Who would have thought at the beginning of the year it would be Andy Sonnanstine leading the Rays pitching staff with 13 victories?  Well, it is true!  Sonny earned #13 by defeating the hard hitting Angels 6-4.  He pitched very well and had many of the Angels hitters swinging at air and looking bad!  Sonny pitched 5 1/3 giving up 5 hits and 3 ER.  It really was a good pitching performance from him especially against a very tough Angel lineup.

 The big bats of the Rays made a statement today against the Angels pitching.  Eric Hinske and Cliff Floyd both hit 2-run blasts!  The Rays collected 13 hits and 2 walks off the Angels with only 3 K’s.  Nice job at the dish! 

BJ Upton managed to make another ridiculous out.  After hitting the ball to the base of the LF wall Upton was too busy admiring the shot to hustle into 2^nd base.  He trotted around 1^st and as he did this the Angel’s LF threw the ball to Teixeira who was following Upton and tagged him out.  Upton looked like he had seen a ghost.  He could not believe he had been tagged out.  Guess what BJ – these other teams are scouting you!  They have you listed as lazy!  Great play by the Angels!  The good news in all of this is that Floyd and some of the other Ray players have stated they are now taking the matter into their own hands.  About time!

Great game tonight!  I think this series will prove to all the naysayers out there!  Yeah, believe it or not some of these yahoos out there still think those that wear pinstripes are going to make a miraculous run.  Give it up folks! The Tampa Bay Rays are the NEW Beast of the East!

Andy Sonnanstine pitched masterfully (aside from a 4^th inning bump) to earn his 12^th victory to lead the Rays staff.  Sonny pitched 6 complete scattering 6 hits, allowing 2 ER and 1 free pass while collecting 6 K’s.  Sonny hit a bump in the 4^th inning and allowed the 2 ER but did a fabulous job in damage control!  Nice job Sonny – that was a much needed pitching performance!

The Rays faced the Al Leader in ERA, Justin Duchscherer.  I expected a great pitching matchup and that’s exactly what we got.  The Rays touched the Oakland ace for 2 HR early – Carlos Pena and Eric Hinske.  He then settled in and held the Ray bats silent until the 7^th inning when Ben Zobrist doubled in the go ahead run.  The bull pen did a nice job, albeit Perci gave up 2 BB in the 9^th – NOT GOOD.  Dioner Navarro threw a strike to 2^nd base to catch Rajah Davis trying to swipe the bag.  With Navi’s help Perci notched his 27^th save. 

Great game and a great win!  Keep it going Rays!

The Rays opened their 4 game series with the Seattle Mariners riding the high of the walk off HR by Carlos Pena the night before.  Well, the tables were turned when Raul Ibanez smacked a HR in the bottom of the 9^th off Dan Wheeler to earn the walk off victory for the Mariners.

This game was about the art of pitching!  Both Andy Sonnanstine and Felix Hernandez had their best pitches working tonight.  Sonny scattered 5 hits over 7.1 innings of awesome work giving up only 1 ER, 4 K’s and 0 BB.  At one point in the game Sonny had retired 17 straight Mariners.  Unfortunately for Sonny Hernandez was just as impressive holding the Ray’s bats at bay for 8 complete innings.   

The Rays offense managed only 5 hits and 1 run scored on a wild pitch.  Sonny got himself in a little trouble in the 7^th allowing a lead off double eventually to score the tying run.  Dan Wheeler hung a split finger to Ibanez on a 1-2 count and he promptly deposited it in the right field seats for the walk off victory. 

It’s too bad for Sonny that Hernandez was just as effective.  This was Sonny’s best game in a while by far and he deserved to win it.  But, we all know that’s not the way it always works.  James Shields will toe the rubber tonight for the Rays and set his sights on earning a W!

Andy Sonnanstine pitched a nice 6 innings and was backed by his offense to notch his team leading 11^th victory.  Sonny scattered 7 hits, 1 BB, 2 ER and 6 K’s in a complete 6 innings of work.  Al Reyes and Jason Hammel finished the game for him and, be it for a blip by Reyes allowing 1 ER, pitched effective and kept the powerful Tiger bats quiet.

The big story of this game was the offensive explosion from the Rays!  They looked like the Rays we came to know and love from the first half of the season.  The offense banged out 11 hits – 5 of which were for extra bases.  Evan Longoria was the offense spark plug going 3 for 4 including his 2^nd HR in as many days, a 2B, 3 RBI, 1 run and a stolen base.  The other Rays to add the 2B hit parade were BJ Upton, Jason Bartlett, Shawn Riggans and Akinori Iwamura.   

The impressive thing about the offense was watching them work.  The intensity was higher than I’ve seen it in, oh, about a month.  They worked the counts for walks (7) and really looked like they were energized.  It made the lethargic and less than stellar month of July vanish into past.  It made the future for the Rays look like October was again a reality! 

Go out today and support the team as they go for the sweep of the Detroit Tigers!  See you there!!  

