The key for any successful team is beat who you should beat.  If you can do that the stars will align.  The Rays did just that this series by sweeping the Washington Nationals and going 5-1 on this homestand.  SP James Shields was again a bit less than perfect on the rubber.  Although he stopped the bleeding and kept the game close enough for the Rays to rally.  Shieldsy lasted 6 1/3 innings giving up 9 hits, 4 ER, 1 free pass while striking out 4.  Lucky for him he was bailed out by the bull pen and the offense or he would have suffered the loss. As it ended RP Dan Wheeler earned the ‘W’ and RP JP Howell earned the save.  RP Randy Choate chipped in with a scoreless 2/3 of an inning.  One thing I have noticed about the SP core this season is none of them seem to have an ‘out’ pitch that they can throw.  Shields was living that nightmare Sunday as he went 0-2 to a lot of the Nat’s hitters then left a pitch over the plate to give up a hit.  They really need to sort that out so the offense is not always playing catch up.

The big bat of the game was swung by Gabe Kapler.  Yes, folks, that’s right…Gabe Kapler.  Kapler was 2 for 2 with a game tying HR, 3 RBIs, 1 run scored and 2 free passes.  Carlos Pena and BJ Upton also chipped in with a multiple hit day.  The quirkiest play of the game came off PH Willy Aybar’s bat.  Pena was standing on 2^nd after leading off with a 2B.  Willy came in to PH for Gross due to the LHP.  Willy hit what appeared to be a routine grounder to 3^rd base that deflected off the bag and sent the ball into no man’s land in LF allowing Pena to score the winning run.  It was awesome!

With the victory the Rays have tied Toronto for 3^rd place and are only 3 games behind the second place Yankees with 97 games to go.  Not too shabby considering the major injuries this team has had to suffer through.  Now with Pat Burrell and Jason Bartlett the Rays can solidify their lineup.  Burrell needs to get going quick as there is no time to waste.  If he can start swinging the bat like he was signed to do this lineup will become very dangerous very quickly.

See you in Denver!

The Tampa Bay Ray offense put on a power display in the finale of the 3 game set against the LA Angels.  The offense put up 15 hits, 7 for extra bases including 4 home runs.  Carlos Pena, Dioner Navarro, Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford all went deep while Navi, Ben Zobrist and Reid Brignac checked in with doubles.   Gabe Gross chipped in 4 RBI’s in his 3 for 4 performance while swiping a couple of bags as well.  Gabe has been swinging the bat well lately as he’s getting more regular playing time.  Now that Matt Joyce has been sent to Durham with the activation of Pat Burrell Gabe should be able to keep his groove on as he gets time in the OF. 

SP David Price threw out a mixed bag of good and bad.  He did not figure into the decision as he had to be lifted after 4 1/3 innings due to a very high pitch count (105).  To be honest he got into a lot of trouble in the first inning with a base hit and 2 walks to load the bases but wriggled free without any damage.  Here’s how mixed his performance was – 6 K’s with 6 free passes.  He was brilliant one minute and couldn’t hit the zone the next.  I attribute this to youth and as the season develops so will David.  The bullpen backed Price by going 4 2/3 allowing only 2 hits, 2 free passes while striking out 6. 

Grant Balfour was credited with the win, his 3^rd of the season; half of what he won all of last season.  This is really indicative of the issues our starting pitching has had going deep into games.  There have been at least 3 guys that struggle to get through the 5^th inning Niemann, Kazmir and Sonnanstine.  You can now switch Price with Kazmir and add him to that list. This presents the obvious issues for the bullpen being worn out early in a lot of games.  On the upside Niemann has shown much better location as of late allowing him to conserve pitches and go deeper in.  Sonny I think will always be hit or miss and I think he will find himself in the pen upon Kaz’s return.  Price should work it out like Niemann has and, when this happens, will solidify a brutal 5 man starting rotation.

The Rays host the Washington Nationals this weekend at The Trop for 3.  This series should be a “gimme” for the Rays and allow them to, at least, keep pace if not make up some ground.  See you at The Trop!

