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!

The Tampa Bay Rays had an opportunity to do what no team other than the Yankees and the Red Sox have done since 1993, head into the All Star break on top in the AL East.  They let that slip away.  By getting swept by the Cleveland Indians (5-2 Sunday) the Rays gave the top spot back to the Red Sox by ½ game.   

Sunday’s game had much the same ring as every game during the 7 game losing streak.  Average pitching from above average pitchers and no offensive production.  Scott Kazmir threw 104 pitches in 6 innings allowing 5 ER, 2 HR, 2 BB and 7K’s.  Grant Balfour pitched and uneventful 7th and 8^th innings.

Cleveland’s pitching staff gave the Rays ample opportunities to have runners on board by walking 7 hitters.  They were even kind enough to walk in a run for us since we cannot seem to score on our own.  But all in all we stranded 8 on base.  We repaid the Indians kindness by striking out 14 times!   

The Rays have been through an emotional first half of the season.  They have played arguably the toughest schedule.  That does take a toll especially on a young team that is not used to winning.  However, the flip side is that they are professionals and need to use this time off to gather themselves and come back out of the break with a vengeance.  The great thing is we open the second half at The Trop where the Rays have played some great baseball. 

So Rays fans….relax and enjoy the All Star break.  Don’t forget to tune in to the Home Run Derby to cheer for our very own Evan Longoria

The Tampa Bay Rays are mired in an offensive slump rolling into the mid season break. They were swept by the NY Yankees this afternoon 2-1 in 10 innings. Edwin Jackson pitched a great game today. He pitched 6 1/3 scattering 6 hits, 1 ER, 2BB and 3 K’s over that span. He deserved a victory today but the offense was virtually non existent. Grant Balfour got tagged with the loss when Bobby Abreu went after a good pitcher’s pitch and knocked a double in the gap to score Jeter from 1st with the game ending run.

The Rays have been struggling the last 3 games with their offense. Carlos Pena hit a HR to tie the game at 1 all in the 6th inning, the first run the Rays had scored in 16 innings. Today they were only able to rack up 5 hits and 3 BB while giving up 11 K’s. We did have opportunities again to score runs but the situational hitting was not there.

With this loss and the Red Sox victory the margin has closed to a mere 2 games. Hopefully the Rays will turn this ship around heading to Cleveland for a final 4 games before the All Star break. The Indians have been struggling all season and currently sit at the bottom of the AL Central with record of 37-52. This should be an easy series victory for the Rays with the possibility of a road sweep. That is a great way to go into the break!

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 Tampa Bay Rays assured themselves of another series victory by defeating the Boston Red Sox 3-1 Tuesday night.  The Rays rode strong pitching performances by Matt Garza, JP Howell and Grant Balfour to victory.  Garza started the game and pitched another gem!  He went 7 strong innings scattering 5 hits, 1 unearned run, 0 BB and 3 K’s.  JP Howell followed with 2/3 of an inning allowing 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 BB and 3 K’s.  Grant Balfour was the closer in tonight’s game as Troy Percival was placed on the 15 day DL with the hamstring injury.  He came in and coaxed Mike Lowell into and inning ending bases loaded ground out in the 8^th.  Balfour then struck out the side in the 9^th to close our Garza’s gem.

Evan Longoria showed his outstanding glove work at 3^rd once again.  He saved a run for Garza on a diving stop and threw out Alex Cora from his knees to end the 7^th.  There isn’t a day that goes by that this guy doesn’t do something spectacular.  Either with a flash of the leather or a swing of the hardwood he continues to prove his value to this team. 

The offensive hero of the game was Dioner Navarro going 2 for 4 with 2 RBI’s to give the Rays all they would need.  The Rays uncharacteristically committed 3 errors in this game.  But, as usual, there is a different hero every night to pick up the mistakes.  Grant Balfour earned that title tonight!  His story this year is very similar to that of Carlos Pena last year, neither made the club out of spring training.  They were called up to help the MLB club after injuries to their starters.  They have and are taking full advantage of the situations and leaving everything they have out on the field.   The man from “downunder” throws some wicked heat and has proven he belongs in the big leagues. 

