The Ray offense was held silent until the 6th inning when Jason Bartlett broke up a no-no. It was an impressive performance by Angel starter Ervin Santana. The Rays however showed their determination by breaking through in the 8th inning for a 3 run spot.
James Shields did not have his best pitches working effectively for him. But, with stellar defense behind him he wriggled out of a few tight spots allowing only 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 hits in 8 innings pitched. James also recorded 7 outs himself by way of the K! James showed his resiliency by staying out on the mound and pitching tough through a less than Shields like performance. He came through when the Rays needed him!
James was back by a defense that was flashing some very impressive leather between the lines! Gabe Gross grabbed a ball high off the RF wall to record the final out of the 1st inning! Very nice grab! Bartlett napped a short line drive up the middle and doubled an Angel runner off of first! JB means a ton to this defense! BJ Upton threw a strike to the plate to nail Tori Hunter trying to score from 2nd base! It was a perfect throw and catch!
The Ray offense got to the bull pen and loaded the bases in the bottom of the 8th with no out. The Rays tied the game on a bases loaded walk to Carlos Pena. Then Willy Aybar came clutch once again. Aybar knocked a 2 run single to put the Rays out in front for good.
This was another GREAT team victory! In gaining this win the Rays have not only taken this series from the Angels but have also secured the season series and the best record in the American League! As a Ray fan since their beginning I was honestly hoping to see a record just above .500 – to see improvement this year in moving forward. These guys impress me with something different every night! Keep it going!
Obviously a lot of the credit needs to go to the RFO and to Joe Maddon. The RFO gave Joe the pieces to be successful. Joe has proven to be a very intelligent baseball man. But more impressive is how he handles the players. Last night Upton was called out by 1st base umpire Jerry Meals on an over thrown ball – Meals said Upton made an attempt to go to 2nd base. NOT!! Maddon charged out there and argued emphatically for Upton – a player he has benched several times for a lack of hustle. Maddon was promptly tossed form the game. He showed that he believes in and has the back of all his players. It would have been very easy to blame Upton with his recent string of negative events but Maddon did the right thing. He showed BJ that he has faith in him. Hopefully this said a lot to BJ and there will be no more negative incidents with BJ the rest of this season. If Maddon does not get voted MOY there will be a riot!
