Scott Kazmir threw his best outing so far this season going 7 VERY strong innings!  He was outstanding!  He allowed only 2 hits in 7 innings while striking out 9!  I have to admit Kaz did not look good facing his first batter – he walked him on 4 straight pitches.  But he settled down and cruised the rest of the way. He even picked a runner of 2^nd!  His slider was dead on making that fastball that much better.  The bullpen, JP Howell and Grant Balfour, pitched 2 perfect innings to close the door.

Evan Longoria blasted his 3^rd HR in as many games!  He was joined in the HR launching by Willy Aybar who drilled the left field foul pole for his 4^th HR this season.  The offense looked better generating 9 hits and 8 BB.  They were active on the base path swiping 3 bags.  They clearly had the pressure on the A’s defense and it showed. 

I cannot say enough about the outstanding job Kaz did.  He put on a clinic!  The Rays remain 1.5 games above the Red Legs and 4.5 above those that wear the pinstripes as all 3 teams recorded victories.  Andy Sonnanstine will toe the rubber tonight – his first appearance since the All Star break.  With all the rest he’s had that ball is likely to be very active tonight! 

See you at The Pit!

The Tampa Bay Rays failed to sweep the Toronto Blue Jays by loosing game 3 by a score of 9-4.  The pitching was woeful for the Rays.  The offense tried to keep up but the pitching staff, from starter to relievers, was unable to stop the Jays bats.

Edwin Jackson struggled from the get go giving up a hit to the first batter he faced.  Jackson struggled through his shortest outing since May 21^st going only 4.1 innings allowing 6 runs on 8 hits.  Jackson gave up 5 of the 6 runs via the long ball.  The bull pen did not do much better.  A combination of 4 relievers gave up 3 runs on 3 hits and 5 free passes.      

The offense kept up with the Jays until the 5^th inning.  The Rays had back to back homers by Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena in the 3^rd which ended the scoring for the Rays.

This was a bad loss because it was a pitching loss.  The Rays strong point has been the bull pen this year.  The last 2 games the pen has looked eerily similar to years past.  I hope this is an anomaly and corrects itself tomorrow as the Rays open a 3 games set against the Oakland A’s. 

Get off your couch and out to The Trop!  Go Rays!!

The Tampa Bay Rays banged out 10 hits, including 2 HRs, and scored 6 runs Saturday night en route to a series victory over the Toronto Blue Jays!  The Rays sleeping beast – their offense – appears to have come out of hibernation.  Evan Longoria led the charge blasting his first career GRAND SLAM in the 6th inning.  Cliff Floyd added another HR to dead centerfield on the first pitch he saw in the 8^th.      

Until the 6^th inning the game was locked in a pitchers duel between Matt Garza and Roy Halladay.  Garza pitched an almost flawless game.  The only marks against him were 2 hits in 7.2 innings which included 6 K’s!  He was outstanding against a tough hitting Toronto team.   

The ineffective bullpen made the game interesting allowing the Jays 4 runs on 5 hits in the 9^th inning!  The Rays ended up using 3 pitchers in the 9^th inning alone.  Trever Miller, Al Reyes and Dan Wheeler were off the hook when Wheeler eventually managed to shut the door.

Great to see the bats come alive!  The Rays also put a lot of pressure on the defense by lying down several bunts. Akinori Iwamura and Dioner Navarro took the defense by surprise and beat out bunts for base hits. Adding the bunt to the Rays offense is going to put a ton of pressure on opposing defenses and they need to KEEP DOING IT!   

Great game and looking forward to another today!  Get out to The Trop!  See you there!

Ben Zobrist blasted a 2 run shot in the 7^th inning to lift the Rays over the Blue Jays and, combined with the loss by the Red Legs, back into first place.  James Shields pitched outstanding and went 7 strong.  The bullpen closed the door to seal the victory! 

It was great to see the Rays back out on the field and The Trop was rocking!  The Rays were aggressive on the base path – granted we had 2 runners thrown out trying to steal BUT…. they tried.  That lack of aggressiveness was missing the end of the first half.  The Rays are a team that needs to make things happen on the field to open up their opportunities.  They have a ton of speed and should be using it. 

We definitely have a few players struggling at the dish still.  BJ Upton and Evan Longoria looked sick last night.  Carlos Pena well, Carlos is Carlos.  Honestly I have not been a big proponent of making a trade BUT…I do believe this lineup would benefit greatly from acquiring a solid RH bat.  That bat could potentially move into the #4 hole and move Carlos down. 