Tonight the Rays go for the sweep!  Scott Kazmir (7-3) will toe the rubber against Diasuke Matsuzaka (9-1) – ace versus ace!   This is gonna be GREAT! 

The Tampa Bay Rays rode the long ball to victory in the opening game of the 3 game series.  Evan Longoria led the charge having a GREAT night at the dish going 4 for 5 with a HR, a 2B, 3 RBI and 3 runs scored.  He was followed in the home run parade by Eric Hinske who blasted a 3 run shot and Carl Crawford who hit a solo bomb.  The Rays did a nice job at the plate banging out 15 hits with only 6 K’s. 

Scott Kazmir had a less than average outing for him in his 7^th victory.  He allowed 3 ER on 4 hits, 2 BB and a HR while compiling 4 K’s in just 5 innings pitched.  Kaz pitched well but he lacked the ability to get the final strike by the Buc hitters.  He went deep into far too many counts elevating his pitch count to 103 in just 5 innings. JP Howell followed Kaz and struggled with his control a bit.  Howell allowed 1 hit, 1 ER and 2 BB in just 1 inning pitched.  Grant Balfour and Trever Miller finished the game and quieted any hopes of a Bucs comeback.     

The return of Carlos Pena saw him go 0 for 3 with 1 BB.  Joe Maddon had him batting 6^th in the lineup behind Longoria which is a great call.  Pena wasn’t leaving too many runners in scoring position before his stint on the DL so good to see Maddon take some pressure off him in his return. By the way – the #4 hole was filled by Hinske who went 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs and 3 runs scored.  

The Rays have been taking advantage of mistakes made by opposing pitchers both in the series with the Florida Marlins and in the first game of this 3 game set.  If the Rays are willing to continue to be patient at the plate and force opposing pitchers to go deep they will sweep the Bucs.  This road trip should breed a ton of confidence in the Rays as they will return to The Trop with a winning road trip without having their full compliment of players but for 1 game (Iwamura will being to serve his suspension tonight). 

It’s a great time to be a Tampa Bay Rays fan!

The emotions of the Rays ran high in the series finale against Texas.  Matt Garza was obviously frustrated after another poor outing and took that frustration out on his catcher.  Dioner Navarro was sent back to the dish by pitching coach Jim Hickey as he walked out to talk with Garza.  The frustration pored over into the dugout between innings as Garza and Navarro had a bit of a shoving match.  Garza was pulled after the 4^th inning after giving up 6 hits, 3 earned runs and 2 homeruns.  Jason Hammel came into relieve Garza and gave up 5 hits, 3 earned runs and 1 home run in 3.1 innings.  Grant Balfour took over for Hammel and promptly gave up a 2 BB but managed to wriggle out of it.

The emotions continued to the offensive side of the ball.  Eric Hinske was ejected in the 6^th inning for vehemently arguing balls and strikes with the home plate umpire.  Once again the strike zone moved for each hitter at each at bat.  The particular strike 3 call Hinske argued was CLEARLY outside.  Akinori Iwamura was called out with tying runs in scoring position in the 7^th on a ball that was CLEARLY outside and low.  I’m not sure when the strike zone changed officially but someone forgot to tell the rest of the baseball community!  The umpires now have their own zone and it DOES NOT fit into the current zone as written.

Pitching was poor, offensive production when opportunities presented was poor and emotions got the best of a few players.  This will be the biggest test for this team, recovering from internal strife.  Internal dissention can rip a team apart if not dealt with promptly and permanently.  Matt Garza needs to get a grip on his emotions.  He may have the ability physically but if he cannot hold it together during the tough times mentally he will not succeed in MLB.   

Like Yogi said “90% of baseball is half mental.”

See you in LA!