Another day of ineffective offense destroyed the Rays hopes of taking the series from the Kansas City Royals.  The Rays had opportunity to score runs and continually squandered them.  In the 6^th inning the Rays had runners on 2 and 3 with 0 out and could not score a run!  That is story for the Rays so far in the second half of the season, opportunities lost.  The offense banged out 7 hits but only 1 of those hits was worth anything.  Carl Crawford knocked in the lone run.  Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria were the only Rays with a multiple hit day but Pena struck out when we needed the sac fly/hit and Longo did not generate any run production.  It is nice to see Pena swinging a much better bat these days however.

Andy Sonnanstine pitched well enough to win the game.  He gave up 8 hits, 5 ER, 2 BB and 2 K’s in 6.2 innings pitched.  Not his best performance but he kept the Rays in the game until the bullpen entered.  Al Reyes gave up a 2 out, 3 run blast (2 runs charged to Sonny) to Butler to seal the split for the Royals.  

Since the week prior to the All Star break the Rays have not looked the same.  They have looked very lethargic and uninterested on the field.  They have lost their swagger, their intensity.  I cannot think of a reason why.  They are currently still atop the AL East and will be regardless of tonight’s Red Legs vs. Pinstripes outcome.  They need to pull their heads out of their asses and play like they want the playoffs! 

The Rays are not winning the games they should against the “soft” part of their schedule.  If this trend continues it will be a very long August and September for both the Rays and their fans!  See you all in Toronto!

I’m not quiet sure what team that was that appeared against the A’s yesterday but it sure didn’t look like the AL East leading Tampa Bay Rays!  Not only was their offensive effort pathetic, the defense was slow and lazy and the bullpen imploded late in the game once again.  Andy Sonnanstine made 1 bad pitch to give up a 3-run blast to Jack Hannahan.  Other than that his effort was adequate as he left the game with Rays in position to win.  Sonny pitched 7 innings scattering 5 hits, only 1 BB and 5 K’s.  Trever Miller then entered the game in the 8th and it was downhill from there.  Miller, whose effectiveness has been declining with each passing month, did not record an out in the 8^th but gave up 1 hit, 2 BB and 3 runs.  Al Reyes then followed Miller’s disappointing performance with one of his own.   Reyes actually recorded 3 outs but not before he gave up a hit, a BB and another run.  Jason Hammel capped the bull pen performance by “mopping up” the 9^th inning allowing 1 run on 2 hits and a walk. 

 The offensive effort in this game matched the bullpens’.  The Rays actually had runners on base in just about every inning but only managed to push across 1 run.  A base running blunder by Carl Crawford took the Rays out of a possible scoring opportunity.  With bases loaded and 1 out Carlos Pena hit a sac fly to left field.  The throw in was cut off, as there was no play at the plate with Aki scoring the lone run, and CC was hung out to dry between 2^nd and 3^rd for the 3^rd out of the inning.  The offense managed to rack up 7 hits and 5 BB with only 4 K’s.  Looking at that line you’d think we’d have won the game.   

The defensive effort was less than stellar also.  Ben Zobrist was charged with 2 errors.    

This performance was reminiscent of days gone by…..the old Devil Rays.  The team showed no hustle, no grit and determination.  They were standing out there just going through the motions.  Clearly the Rays front office must make some tough choices if we are to make a late season push for the playoffs.  The Red Legs are lurking only .5 games behind and playing a weak schedule.  Those that wear the pinstripes also gained a game and are now just 3.5 games back.   

It seems painfully obvious they really need to make a deal for a RH hitter with some pop.  Someone we can sign to be a part of this team for years to come.  NOT a player on “loan” until the end of the season.  It seems pretty clear that bull pen changes need to be made also.  Rumor has it that Andrew Friedman and Joe Maddon spent about an hour behind closed doors after the disappointing loss last night so stay tuned Rays fans…..trades/moves may be on the way!

Scott Kazmir threw his best outing so far this season going 7 VERY strong innings!  He was outstanding!  He allowed only 2 hits in 7 innings while striking out 9!  I have to admit Kaz did not look good facing his first batter – he walked him on 4 straight pitches.  But he settled down and cruised the rest of the way. He even picked a runner of 2^nd!  His slider was dead on making that fastball that much better.  The bullpen, JP Howell and Grant Balfour, pitched 2 perfect innings to close the door.

Evan Longoria blasted his 3^rd HR in as many games!  He was joined in the HR launching by Willy Aybar who drilled the left field foul pole for his 4^th HR this season.  The offense looked better generating 9 hits and 8 BB.  They were active on the base path swiping 3 bags.  They clearly had the pressure on the A’s defense and it showed. 

I cannot say enough about the outstanding job Kaz did.  He put on a clinic!  The Rays remain 1.5 games above the Red Legs and 4.5 above those that wear the pinstripes as all 3 teams recorded victories.  Andy Sonnanstine will toe the rubber tonight – his first appearance since the All Star break.  With all the rest he’s had that ball is likely to be very active tonight! 

