Rays starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi had seven strikeouts in his season debut Wednesday against the Orioles. Six of his strikeouts were on swings and misses, as well as changeups.
"I was commanding it with all my pitches," Odorizzi said, per MLB.com. "Throwing curve balls, slow curve balls when I needed to keep them off everything else. For the most part, I think commanding the zone was a big part of how successful we were tonight."
Odorizzi has allowed two hits or fewer four times in his career, including Wednesday. He is 4-0 with a 0.00 ERA in those outings.
"I warmed up well and sometimes that doesn't translate to a game," he said. "It doesn't show up. ... I was relaxed, I wasn't nervous, I wasn't anything. It was just another game. I kind of took that mentality into it. I wanted to execute and that's what I did."