Hey Rays fans!! The Rays bats looked a bit livelier last night! Good news on the horizon maybe???? The Rays banged out 9 hits in last night’s Tiger whoopin’, 6 of those hits were for extra bases! That was great to see. A lot of hustle around the base path, turning singles into doubles, swiping bags and even a bunt attempt put the pressure on the Tigers and they retreated to the safety of the den.
Carl Crawford led off the hit parade with his 5th triple in his last week or so. Jason Bartlett added another triple. Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria belted solo blasts. Akinori Iwamura and Cliff Floyd laced doubles. The aggressors on the base path included BJ Upton, Eric Hinske and CC, and let me tell you, these guys had such good jumps it wasn’t even close! Great to see these guys put the pressure on the defense. It was clear they were in the head of the battery. Keep it going!
The pitching wasn’t as great but it was sufficient to hold the hard hitting Tigers to just 2 runs and preserve the victory. Scott Kazmir struggled with his control mightily! I really can’t remember the last time he pitched so poorly…that being said he get s break from me. He has been our staff ace and through several years the only SP this team could count on. He is having an off year (by his own comparison) but he’s a smart guy and I believe he’ll have it all figured out just in time for our PLAYOFF RUN!
The bullpen faired well except for a couple of minor bumps. Troy Percival somehow seems to keep getting it done. He earned his 24th save last night. Overall this was the line of the pitching staff: 9 innings, 4 hits, 2 ER, 9 BB and 11 K’s. They only negative in that line is the 9 BB – but 6 were by Kaz, that shows how much he struggled.
This was a GREAT TEAM effort! It seems like not making a deal by the deadline rejuvenated the Rays. It showed them the confidence the RFO has in the players they have. They certainly looked like a different team from that team of the past month. It will be interesting to see if they come out with that same intensity tonight.
See you at The Trop!