This win should snap the Rays back to reality.  Let’s get out there and break open the can of WHOOP – ASS!  See you at The Pit!

The Tampa Bay Rays had an opportunity to do what no team other than the Yankees and the Red Sox have done since 1993, head into the All Star break on top in the AL East.  They let that slip away.  By getting swept by the Cleveland Indians (5-2 Sunday) the Rays gave the top spot back to the Red Sox by ½ game.   

Sunday’s game had much the same ring as every game during the 7 game losing streak.  Average pitching from above average pitchers and no offensive production.  Scott Kazmir threw 104 pitches in 6 innings allowing 5 ER, 2 HR, 2 BB and 7K’s.  Grant Balfour pitched and uneventful 7th and 8^th innings.

Cleveland’s pitching staff gave the Rays ample opportunities to have runners on board by walking 7 hitters.  They were even kind enough to walk in a run for us since we cannot seem to score on our own.  But all in all we stranded 8 on base.  We repaid the Indians kindness by striking out 14 times!   

The Rays have been through an emotional first half of the season.  They have played arguably the toughest schedule.  That does take a toll especially on a young team that is not used to winning.  However, the flip side is that they are professionals and need to use this time off to gather themselves and come back out of the break with a vengeance.  The great thing is we open the second half at The Trop where the Rays have played some great baseball. 

So Rays fans….relax and enjoy the All Star break.  Don’t forget to tune in to the Home Run Derby to cheer for our very own Evan Longoria

The Cleveland Indians beat up on the Rays 5-0 sending them to their 5^th consecutive defeat.  The good news is the Boston Red Sox also lost so nothing changes in the AL East standings.  But, don’t expect the same result the next 2 games!   

James Shields kept the Rays close most of the game but he did allow 10 hits, a HR, 5 ER, 1 BB and only racked up 4 K’s in losing his 6^th game of the season.  Jason Hamel pitched an uneventful 8^th and 9^th innings for the Rays.  

The Rays had some fielding issues with Carl Crawford committing his 4^th error of the season. Johnny Gomes playing right field misjudged a fly ball allowing the scoring to start for the Tribe.  He had several other flubs out there costing the Rays bases.  

The offense again was absent.  The Rays banged out 8 hits and managed to strand 9 on base.  Patience again was NOT in the Rays game plan as they gave Cliff Lee 10 K’s and only accepted 1 BB.  The Rays really need to watch what the Indian hitters are doing to our pitchers.  The Indians have been a far superior team the first 2 games of this series.  Their offense has been patient and waiting for a good pitch to hit.  I don’t know about you but I’m getting a bit frustrated watching Rays hitters flail wildly at anything heading in their general direction.  They better clean it up at the plate and keep Gomes on the bench in hopes to garner a series split! 

Go Rays!

WOW! That headline says it all! Amazingly Andy Sonnanstine was pitching a fantastic game for the first 4 innings of play Thursday night in Cleveland. His control was dead on. Then came the 5th inning and that was all she wrote. Andy began the 5th inning with a 2 run lead thanks to a Johnny Gomes 2-run blast. Then it all came apart. Andy began to hang pitches right in the middle of the zone and BAM! One after another the Cleveland hitters took full advantage of his mistakes and took him deep 3 times innings costing him 6 ER. Gary Glover also had control issues and allowed the Indians 7 ER in 2/3 of and inning pitched! It was an amazing sight to behold.

This game could have been different but for 1 play. After Sonnanstine gave up the game tying HR he had the opportunity to escape the inning. He enticed one of the Cleveland hitters into a DP play ball to him. Ben Zobrist threw the ball wide at 1st. The rest is, as they say, history.

The offense was non-existent once again. Gomes 2 run shot was all the offense could bolster. Another poor performance at the plate against a below average pitcher.

I know the fan base is a bit upset at how the Rays have been playing but there is some good news in all this. First, we had such a large lead in the AL East that we are still in first place! Second, we still have the best record in baseball with a .604 winning %. Third, the team is going to get some rest and be able to come back fresh. Fourth, every good team goes through these times during a LONG season. This will give them an opportunity to remember how it feels to loose. They will come back with a vengeance! Fifth, WE HAVE 3 ALL STARS FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER! Love to see Longo in the HR derby!

I predict James Shields will put and end to this tonight and the Rays will take this series from the Tribe. Go Rays!