The Rays opened the 3 game set with the LA Angels struggling to recover from an early error by Carlos Pena that led to 2 unearned runs.  SP James Shields pitched well enough to win this game and should have.  Shieldsy went 6 1/3 innings scattering 10 hits but only allowing 2 ER (4 total) while striking out 3.   Shields was victimized by several bloop hits and dribblers that really were not indicative of how well he pitched.  Out of those 10 hits there were several excellent pitches that halo hitters just managed to get the bat on.  The bullpen was lights out in completing the game.

Pena committed his 6^th error of the season (2 all of last year) by getting stuck in between hops on a grounder hit by the lead off halo, local product, Chone Figgins.  The defense of the Rays has been suspect this season unlike last.  A lot of errors on easy plays have been committed by guys with better than average gloves, including Pena.  To make any move the Rays MUST clean this up!

The bats of the Rays faced a tough opponent in the Angels SP Weaver.  He was spot on in this game.  The big bat for the Rays was wielded by Ben Zobrist once again.  Zorilla was the only Rays to have multiple hits in this game going 2 for 4 with a HR, 2 RBI and 1 run scored.  Zobrist is definitely making a case for himself for a trip to St Louis.  He has stepped in, played multiple positions and continues to produce at the dish for the Rays when all else seems to be failing.  Nice job Zorilla!

Our offense has been struggling from the get go of the season.  A few guys got off to fast starts but have since cooled significantly.  Pena and Evan Longoria come to mind.  Although Pena is doing exactly what he always does, a lot of K’s, unproductive outs, low BA and the occasional HR, I think everyone had high hopes after his fast start.  Longo also had a fast start but his BA is falling at the speed of light (0 for 2 with 2 BB last night).  BJ Upton and Dioner Navarro have shown little to no penchant for any type of offense.  Gabe Kapler and Pat Burrell are the worst signings by the new Rays front office to date. 

The good news – with all this and the inconsistency of the Rays bullpen we are still only 6 games out!  The Rays need to plug in the best line ups they have and STOP worrying about all these computer stats and match ups.  Put Zobrist on 2^nd, Joyce in RF and Aybar as DH vs RHP and Zobrist in RF, Aybar at 2^nd base and Dillon as DH vs LHP and there you go!  As guys come off the DL guys like Kapler and Gross can be DFA’d, traded, something.  I’d also place Michel Hernandez behind the dish and leave him there.  He is a better defensive catcher and the pitchers seem to respond better to him than Navarro. 

Well, I know, just a dream.  A dream by a frustrated fan and I am sure I’m not alone.  The Rays will try to rebound from the game 1 defeat and I from my ongoing frustration. 

The Rays dropped the finale Sunday afternoon to the Twins.  This was SP Matt Garza’s first taste of facing his former team and they got the best of him.  Garza went 7 innings allowing 3 ER on 7 hits and 1 BB while collecting 6 K’s.  Ironically he gave up a first pitch HR to the guy who was traded for him, Brendan Harris, to lead off the scoring for the Twinkies.  Look the only issue I have with Garza’s performance was this.  The Rays were up 2-1 in the 6^th inning.  With first base open, a runner on 2^nd base and a 3-2 count on Morneau my humble opinion is you throw something in the dirt.  Maybe he swings, maybe he doesn’t.  I say you go after the next batter, Kubel, who Garza had owned with 2 strikeouts already in the game.  Instead Garza served up a pitch that was good enough for Morneau to send back up the middle for the game tying RBI.  This was NOT a good decision.  I know Matt was pumped to pitch against the Twins but let’s be smart here.  Morneau is too good a hitter to take that chance.  This was definitely a turning point in this game!

Garza was certainly not the only reason the Rays lost that game.  The offense was anemic.  The 1-5 hitters for the Rays were 2 for 18 with 1 run scored, 1 RBI and 2 hits.  One of those hits, the run scored and the RBI all came off the bat of Carlos Pena who gave the fans in RF a souvenir.  The Rays were 0 for 3 with RISP. 

A big welcoming shout out to Matt Joyce who made his Ray debut and made a big splash.  Joyce went 2 for 3 with a HR.  Joyce was the high point of this game as the Rays never seemed very energized. 

This is the time when the “big guys” must step up.  Longo, Pena, CC must all kick it into high gear to account for the injured players.  We are once again weak against LHP as we miss Bartlett and Burrell (not that he has done much but I’d take him over Kapler any day).  We have a weak bench with not much to do against RHP.  The Rays cannot afford the number 1-5 guys going 2 for 18.

