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!

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!!

The score of this game does not effectively tell the whole story. Going into the top of the 9th the score was 5-2….that should give you a hint as to what’s coming. Troy Percival gave up 2 runs in the top of the 9th and had to be pulled after tweaking his hamstring again. He was not happy about begin pulled and made it obvious to Joe Maddon and the television viewing audience. Now, Troy isn’t Manny and didn’t shove Maddon to the ground but, it was clear they had a heated exchange on the mound before Percival departed. JP Howell came in with 2 outs and the tying run standing 90 ft away to close out the game.

James Shields pitched a very nice game. He worked over the Red Sox hitters by mixing pitch selection and pitch location. Props also go out to Dioner Navarro as he played a big part in Shield’s success. He went 6 1/3 innings allowing 5 hits, 2 ER, 1 BB and 5 K’s. He earned his 6th victory bringing his record to 6-5, 3.70.

The offensive hero of the game was Gabe Gross….that’s right, Gabe Gross! Gabe was 2 for 2 with a HR, 2 BB, 1 run scored and 2 RBIs. BJ Upton led off the game for the Rays smashing a HR to dead center field on the first pitch he saw. The great thing about this game was the increasing patience the Rays are showing at the dish. In total the Rays drew 8 BB and only struck out 5 times. They need to continue to improve on this as the season moves forward to allow them the best chance to win these close games.

Tonight’s game has Matt Garza (6-4) going against Tim Wakefield (5-5). Garza was masterful in his last outing pitching a complete 1 hit game against the Florida Marlins. Wakefield also had a great performance his last outing pitching 7 shut out innings against the Diamondbacks. It will be interesting to see how the young Rays hitters adjust to Wakefield’s knuckleball. It will be another GREAT game!

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 Tampa Bay Rays lost Game 2 of this 3 game series the Boston Red Sox 5-1 vaulting them ½ games over the Rays and into first place in the AL East.  More importantly may be the 8^th inning of the game when the feisty Rays showed the gumption that has tempered their rise from the cellar of the AL East.   BJ Upton was ejected and Joe Maddon was throwing profanity from the pitching mound into the Red Sox dugout at centerfielder Coco Crisp.  

Upton was tossed for arguing a third strike call with umpire Paul Emmel.  Upton was 0 for 4 with 3 strike outs.  I think BJ should stop arguing calls and start swinging the wood that seems to sit atop his shoulders all too frequently.  Joe Maddon even commented that the team is striking out far too often as the team has been fanned 19 times in the first 2 games of this 3 game series.  Swing the bats boys!

Maddon took exception to a slide by Coco Crisp into 2^nd that was obviously meant to hurt the defensive player, who in this case turned out to be Aki.  Crisp claims that earlier in the game Jason Bartlett had placed his knee in a position to hurt Crisp on his steal of 2^nd.   Crisp went into 2^nd base spikes up as if he were breaking up a double play right into Aki’s knee.  Maddon threw a few profane remarks at Crisp from the pitching mound during a pitching change.  

Speaking of throwing, the remarks thrown by Maddon were the best pitches of the night.  Edwin Jackson struggled mightily allowing 6 H, 4 runs and 3 BB in 5 innings.  It seems to this fan as though the mystique of Fenway is getting the better of the Rays young pitchers.  Both Garza in game 1 and Jackson in game 2 seemed to be very uncomfortable standing on that mound. 

On the offensive side, Eric Hinske had a productive game.  He was 2 for 4 with a 2B, the only RBI of the game and a SB.  Evan Longoria also had a nice day at the plate going 2 for 3 with a 2B, BB and the only Ray run scored. 

My home run of the game goes to:  Eric Hinske for being the only Ray to actually knock in a run (LOB – 7).  Keep it up!

My strike out of the game goes to:  Edwin Jackson for allowing the pressure to affect him so badly.  Shake it off and move on!

 Tonight is the last game of this series and the Rays then move on to face the red hot Texas Rangers.  This fan’s hope is the feistiness we saw last night carries over.  These Rays need to be more aggressive at the plate and on the base path when