Rays ran wild early today vs. Matusz, O's

By Steve Melewski

Orioles

June 12, 2011, 11:11am

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Maybe it was a combination too good for Tampa Bay to pass up. A pitcher who can be slow to the plate with runners on base and a catcher that, well, is not Matt Wieters. Tampa Bay took advantage of that to steal four bases in the top of the first inning today against Brian Matusz. It looked like they had a fifth in the top of the second but Johnny Damon was called out. While today's short start of just 1 1/3 innings could raise concerns about Matusz and topics like fastball velocity could surface again, holding runners can also at times be an issue for the lefty. Last year, Matusz allowed 17 stolen bases in 20 attempts for an 85 percent success rate. There was just one stolen base attempt against him this year in his first two starts, but the Rays were running wild today. The Orioles trail 5-3 in the fifth, but maybe they have some hope against a struggling right-hander in Wade Davis. He had given up 16 earned runs in 15 2/3 over his last three starts. Plus, in three starts this year (yes, three already) against the Orioles he had an ERA of 5.94.