” Rays C John Jaso said. “He was really spotting up.
“There were a couple of balls called on Damon (that were so close), he stepped out of the box and was like, ‘I probably can’t take that again.’ ”

Niemann allowed a run on three hits in 3 2/3 innings in a 9-6 Rays loss at Joker Marchant Stadium.

He was hurt by a first-inning infield single by Austin Jackson, because Magglio Ordonez doubled him home, and by his own error (a dropped toss at first) in the fourth, which probably kept him from finishing that inning.

But Niemann retired nine consecutive batters after Ordonez’s double and struck out the side in the second inning. Six of his 11 outs came on strikeouts.

“I felt good about it,” Niemann said. “I was throwing strikes with everything and got a few strikeouts on some good breaking stuff. So it was a good one to take away.”
Jaso said Niemann was throwing “like a cutter on the front door” to lefties and “more like a slider away” to righties and used his curveball as an out pitch.

“The one he had a little trouble with was probably the split-finger (fastball),” Jaso said. “But he did throw a couple of good ones, and we made some good adjustments.”