Matt Garza was outstanding in game 1 of a 4 game set pitching against the Rays AL East rival Boston Red Sox.  Matt pitched a perfect game through 6 innings!  A squib infield single in the 7^th broke up the perfect game for Matt but he quickly erased the runner inducing a double play.  There were only 2 other Red Sox runners on base the entire game – a walk by Garza and a walk by Balfour.  No Red Sox made it to 2^nd base.  The combination of Garza for 6.2 innings and Balfour for 1.1 innings faced the minimum 27 batters for the 9 innings.  For all the bad pitching performances the Rays have had as of late this performance was unbelievable!  Garza hit every spot, threw every pitch and used several different pitches as his “out” pitch keeping the Red Sox hitters off balance.

Garza’s battery mate for this game was Michel Hernandez.  He did an outstanding job handling Garza’s zone and calling the game.  Hernandez looked confident behind the plate and worked the umpire on all sides of the plate to get those close calls going in Matt’s direction.  Oh yeah, he also managed to throw in his first career MLB home run!  He went 4 for 5 at the dish, scored 1 run and drove in 3.  Nice day Michel!  I expect we’ll be seeing him behind the plate more often.  

The offense was electric!  These guys were pumped with an energy I have not seen to this point in the season.  Along with Hernandez, Evan Longoria knocked his 6^th out of the park.  But, Evan’s big at bat really came in the 3^rd inning with bases loaded against Red Sox ace Josh Beckett.  Longo worked the count and picked a pitch he could handle and drove a base clearing double to RCF gap.  In total the Rays banged out 18 hits and chased Beckett after 4.2 innings.  Rays hitters were patient at the plate and picking pitches they could handle.  Although they did strike out 11 times in total they still looked much more confident at the plate.

Look gang, this was a GREAT outing all over the place tonight!  Remember last year, the game in Toronto that everyone said really lit the team up and helped them turn that corner?  This could be that game!  I saw a ton of excitement in that dugout tonight, more than I’ve seen this season at any point.  Let’s hope this signals the righting of our ship!