James Shields pitched an outstanding game against a hard hitting offense Monday night in Toronto. Shields pitched 7.1 innings giving up 3 ER on 5 hits while racking up 5 K’s and 0 BB. He had given up only 2 ER on 3 hits until the Jays touched him for 2 triples in the 8th inning. His location was right on the button and he was mixing his pitches well. He deserved to WIN this game!
The offense was miserable again! The Rays were 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position! At one time the Rays had bases loaded with 0 out and failed to score a run! Granted Burnett had his pitches working but if we could manage to load the bases I’m gonna guess we could expect to plate at least 1 run.
Watching the Rays and some other teams the Rays lack intensity. They act like its “work” going out there day in and day out. They look like a bunch of tired old men. They need to find some fire. They need to fist pump after good plays, after key strike outs, they need to get excited and act like they are enjoying finally being in a pennant race. Maybe these guys liked the old “D” Rays. Maybe they liked everyone feeling sorry for the hapless “D” Rays with the terrible owners. Evan Longoria made another outstanding diving play and I saw 1 teammate even acknowledge it – Carlos Pena pointed at him as they do. Why was no one fist pumping and getting excited?? I don’t buy that crap about it begin unsportsmanlike — every team should be excited when a teammate makes an outstanding play. That dugout should be going nuts when they all get back in it. The Rays just go and sit down and stare blankly at the field.
Not sure what’s happened to this team but the good news is the Red Legs and those that wear pinstripes also lost so the standings remain the same. The month of July is the “soft” part of our schedule. We had an opportunity to widen the gap between us and the Red Legs but we failed to take advantage of this time. No one but the players can change what’s happening between those lines. So, we’ll have to wait and see how it works out…..but………
July 29th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
It’s the fourth game in a row that Shields has started where the team only scored one run in support.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Yes, clearly the offense has been struggling for a while now. But last night Shields just pitched really well. The difference between this game and games of the past few weeks was the offense had plenty of opportunity. The frustration showed on Shields face at times throughout the game. Maybe he needs to take his offense to the wood shed!