Ben Zobrist came off the bench in the 6^th inning to hit a bases loaded bomb into the LF seats at The Trop Friday night to put the Rays ahead once and for all.  This could not have come at a better time.  This game was all about the White Sox until this point.  The Rays had initially taken the lead on Carlos Pena’s 2^nd inning solo blast.  The White Sox then answered back with 2 runs.  All the action seemed to take place in the 5^th and 6^th innings of this game.  In the 5^th Dioner Navarro led off with a 2B and came around to tie the score on Jason Bartlett’s 2B.  The top of the 6^th proved to be trouble for Rays SP James Shields as he gave up 2 HR (3 hits total) and 3 ER with only 4 pitches to put the Sox up 5-2 just as the Rays had managed to tie this game.  The bottom of the 6^th contained all the dramatics for Ray’s fans.  Bases loaded with 2 outs Joe Maddon calls back scheduled hitter Gabe Gross and inserts Ben Zobrist who promptly deposits the baseball in the LF seats.  The Trop went crazy! 

James Shields struggled in this game.  Shieldsy went 7.1 innings allowing 7 hits (2 HR), 5 ER and 2 BB while netting only 4 K’s.  But something good did come out of this.  After all the dramatics in the 6^th inning Maddon sent Shields to the mound in the 7^th and let me tell you what a difference.   He was fired up and throwing with a vengeance.  He sat the White Sox down 1-2-3 and did not allow them to gain any momentum.  This was a good call on Maddon’s part, to allow Shields to go grab some confidence and he did just that.  This will pay dividends down the road.

The bullpen did a nice job with Wheeler, Shouse and Percival combing for 1.2 innings and giving up 0 ER.  However, it was not without incident.  Percival managed to allow runners on 1^st and 3^rd but get out of that 9^th inning mess to earn the save. 

The one down spot in this game was the umpiring behind the plate.  CB Bucknor has got to be one of the worst ball/strike callers I’ve ever seen.  AJ Pierzynski was blatantly moving his glove, pulling balls back into the strike zone and Bucknor was giving those to him.  Shields and Colon had a nice pitchers duel going on for the first 4 innings or so but Bucknor would not give them anything.  These guys were making some unbelievable pitches at the knees and e would not budge.  It was absurd and I hope he gets called on his performance.  It was poor at best.

Saturday night Scott Kazmir will take to the mound to keep this train rolling!

See you at The Trop! 

The Tampa Bay Rays opened a 4 game set with the Chicago White Sox Thursday night losing 3-2.  The games SP Jeff Niemann pitched well and had it not been for1 pitch that he missed his location may have been a winner.  Niemann left a pitch over the heart of the plate to Dye who promptly deposited into the seats for a 2-0 lead.  The White Sox never looked back.  The Rays BP had a much better outing although they did give up an insurance run in the 9^th.  Lance Cormier pitched 2.1 innings and Grant Balfour came in to strike out a few Sox to end a threat in the 9^th.  Balfour looked a bit more like his old self pacing around the mound yelling at him self.  That’s been missing in his game to this point so it was great to see it! 

The offense struggled against a decent outing for John Danks.  The Rays were 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position.  Here‘s the thing, Danks pitched well but the Rays gave up some easy outs.  They were swinging at pitches that were not close to the zone and first pitch swinging in some key situations.  They really need to find their plate discipline and work the pitch count to find a pitch they can do something with. The Rays went through similar times last year and they’ve managed to work them out.  I expect to see that happen again this year.  On a good note, Carlos Pena blasted his 5^th long ball.  Pena is seeing the ball well and selecting good pitches to hit. 

The Rays need to start putting all the facets of their game together now.  Time to start working out the bugs, so to speak.  Getting on into week 2 of this young season you don’t want to fall too far behind the leader, especially in the tough AL East.

James Shields takes to the bump Friday and will be looking to right this ship!  I expect to see the stands packed with Rays fans cheering and yelling and silencing any White Sox supporters that may be in attendance!

See you at The Trop!

The Rays gave up the lead in the 8^th when JP Howell blew the save by allowing the tying run to score.  The Troy Percival gave up the game in the 9^th by allowing Cody Ransom a 2B and eventually scores the winning run.

This was difficult to watch as the back end of our bullpen failed to save this for Andy Sonnanstine.  Sonny pitched well in his 5 innings of work allowing 4 hits, 2 ER, 1 free pass while getting 3 K’s.  This was a big improvement from his last start.  Joe Nelson followed Sonny for 1.2 innings and allowed 0 hits, 0 runs 1 BB and 2 K’s – nice job!   Then the wheels came off.  The guys we counted on all last year began the unraveling – Grant Balfour, JP Howell and Troy Percival.  Between the 3 they allowed 4 hits, 2 ER 1 BB with 2 K’s.  The remaining .2 innings was pitched by Brian Shouse who did a great job with 0 hits, 0 ER and 1 K.   

