer the only damage he's allowed. His control was much better this start, and getting through five innings with no walks is a big deal. Drew Rasmussen didn't walk anyone in five innings on Friday night, either.
Season Totals for Rays Starters
- Starters: Shane McClanahan (2), Drew Rasmussen (2), Corey Kluber
(2), Luis Patino, Tommy Romero, Josh Fleming - Games: 9
- Decisions: 0-4 thru Saturday
- Team result: 4-5 thru Saturday
- Innings pitched (avg.): 33.1/3.7
- - Season high innings: 5, Drew Rasmussen (April 15), Corey Kluber (April 16)
- - Season low innings: 2/3, Luis Patino (April 11)
- Total pitches (avg.): 576/64.0
- - Season high pitches: 87, Corey Kluber (April 10)
- - Season low pitches: 13, Luis Patino (April 11)
- Strikes (avg.): 373/41.4
- Total strikeouts (avg.): 36/4.0
- - Season high strikeouts: 8, Shane McClanahan (April 13)
- Runs allowed (avg.): 19/2.1
- Earned runs (avg.): 17/1.9
- Hits allowed (avg.): 31/3.4
- Walks allowed (avg.): 16/1.8
- Total HBP allowed (avg.): 2/0.2
- Starter ERA: 4:59
Tom Brew is the publisher of Inside The Rays, and has been with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation network for three years. He is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his four-decade career at the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has written four books.