Hopefully todays off day will give thee guys some pep in their step!  

After the total pitching debacle Monday night in Cleveland I was looking forward to watching SP Matt Garza work his mojo on the bump in game 2 Tuesday evening.  Needless to say it didn’t happen.  As a matter of fact Matt went from one extreme result to the other with little in between.  What do I mean by that?  Here you go…Garza went 6 innings, scattered 5 hits (3 HR amongst these hits), walked 0 and struck out 7.  He was pitching well but when he made a mistake the Tribe made him pay.  RP Randy Choate followed Garza for 2 innings allowing another HR for the 5^th run of the game for the Tribe.

The offense sputtered for the Rays.  The managed to eek out 6 hits total. The big hit came from the bat of Carlos Pena as he hit a bomb into the seats for #16 of the season.  The top of the order was minimally effective for the Rays.  Hitters 1-2-3-4 went 2 for 14 with Pena’s bomb accounting for the only run/RBI, 2 walks and accounting for all 7 strike outs by Ray hitters. Considering the current state of the Ray’s offense and pitching this will not win many games.  Someone must step up in the lineup and take charge, someone must lead.  Love to see Pena put that bunt down against that shift, love to see Upton bunt or take a walk just to get on base, etc….    

The good news out of this day is that all other AL East teams above the Rays also lost so the Rays have not given up any more ground.  The Rays need a leader right now to take charge.  They need someone to push them.  These are the times we are missing Hinske and Floyd.  Sometimes I think our team is a bit too nice.  I understand they want to win but they need someone to stir up some pride and desire in that club house especially now with the losses we have endured.  The Rays have an opportunity to split the series in Cleveland but must win the next 2 games.  Time to turn it up a notch guys!

Interleague play opened with the Rays traveling south to Miami to face the Florida Marlins in the so called “Citrus Series”.  The Rays scored early and often bating around the order in both the 2^nd and 3^rd innings.   The Rays in total banged out 17 hits 6 of which went for extra bases.  The home run barrage began with Dioner Navarro knocking his 2^nd HR of the season just over the RF wall in the 2^nd inning. Carlos Pena then launched a no doubter into the RF seats a few batters later in the 2^nd.  Gabe Gross connected for his 2^nd HR of the season in the 7^th inning.  Navi had his best game of the season so far going 4 for 6 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI’s.  His performance finally catapulted his BA over the Mendoza line. Gross also had a nice game at the dish going 3 for 5 with a walk, 2B, 1 run scored and 4 RBI’s all added to his big blast.  The Rays offense showed a lot of aggression and did not let the Marlins pitchers off the hook for any mistake they made.

SP Andy Sonnanstine had his 2^nd nice outing in a row – this is a good sign that Sonny as worked out the “kinks”.  Sonny went 6 strong innings allowing only 5 hits, 1ER wile striking out 2.  In my eyes the most important stat was 0 walks allowed.  Sonny had his pinpoint control and was hitting his locations precisely.  This was a very nice starting pitching performance – welcome back Sonny!  The Rays rested their bullpen using only 1 RP to finish the game.  Newly promoted RP Dale Thayer follow Sonny and had an equally impressive outing.  Thayer pitched 3 innings allowing 3 hits and 1 ER – and again 0 walks!  Thayer has not velocity on his pitches going all the way to 95 mph.  From there he can dial it down to 82 mph.  In his first outing it is clear he definitely has the talent to succeed at the MLB level.  We’ll keep an eye on his next few outing and see.

This was a tremendous overall performance by the Rays.  The Rays seemed to have been carrying over some of the energy from the previous night’s walk off win.  With this victory and losses by the rest of the AL East the Rays move to within 4.5 games of first place.  This is going to be a tight race all the way to the end with 4 teams fighting it out all the way to the end.  The Rays send SP Jeff Niemann to the mound in game 2 to continue the winning ways!     

Hey Ray fans!  Thought I’d report my thoughts on what I’ve seen to the quarter point in the 2009 season. 

Grade A = Evan Longoria, Jason Bartlett, Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena off to fast starts.  Longo is currently on pace for 184 RBI’s.  JB improving all aspects of his offensive output currently leading all AL shortstops in BA.  He is on pace for 20 HR as compared to 1 all of last year.  CC is off and running on the base path leading all of MLB in stolen bases and on pace for 100 steals!  Carlos is knocking the cover off the ball hitting out 14 HR in the first quarter leaving him on pace for 56 dingers for the season.  