So, not to place the blame on these few guys as this is a team sport, we also had base running mistakes and a few mistakes at the plate.  Gabe Kapler made a poor decision as to when to be aggressive on the base path and was thrown out at 3^rd (although he was actually safe per the replay).  Fact is he should have been out and it was a poor decision to run.  Michel Hernandez was picked off first base by Pettitte.  Now, you guys know he has an awesome pick off move so – pay attention please.

We didn’t do too badly at the dish in collecting 6 hits – 4 of them for extra bases.  Pena blasted his 4^th HR of the season to give the Rays a 3-2 lead in the 4^th. 

Essentially we made some mistakes here and there but their BP beat our BP and that’s why we lost.  Now I am not phoning it in for our BP just yet as we’ve only played 9 games.  However I will say that I’d like to see us start making better decisions on when to be aggressive and love to see the BP start to turn it around.  I hope the early bullpen issues are not indicative of the RP having pitched over their heads last season. 

The Rays open a 4 game set today vs. the CWS……  See you at The Trop!

It has been reported that Evan Longoria will be out the following 2 games due to a death in his family.  The Rays organization has known about this for a few days.  Willy Aybar will be holding down 3rd base for Longo while he mourns with his family at home in California.   

Joe Maddon was quoted as saying that Evan wanted to keep this private but was not able to due to technology.  Writers, bloggers and others made incorrect inferences in articles after it was originally reported Longo would be gone for a few days for “family matters”.   Maddon felt it necessary to protect Evan by admitting there was a death in his family. 

Evan has gotten off to a torrid start this young season earning AL Player of the Week honors last week.  We will certainly miss him in our lineup the next few games (Willy will bridge that gap nicely) but nothing is more important thatn family.

My condolences to Evan and his family during this difficult time!

In a 3 game set no 2 games could be more different.  From the Rays crushing performance the night before to the Yankees rebound and pitcher’s duel tonight.  The score does not really indicate how close this game actually was. 

AJ Burnett and Matt Garza battled through 2 tough lineups all game long.  Burnett pitched a no hitter through 6 innings while Garza allowed only 2 ER in his 7 inning pitched.  The Yankee staff accumulated 12 K’s while the Rays staff came close to a match at 10 K’s.  An impressive point about Garza’s performance I’d like to mention happened in the very first inning.  In the first inning the Yankees loaded the bases with no outs and Matt came back to allow only 1 run. 

Carl Crawford broke up the no hitter with a single in the 7^{th with} 1 out.  A single by Evan Longoria sent CC to 3^rd.   Another single by Carlos Pena sent CC to the plate and Longo to 3^rd.   The Rays then tied the game with a sacrifice fly by Pat Burrell to score Longo. 

The bullpen took over for the Rays in the 8^th and Yankees blew the doors off this game.  JP Howell took the loss in this game by allowing 1 ER.  Dan Wheeler was not able to hold the game to a 1 run difference by allowing 4 hits and 4 ER in the 9^th.  So, to this point in the season, it would appear the Achilles heal of the Rays is the bullpen.  Howell has an ERA close to 5, Wheeler is 12.00 and Balfour is over 20.00!  Obviously for the Rays to be successful something will have to give in the BP. 

This was a well fought pitcher’s duel that was a joy to watch!  The Trop was rocking and everyone was having a great time.  Kudos to the Rays Front Office on the replica ring giveaway – these rings are HOT! 

Another stellar pitching match up this afternoon with Andy Sonnanstine going against Andy Pettitte.  Remember – game time is 4:05 today! 

See you at The Trop!

Congratulations to Evan Longoria for being selected the AL Player of the Week for the first week of this young season!

Longo hit .481 with five home runs, four doubles and drove in 10 runs last week.  Evan, last year’s AL Rookie of the Year winner, has not shown any indication of a sophomore slump to this point.  His glove has been awesome as well.  He’s beginning to make the hard plays look so easy you expect him to make everything.

Congrats Longo!