See you at The Pit!

WOW! That headline says it all! Amazingly Andy Sonnanstine was pitching a fantastic game for the first 4 innings of play Thursday night in Cleveland. His control was dead on. Then came the 5th inning and that was all she wrote. Andy began the 5th inning with a 2 run lead thanks to a Johnny Gomes 2-run blast. Then it all came apart. Andy began to hang pitches right in the middle of the zone and BAM! One after another the Cleveland hitters took full advantage of his mistakes and took him deep 3 times innings costing him 6 ER. Gary Glover also had control issues and allowed the Indians 7 ER in 2/3 of and inning pitched! It was an amazing sight to behold.

This game could have been different but for 1 play. After Sonnanstine gave up the game tying HR he had the opportunity to escape the inning. He enticed one of the Cleveland hitters into a DP play ball to him. Ben Zobrist threw the ball wide at 1st. The rest is, as they say, history.

The offense was non-existent once again. Gomes 2 run shot was all the offense could bolster. Another poor performance at the plate against a below average pitcher.

I know the fan base is a bit upset at how the Rays have been playing but there is some good news in all this. First, we had such a large lead in the AL East that we are still in first place! Second, we still have the best record in baseball with a .604 winning %. Third, the team is going to get some rest and be able to come back fresh. Fourth, every good team goes through these times during a LONG season. This will give them an opportunity to remember how it feels to loose. They will come back with a vengeance! Fifth, WE HAVE 3 ALL STARS FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER! Love to see Longo in the HR derby!

I predict James Shields will put and end to this tonight and the Rays will take this series from the Tribe. Go Rays!

Andy Sonnanstine pitched outstanding Saturday to earn his 10^th victory.  That’s right, 10^th victory.  Who would have ever thought that with names like Kazmir, Shields and Garza in the starting rotation it would be one Mr. Sonnanstine to notch his 10^th victory before the others.  Amazing Andy pitched 7 innings scattered 5 hits, 1 walk, 0 ER and 2 K’s.  JP Howell followed in the 8^th and struck out the side.  Grant Balfour closed the door on the Royals in the 9^th to preserve the win.

The Rays were also flashing the leather in the field with a few outstanding plays to help preserve the shut out.  Sonnanstine started a 1-6-3 DP on a come backer to end an inning.  Akinori Iwamura made an outstanding diving catch heading out to right field and recorded the out at first base.  Aki also provided all the offense the Rays would need by knocking in 2 with a 2 out 2B.  Ben Zobrist added a solo shot (his 3^rd HR in 3 consecutive starts) to top off the scoring for the Rays.    

It was a GREAT game and VERY well pitched.  I almost hate to mention a point in the game that concerned me but …….I’m going to anyway (you knew that right).  Zobrist had led off an inning with a nice triple to the deepest part of the park.  He was batting in the 9^th hole.  So the thought is GREAT! The top of our line up is coming so we’ll get that run home no problem.  But, let me tell you it WAS a problem.  Our 1, 2 and 3 hitters failed to advance him to score that run.  That has been a bone of contention for me all season long, our lack of situational hitting.  We MUST improve on this, I believe, to remain in contention.  Every team has a weak point to their game that MUST be improved to aid their cause in becoming the best team in baseball and winning a World Series title.  This is our weak spot. 

Ok, that being said – GREAT game! 

Go Rays!

The Rays will invite the Kansas City Royals into The Trop for a 4 game series beginning Friday July 4^th.   The Rays will look to extend their lead in the AL East by beating up on the 39-47 Royals.  While the Rays face the 4^th place (AL Central) Royals, the Red Sox and Yankees will spend the next few days beating up on each other in the Bronx.

Here are the scheduled pitching matchups: 

July 4 – Edwin Jackson (4-6, 4.33) vs. Brian Bannister (7-7, 4.88)

July 5 – Andy Sonnanstine (9-3, 4.60) vs. Zack Greinke (7-4, 3.65)

July 6 – James Shields (6-5, 3.70) vs. Luke Hochevar (5-6, 4.91)

July 7 – Matt Garza (7-4, 3.47) vs. Gil Meche (6-9, 4.74)    

The Rays have had to make several roster moves on the off day.  Jason Bartlett was placed on the 15 day DL with a keen sprain.  IN his absence the Rays have called up both Ben Zobrist and Reid Brignac.  Zobrist was last called up to fill in while Bartlett was away for the birth of his son.  Zobrist, although he committed several errors at shortstop, hit consecutive HR while facing the Florida Marlins.  Reid Brignac is also being called up as Zobrist has been dealing with a sore shoulder and Joe Maddon is unsure if he will be able to play every game.  This will be Brignac’s first call up to the major league club.  Brignac, 22, was named to the International League All Star team hitting .265, 7HR and 38 RBIs in 78 games with the Durham Bulls.  Mitch Talbot was optioned back to Durham.    

My prediction for this home stand is ANOTHER SWEEP!   It’ll be a 7-0 home stand!  

 GO RAYS!!