Grade C = Pitching, pitching and more pitching.  This is the area I feel is most change form last season – the consistency from 2008 appears to be gone.  The only consistent pitching performances we have come from Matt Garza and Lance Cormier.  James Shields and JP Howell have recently stepped up their performances so hopefully they are turning the corner as well.  Our starting pitching has been the main issue.  The average ERA of our starting 5 is 5.39 with 2 over 7.  Numbers like this will wear out the bullpen and not give your team a chance often to win games. 

Grade F =  BJ Upton, Dioner Navarro, Gabe Kapler and Pat Burrell have all failed to live up to their expected performance.  They really haven’t even come close.  BJ was supposed to come out of the shoot blazing’ but he is only batting .177 with an OBP of .282 – not blazing’!  Navi is a mere shadow of the all star performer he was last year with a BA of .178 and poor defense behind the plate.  Burrell was signed to give us the power from the right side of the plate that we lacked last year and protect Pena.  To this point he has 1 HR, is batting.250 and is on the 15 day DL.  I even saw Baltimore intentionally walk Pena to get to Burrell – not much protection there!  Kapler has just been a nonfactor to this point in the season with a BA of .193.  He really hasn’t brought anything to the table to speak of – he has been an average defender and below average at the dish.  

So we have some guys having career years and others that cannot even hit the Mendoza line.  We have 3 out of 5 starting pitchers that cannot consistently go 5 innings a start.  What does this all equate to = Mediocrity. 

The first quarter of 2009 has given us a team that is merely average as a whole. Maybe that isn’t such a bad thing.  Look, these guys learned how to win as a group last year.  Now they are learning how to live up to expectations and adjust to adversity.  This is a vital lesson in this young group’s growth toward the champions they will soon be.  I believe in this team and the “Ray Way” and we’ll check back in to see if any of these grades improve by the mid summer classic.

Well Ray fans this was about a duplicate performance as SP Scott Kazmir’s last outing.  Kazmir’s line in this game was 4 1/3 innings allowing 8 hits, 7 ER and 4 free passes while striking out only 3 batters.  His last outing against the Tribe last week also netted 7 ER and less than 5 innings pitched.  He is not giving the team a chance to win constantly having to fight back from early inning deficits.  Clearly Kazmir is a shadow of his former self.  The Rays need to figure out the best way to fix this if it is fixable.  For the team as a whole it is not to have him stay in the rotation.  It may be a trip to the bullpen although personally I think AAA would be a better fit.  I cannot imagine the pressure of being called from the bullpen to get an out or 2 in a tight game will help him in any way.  A trip to a sports psychologist may also be in order. 

The bullpen did an outstanding job keeping the A’s bats quiet after they took over for Kazmir.  Four pitchers combined for 4 2/3 innings of work allowing only 1 hit and 2 free passes while striking out 3.  These guys kept the team within reaching distance of the victory and the offense almost pulled it off.

The offense was a mixed bag tonight.  They did a great job scoring 6 runs after already being down 7.  They very easily could have given up.  Carlos Pena opened the Rays scoring by belting out his 14^th HR of the year, a 2 run shot, deep into the RF seats.  This was his first HR and a week and a very welcomed sight!  Willy Aybar added to the HR count by belting his 2^nd HR in as many games.  Both Carlos and Willy were 3 for 4 with 2 RBI’s a piece to lead the offensive charge.  Evan Longoria and Pena added 2B knocks with Akinori Iwamura teeing off for a 3B. 

That as the good, here is the bad.  Again issues with consecutive batters not steeping it up.  In our lineup tonight the 1-2-3 hitters were 1 for 13 with 1 run scored, 0 RBI’s and 5 K’s.  Granted the Oakland pitcher Anderson was pitching well BUT some of these guys looked ridiculous swinging at some of the strike 3 pitches they were swinging at.  They were just flailing with the bat.  There was no intent on the swing it was more of a hopeful swat. 

Look I hate to second guess a manager’s decision but at this point I think we have to call into question the lineup in general.  It doesn’t seem to be a wise idea to bat a .193 hitter #8, a .178 hitter #9 and a .177 hitter first.  I understand Joe Maddon is a patient man and doesn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings but what kind of message is he sending to the rest of the team?  As a fan I am starting to feel that not hurting someone’s feelings is a bit more important than winning.  No one is calling for anyone to be demoted to AAA or benched just shake it up a bit please!