The Tampa Bay Rays crushed the New York Yankees in their home opener 15-5 Monday night!  This was an awesome night!  Not only did we destroy our division rival but we also raised the AL East and AL Championship banners!  The feeling in The Trop was amazing – people were very emotional.  Then to come out in the first inning and burn Wang in the fashion we did just added to the emotion.  I really believe the Rays converted a lot of bandwagon fans to die hard Ray fans with all that transpired last night.  It was a very classy, well conceived ceremony including the moment of silence to Harry Kalas – our condolences Todd! 

Carlos Pena provided the BIG bat during this game going 3 for 6 with 6 RBIs (4 by Grand Slam), 2 2B and 2 runs scored.  Jason Bartlett doubled his HR production from last year by belting his 2^nd HR in as many nights.  Nice to see Pat Burrell hit a rope into the LF seats as well, his first of this young season.

In total the Rays racked up 17 hits and 8 free passes!  The offense was clicking on all cylinders last night and chased Wang after 1+ innings.  The pitchers that followed Wang didn’t fair much better giving up 11 runs the rest of the way.   Yankee skipper Girardi was so desperate he had 1B Nick Swisher pitch the 8th inning!  Swisher actually did better than the rest of the Yankee staff.

The defense was clicking as well.  BJ Upton made his return to CF with a catch that would have made Willie Mays cheer.  Nady blasted a long fly to CF and as Upton approached the wall we all thought it was out.  BJ just reached his glove about 6 inches from his body and snags the ball as he ran into the wall.  Let me tell you — The Trop was silent.  No one knew where the ball was until he turned and fired back into the infield then a moment of disbelief hit……then…….ROAR!  BJ got a much deserved standing ovation.  This was an unbelievable catch!  Carl Crawford got into the action by taking a Swisher hit right off the top of the LF wall. 

Not to be overshadowed by the outstanding offense and defense was Scott Kazmir on the hill.  Kaz came out firing and was spot on with everything he threw.  In 6.2 innings he scattered 6 hits and 3 ER while accruing 6 K’s and 0 BB.  Kaz’s 2^nd great performance of this young season seems to point to him being 100% healthy.  He certainly looks like he is back to the form we all remember. 

This game had everything you could ever imagine; banners being raised, HR (3), one of which was a Grand Slam, 2Bs (4), stolen bases (4), outstanding defense and outstanding pitching.   A baseball fan could not ask for more!  Nice to see BJ make it back and look healthy walking 3 times, scoring 2 runs, swiping 2 bags and making outstanding defensive plays!  Nice to see Kaz pitching like we all know he can!  And of course – nice to see the Yankees lose!

Don’t forget – tonight is replica ring night – get your tickets now!

See you at The Trop!

OK it may have only been game 6 of this young season but it as a big game.  No one wants to be swept at anytime during the course of a season.  The beginning of the season can set the tone for the duration.  That being said, “Big Game James” came through.  James Shields took to the mound for the Rays in an effort to stop an early season skid.  He did that and earned himself his first ‘W’ of 2009.  Shieldsy went 7 VERY strong complete innings scattering only 3 hits and 1 free pass while striking out 3.  He was the Shields we remember from 2008 plus some! 

The offense erupted as well with 17 hits, 9 for extra bases!   There were doubles (4), triples (1) and home runs (4).  Home runs are always awesome but the home run of note is Evan Longoria as this is his 5^th HR in 6 games!  Jason Bartlett, Carols Pena and Ben Zobrist are the other Rays who went yard.  The Rays were active on the base path as well swiping 3 bags.  Love to see these guys moving and taking what’s theirs! 

No need to even state the obvious and say that this game’s performance was clearly 100 times better by all involved than the previous 2 nights but, now that I have, the Rays seem to still be having an issue with strike outs.  They gave up 11 easy outs via the K in today’s game and only accepted 3 free passes.  They really need to clean this part of the game up as this AL East is looking even tougher in 2009 with the ever present Yankees and Red Sox and the obvious improvements to both Toronto and Baltimore. 

The bullpen pitched the last 2 innings of the game and all looked good except Grant Balfour.  Grant had all sorts of location issues and allowed the 3 runs in the 9^th.  He was taken out in the 9^th after loading the bases and not recording an out.  JP Howell came in and stopped the bleeding to end the game. 

The Rays will now head back to The Trop for their home opener and the raising of the AL Pennant!  How exciting is that!  I may leave now to get there!!

See you in The Pit!

