Andriese set for first start against Blue Jays

Published May 02, 2016

Right-hander Matt Andriese makes his first major league start on Tuesday when the Tampa Bay Rays continue their four-game set with the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

The 25-year-old Andriese battled for a rotation spot this spring, but seemed to be out of luck when the team traded for Erasmo Ramirez. Then, the Rays opted to use reliever Steve Geltz on Friday.

Andriese made his major league debut in that Friday contest against the Miami Marlins and tossed a scoreless inning of relief. Ramirez, by the way, was torched in that same game for seven runs in two innings.

Toronto will hand the ball to rookie left-hander Daniel Norris, who picked up his first big league win on Thursday against the New York Yankees. One of the better pitching prospects in baseball, Norris allowed three runs on six hits and struck out five over 5 2/3 innings.

The 21-year-old ran into trouble in the sixth when he surrendered a pair of homers to Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira.

Tampa spoiled Toronto's home opener on Monday, as Jake Odorizzi tossed eight solid innings to power the Rays to a 2-1 win.

Odorizzi (2-0), who took a no-hitter into the fifth, gave up one run on two hits while striking out three and walking three. Brad Boxberger tossed a scoreless ninth for his third save of the season.

"First couple of innings, the ball wasn't going where I wanted it to," said Odorizzi. "And, it didn't feel very good coming out and where it was going. Just being uncooperative really, but Hick [pitching coach Jim Hickey] got with me between innings and said it was all head positioning."

David DeJesus and Steven Souza Jr. each walked with the bases loaded in the fourth for the Rays, who have won three in a row.

Devon Travis drove in the lone run for the Blue Jays. R.A. Dickey (0-1) allowed two runs on three hits to go along with six strikeouts and five walks over six innings.

"They did a good job of laying off some really close pitches and I didn't make the big pitch when I had to," said Dickey.

These teams face each other seven times in the season's first month.

URL

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