The Rays offense took revenge on a game 1 defeat by walloping the Red Sox 14-5 in game 2! The great thing about this game was that everyone chipped in! All 11 players that strode to the dish contributed with at least 1 hit. In total the Rays banged out 17 hits including 7 for extra bases. Hot hitting Evan Longoria added to his RBI total by collecting 5 while going 2 for 4 with a walk, 3 runs scored, a HR and a 2B! This guy is locked in at the plate. He is hitting balls that are in, out, up and down for complete plate coverage. Can anyone say MVP?! Another guy who continues to be very hot at the plate is Carl Crawford. CC was 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, 1 RBI, 1 walk and 3 runs scored. The guy I absolutely love is Willy Aybar. Look this guy get an at bat/start maybe once a week and he steps up and delivers time after time. He got the call late in the game and promptly laced a double. Great guy to have on the bench, professional and always ready to perform!
SP Scott Kazmir had a bit of a mixed bag tonight. He did earn the victory but his location was not always great. In 5 innings pitched he scattered 8 hits, 3 ER, 3 free passes, 1 HR and a wild pitch. Kaz was his own worst enemy today I think. He would get up on a batter 0-2 then try to pick at the corners rather than attacking. That strategy got him into trouble with a high pitch count – he threw 100 pitches in just 5 innings – and forced him to place a pitch over the heart of the plate to avoid a walk. He managed to wriggle free of the majority of his troubles but really an unimpressive performance. The bullpen struggled a bit as well, specifically Joe Nelson. His location was far off and he ended up going only 1/3 of an inning while giving up 1 HR, 2 ER and 2 free passes. Not much more to say about our pitching as a whole than I’ve said in other posts. Just unreliable and until they all pull it together games may be an adventure from inning 1 through inning 9.
The worst part of this entire game was the broadcast itself. FOX broadcast this game with Tim McCarver and Dick Stockton calling and they were ridiculous! McCarver had no idea the names of our players – Akimura?? Who the hell is that?! Stockton had no idea who scored what runs in what inning. I mean really…come on FOX get it right!
Great offensive performance from the Rays! Let’s keep that rolling tonight and take this series. Sure hope Miller and Morgan are studying the actual names of the players!