That’s right folks!  The Rays were shut out by the Orioles Saturday evening in Jeff Niemann’s 2009 debut.  Niemann came out in the first inning and could not it his location.  This led to a bases loaded jack by Mora.  The Orioles sent 9 men to the plate in the 1^st inning and 5 of them crossed the dish.  The only good out of all this as the Niemann did settle down in the 2^nd and lasted 5.1 innings so we did not have to exhaust our bullpen.  Niemann looked like bundle of nerves out there throwing the ball every where Navi wasn’t.  I hope this outing gets the butterflies out and we do not have to witness this again.  Right now my thoughts on Niemann are definitely in question.  I know he’s got the stuff but does he have the nerve to stand out there and focus?  I guess we’ll see.

I spoke yesterday of my concern for our offense — that concern continues.  The offense had plenty of opportunities but could not get it done.  We were 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position.  That cannot continue if we are to have any hope of touching the post season in 2009.  Now, obviously we are only 5 games into the 2009 season and have a long way to go and I’m not about t read too much into this at this point.  However, I will say I’d like to see some of these guys clean up their act at the plate.  I am seeing too many swings at pitches not even remotely close to the K zone.  We walked away from this after collecting 8 hits, 3 of which were doubles.  Evan Longoria continued his hot hitting going 2 for 4 with one of the 2B. 

Today we look to salvage 1 game and avoid a series sweep.  As we have already lost the series let’s hope we don’t walk away from this totally outplayed.  James Shields will get the call today to stop this early season slide.  It will be interesting to see how he recovers from his opening day performance.

The Rays will travel back to The Trop to open against the NY Yankees on Monday.  Joining them in Tampa, by all reports thus far, will be BJ Upton.  Having a healthy BJ back should give some continuity to the lineup.  The only line up change to expect when he returns is which Gabe will start in RF.  We know that Navi will most likely get Sunday’s off and be replaced by Riggo. 

So, let’s not look too far into what we’ve seen to this point BUT let’s also be wary of what we’ve seen to this point.  These Rays have some work to do and unless they start it soon they will find themselves on the bottom of a very tough division.

So, a shout out to Shieldsy to start the turn around today! 

See you at 1:00 pm!         

Andy Sonnanstine took to the mound Friday evening in hopes of continuing the Rays winning ways.   It just wasn’t meant to be.  Although Sonny pitched as I pretty much expected, he ran into some control issue in the 5ht which cost 3 runs.  Sonny didn’t make it out of the 5^th inning after allowing 8 hits, 5 ER, 4 BB and 2 K’s.  Honestly, I love to watch this guy pitch.  He is an intense competitor with the smarts to succeed as a major league starting pitcher considering his fast ball registers only about 86 or so.  The only stat that was a bit concerning for me was the 4 free passes because if you throw 86 mph and cannot control the location you’re going to get into trouble fast.  That’s what happened to Andy in the 5^th.  Other than that when he pitches I expect him to get hit but controlling the damage is his game.

Our offense was very interesting in this game.  When we hit we hit long and far!  Evan Longoria teed off with 2 HR giving him 4 for the year so far – no sophomore slump for him!  Dioner Navarro knocked out his first hit of this young season – also a HR.  So all 4 runs scored on the long fly, not too bad!

Four games in and I have to tell you my biggest concern is the amount of K’s we are giving away.  Rays hitters struck out 9 times last night against a pitcher who really isn’t that good.  I watched, as I’m sure you did, a good number of Rays swinging at pitches not even close to the zone.  In 4 games we have accumulated 32 K’s (8 average per game) to only 15 free passes (3.75 average per game).  Love to see that start to turn around a bit moving forward.  If this stays at a 2 to1 average per game we will accumulate some “L’s”.

We made 2 big base running blunders that cost us.  Carl Crawford knocked out a nice double to RF but got thrown out at 3^rd by a mile trying to stretch it.  Longo came up next and belted his first bomb of the game – 1 run lost.   Gabe Kapler hung himself out to dry between 3^rd and home and made the 3^rd out of the inning killing a rally.  This was a perplexing move and I put it all on Gabe.  Replays show he never even looked at 3^rd base coach Tom Foley so Foley had no way to stop him.  Then when he rounded 3^rd he just stopped halfway to home.  Not sure what was going on there but that’s the 2^nd big base running mistake Gabe has made so far.  I’d like to see that come to a screeching halt!

The play of the game was made by Ben Zobrist who started in RF!  He made a diving catch on a line drive to RC gap then got up and showed off his gun by throwing a strike to double Greg Zaun off 2^nd base.  This was an awesome play!  Congrats to Ben for being selected #3 top play by ESPN!

Game 2 of this series is the season debut for SP Jeff Niemann as the #5 in the rotation.  I’m anxious to see Jeff and what he brings to the table.  We’ve heard about him for a few years now it’s time to see what he’s got and how he’ll use it.

Go Rays!!