The Tampa Bay Rays are mired in an offensive slump rolling into the mid season break. They were swept by the NY Yankees this afternoon 2-1 in 10 innings. Edwin Jackson pitched a great game today. He pitched 6 1/3 scattering 6 hits, 1 ER, 2BB and 3 K’s over that span. He deserved a victory today but the offense was virtually non existent. Grant Balfour got tagged with the loss when Bobby Abreu went after a good pitcher’s pitch and knocked a double in the gap to score Jeter from 1st with the game ending run.

The Rays have been struggling the last 3 games with their offense. Carlos Pena hit a HR to tie the game at 1 all in the 6th inning, the first run the Rays had scored in 16 innings. Today they were only able to rack up 5 hits and 3 BB while giving up 11 K’s. We did have opportunities again to score runs but the situational hitting was not there.

With this loss and the Red Sox victory the margin has closed to a mere 2 games. Hopefully the Rays will turn this ship around heading to Cleveland for a final 4 games before the All Star break. The Indians have been struggling all season and currently sit at the bottom of the AL Central with record of 37-52. This should be an easy series victory for the Rays with the possibility of a road sweep. That is a great way to go into the break!

Go Rays!!

Scott Kazmir struck out 9 batters and only allowed 2 ER in his 5 innings of work but the Rays offense was woeful!  Kaz hung 1 bad pitch to Jeter with 2 out that he smacked to the fence allowing the 2 runs to cross the plate.  Other than that Kaz pitched well.  The only concern is that he is still going too deep into the count with hitters.  In 5 innings of work he threw 97 pitches.  Kaz is aware of his shortcomings and working on them with pitching Coach Jim Hickey according to him.  Gary Glover allowing 3 runs in the bottom of the 8^th made this game look worse than it really was.

OK, when the first inning for our offense began with 2 pitches and 2 quick outs I knew it was going to be along night.  Yes, that’s right 2 pitches and 2 outs for Pettitte.  What happened to patience?  When a pitcher of Pettitte’s quality sees hitters expanding the zone he WILL take advantage of that and he DID.  Even though the Rays struck out only 6 times (Pettitte 5, Ramirez 1) they did not record 1 walk and only managed to collect 4 hits, 2 by BJ Upton.  Our “power” hitters, Pena and Gomes, combined for 1 for 7 with 4 K’s.    

Pettitte pitched a quality game no doubt.  However we made it very easy for him to do so.  We never put pressure on him and continued to expand the K zone all night.  This does not a season make.  However we need to show a vast improvement in today’s offensive performance to walk away with a split in this short 2 game series.  We have given the Red Sox back 2 games and are giving momentum to the Yankees.  Hopefully we open it up today and leave with a victory! 

The Tampa Bay Rays failed to get the sweep of the Kansas City Royals when they lost the last game of the series 7-4 in 10 innings.  Matt Garza pitched 6 2/3 but was in and out of trouble all day.  He gave up 9 hits, 2BB, 3 ER and had 5 K’s.  He did manage to wriggle out of trouble a few times to keep the Rays close.  Dan Wheeler gave up 4 runs (3 earned, E5) on 2 HR and 1 IBB in the top of the 10^th to seal the victory for the Royals.                                                       

The pitching was good enough to win this game.  It was the offense that struggled mightily.  The Rays banged out 11 hits and 4 BB and failed to get the timely hit when needed.  Several times they had multiple runners in scoring position and failed to advance the runners.  Overall as a team they stranded 12 runners.  They also managed to strike out 12 times.  Carlos Pena tied the game in the bottom of the 9^th with a blast to right field to give the Rays hope.  But their hopes were quickly dashed when the top of the 10^th began with an unlikely Evan Longoria throwing error allowing the runner to advance to 2^nd.  The Royals never looked back….

The Rays now take their show to NY to face the Yankees in a short 2 game series.  Here are your pitching matchups: 

July 8 – Scott Kazmir (7-3, 2.63) vs. Sidney Ponson (5-1, 4.19)

July 9 – Edwin Jackson (5-6, 4.08) vs.  TBA

The lack of situational hitting MUST improve for the Rays to continue to lead the AL East.  The lack of production will “sting” them at some point and could prove to be the hurdle they must jump to get to the next level.  This game is the perfect example of what can potentially happen, we lost to a bad team in the Royals – what do you think would happen if we were playing a good team say in October…… 

Now, go turn on ESPN and route for the Twins!