OK gang – Rays going for the split a 4:08 Thursday before heading south to Miami.  If they earn the split they will have had a successful home stand at 5-3 but considering the teams we’ve played during this home stand is 5-3 really a success?  I guess only time will tell.  Go Rays!

Well, what can you say?   The opportunities presented themselves but we did not capitalize.  I mean with the tying run 90 ft away, 0 out and Carlos Pena, BJ Upton and Carl Crawford batting you have to like your chances to tie the game.  I mean that could not have been setup more perfect.  But, in the end, the Ray bats were held silent as all 3 of them struck out. 

Make no bones this was a pitching duel between Beckett and Matt Garza.   They matched each other number for number – each giving up 3 ER.  Their lines are actually amazingly similar:  Garza went 7 innings, 116 pitches (72 for strikes), 3 ER, 7 hits, 3 BB and 6 K’s; Beckett went 6 innings, 118 pitches (68 for strikes), 3 ER, 6 hits, 3 BB and 5 K’s.  So you can see this was an awesome game to watch! 

The problem for the Rays came once again in the bull pen.  Brian Shouse gave up a leadoff double to Ortiz and Dan Wheeler followed by giving up a double to Bay to put the Red Sox up for good. 

The Ray offense obviously struggled against awesome pitching from Beckett.  But come on guys, tying run on 3^rd with 0 outs and we cannot make contact?  I know it was Papelbon, but…… really?  Remember he’s the one that put the runner on 3^rd and 1^st to begin with! 

Well all in all this road trip has proven to be very successful and not just in the sense of the record but more for what guys have been doing.  Upton has shown signs of life, Burrell is starting to look a bit more comfortable, Longoria and Crawford continue their hot hitting.  The question is that bullpen.  The RFO really need to address it as it is not very good.

I really think the next 20 games are going to show a lot about this team.  We are transitioning from a very difficult schedule to a very light schedule.  The next 20 games are with teams that are struggling.  We MUST beat them to have a shot at October I believe.   Good teams beat teams they should beat so we’ll see if we are a good team or not.

Enjoy your day off Ray fans!  See you at Camden yards!

The Rays took the second game of the short 2 game series on the back of 6 HRs!  This game was filled with heartbreak and excitement. 

Excitement = Jason Bartlett lead off HR! 1-0 Rays

Excitement = Carlos Pena 1^st inning HR (MLB leading #13) 2-0 Rays

Excitement = Evan Longoria 3^rd inning 2 run HR (MLB leading 38 RBIs), 4-0 Rays

Heartbreak = Yanks creep close by scoring 3 in the 4^th   4-3 Rays

Heartbreak = Yanks tie score in the 5^th  4-4 Rays

Excitement = Ben Zobrist gives the Rays the lead with Big Fly #5 in the 6^th, 5-4 Rays

Excitement = Rays manufacture a run in the 7^th,  6-4 Rays

Heartbreak = Dan Wheeler gives up game tying HR in the 8^th, 6-6

EXCITEMENT = Back to Back jacks from Carl Crawford (MLB stolen base leader with 20)and Evan Longoria in the 9^th off Mariano Rivera (something that has never been done before in his MLB career) to put the Rays out in front for good!

EXCITEMENT = RAYS WIN! RAYS WIN! RAYS WIN!

Wow, what a game!  Jeff Niemann looked uncomfortable from the get go lasting only 3.1 innings.  He was wild throwing 1 wild pitch and hitting a batter as well.  This was not an impressive showing and to be honest he really hasn’t looked that good thus far into the season.  Cormier and Wheeler had bad outing out of the pen but Howell, Shouse and Nelson all looked really good.  This year’s pen is going to be one of a lot of ups and downs.  No one seems to have the same “stuff” or location they possessed last year.  These guys are going to do great 1 day and bad the next with no rhyme or reason to it so buy yourself some anti acid and hold on tight for the ride Ray fans!

It was great to see the Ray offense not intimidated at all by their surroundings.  I think that shows the level of maturity from last year to this year.  They now know and believe they can win anywhere and are doing just that. 

See you in Boston!