Jax seems right at home in Rays' rotation with season-high 7-K start

ST. PETERSBURG -- Reflecting on his on-the-fly role change from late-inning reliever to full-time starter, Griffin Jax said on Tuesday it felt like both “forever ago” and “yesterday” that he was pitching out of the Rays’ bullpen.

Those contradictory feelings have more to do with the passage of time than anything related to his performance, because Jax has clearly made himself at home in Tampa Bay’s rotation.

The right-hander made his 11th start on Wednesday night at Tropicana Field, matching the number of relief appearances he made to start the season, and he did what he’s done nearly every time he’s taken the mound to begin the game: He gave the Rays a chance to win.

Thanks to some opportunistic offense, the Rays capitalized on another strong outing from Jax and beat the Royals, 5-3, putting them in position to split the four-game series if they win Thursday afternoon’s finale. Jax racked up a season-high seven strikeouts and worked around five hits and two walks over five innings.

“I've been definitely happy with everything, and just continuing to learn,” Jax said. “When you've got the best pitching coach in the Major Leagues on your side, it helps, and then some other really quality starters in the room to lean on. It's just made the experience that much better.”

Jax has allowed three runs or fewer in 10 of his 11 starts, dating back to his test run as an opener on April 26, and he’s put together a 2.40 ERA in this role compared to an 8.00 mark as a reliever.

This outing was the fourth straight time -- and sixth overall -- Jax completed five innings. He’s yet to pitch past the fifth due to a combination of workload limitations, a recent blister issue (which wasn’t a factor against Kansas City) and the occasional high pitch count, like the season-high 88 he threw on Wednesday.

“Would like to be a little bit more efficient so I can go out for the sixth, maybe the seventh there,” Jax said. “But just to grind through that game and get through five there, I was happy about that.”

Especially after how the game started.

Jax had to dance out of a couple jams in the early going, as he put the first two runners on in the first and second innings. He got out of the first by striking out Jac Caglianone, then induced a double-play grounder from Salvador Perez. The Royals loaded the bases with two outs in the second, but Jax retired Carter Jensen to escape unscathed.

"He's one of the best,” said Perez, who saw plenty of Jax as a Twins reliever. “I feel like I [got myself out] chasing a pitch out of the strike zone, but that's because he's good.”

Yandy Díaz led the charge behind Jax, going 4-for-5 with an RBI that tied him with B.J. Upton (447) for sixth most in franchise history.

The Rays didn’t exactly bash the ball around the park against lefty Noah Cameron during a three-run third and two-run fourth inning, but they found enough ways to get runners on, move them over (with a couple bunts) and knock them in. It was a welcome sight after seeing so many scoring opportunities go to waste recently.

“Just putting pressure on the defense,” manager Kevin Cash said. “I think when we're doing that, that's probably the best version of our offense where it's just constant pressure.”

Jax gave up two runs in the fifth, but neither was earned. Shortstop Taylor Walls made a rare error on a Caglianone grounder with two outs. That put two runners in scoring position, and both scored when Chandler Simpson misplayed a line drive that Perez hit right at the left fielder.

Michael Massey then hit a double, putting the Royals one swing away from tying the game, but Jax fired a full-count changeup past Isaac Collins for his seventh and final strikeout, his second most in a game behind his career-high 10 on Aug. 10, 2021.

“They swing a lot. They're aggressive,” Jax said. “Tried to use that to my advantage and get them to swing from the first pitch of the at-bat, and if they didn't put it in play, then I was going to start expanding off of that.”

Jax finished three of his strikeouts with changeups. He recorded two more on sweepers, one with his sinker and another with his four-seam fastball.

It was a full display of the deep and diverse arsenal that allowed him to move from the bullpen to the rotation in the first place.

“Obviously, you don't really see that too often, a reliever going to a starting role,” outfielder Jonny DeLuca said. “He's just taken it and run with it and been really, really good for us.”