Disappoint is an understatement after watching the Rays fall to the Baltimore Orioles Monday night.  There was no facet of this game we looked good in.  The pitching was bad, the defense was bad and the hitting was average at best.

The first inning was indicative of how the game ended.  SP Scott Kazmir hurled the first pitch of the game behind Roberts and BJ Upton slipped and fell after his grounder to SS and just watched the play unfold rather than get up and run.  After seeing these 2 things I knew it was going to be a long night. 

Kaz did not pitch well.  First inning 2 walks and a blast later we’re already down 3-0.  In the end Kazmir went 6.1 innings and was tagged with 6 ER.  He had little to know control over the majority of his pitches even though he did strike out 7.  I was sitting just to the left of the Rays dugout and had a clear view of Navarro having to dive from side to side to grab his off location pitches.  Joe Nelson followed and had his worst outing to this point in the season giving up 2 ER in 1.1 innings. 

The defense has been a huge disappointment to say the least.  Carlos Pena has already committed 5 errors in the first month of the season more than doubling his total of 2 from his Golden Glove season of 2008.  Akinori Iwamura has already committed 4 errors quickly approaching his total of 7 from last year.  Dioner Navarro has not been the All Star performer of a year ago at either side of the dish.

The offense did manage to rally and tie the game in the bottom of the 6^th inning.  But the offense only managed 6 hits – half were XBH – Evan Longoria belted his 8^th HR while Pena and Ben Zobrist chipped in with 2B’s.  The guy who was most impressive offensively was Willy Aybar.  Willy steps off the bench to start at DH for the first time in over a week and goes 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored.  Nice Job Willy!

BJ Upton looks silly at the plate, glaring at umpires for punching him out and falling down and lying there watching the play go on without any effort.  I know he had shoulder surgery but is it really a good idea to have him “find his swing” leading off for the Rays?   I’d argue NOT!  Sorry but BJ acts like baseball owes him something.  I know everyone talks about what a great kid he is and he may very well be but frankly I don’t care.  He’s a baseball player that is falling flat on his face during a time when he was supposed to shine.  He has not shown ANY improvement in his approach at the dish and we’re already 1 month into the season.  He needs to be sent to AAA to take care of business BUT since we know that isn’t going to happen he needs to get out of the #1 hole.  Love to see JB move to #1, BJ to #8 and Aki to #9.  Oh yeah, having Navarro hitting #9 is creating a road block for the top of the lineup since he runs like a wounded snail.  Navi to bench (until he gets his head out of his anal orifice) and Hernandez to #7 hole.    

Look gang here’s what we have:  The MLB Leaders in HR – Pena (11), RBIs – Longo – (31) and Stolen Bases – CC (18).  Now here’s what we don’t have – reliable pitching and defense.  The 2 things we relied upon last year are not there this year.  The things we thought would be improved from last year are not responding well either – mainly Upton and Burrell. 

Look gang, unless something happens drastically very soon this team will not be playing in October.  I know it’s only May but we’re giving away a head of steam to NYY and BRS.  They are beating up each other and we are not winning the games we should be winning to gain ground. 

No matter what I’ll still be here cheering until my eyes bug out!

Go Rays!!!!

Well Ray fans my prediction of a turnaround could not have been any further from the result.  The Rays have been playing some bad baseball as of late but in game 3 against the Twins they were unrecognizable as the reigning American League Champions.  I sat and watched in disbelief as the Rays handed game 3 to the Twins by failing to execute in all facets of the game.  To add insult to injury our hot bat, Jason Bartlett, may be out of the lineup due to a hammy injury.  Although JB says the hammy is fine and coming out of the game was precautionary, doesn’t take much to end up on the DL with a hamstring.

So, where to begin?  Let’s start at the beginning, inning #1.  SP Scott Kazmir strode to the mound with the hope of stopping this series losing skid.  Well, that thought went out the door quickly when it became evident he had little to no control over any pitch he threw.  Kaz loaded the bases with 0 outs and it just went downhill from there.  A couple of wild pitches, a couple of bloop hits and the Twins were up 4-0 at the end of the first.  They never looked back.  Kaz’s line was 4 innings, 9 hits, 6 ER (8 total), 4 BB and 2 wild pitches.  The only saving grace in this pitching performance was from Lance Cormier who pitched the final 4 innings giving up only 3 hits and 0 runs.  

The defense was pathetic at best.  Dioner Navarro allowed a passed ball that scored a run due to his lack of hustle to get it. Akinori Iwamura was charged with 2 errors in the same play.  One of the bloop hits charged to Kazmir in the first inning was a ball that should have been caught by Ben Zobrist charging in from right field.  Due to his lack of experience he did not take charge of the situation and the ball fell between him, Aki and Pena for a run scoring single. 

The offense actually produced hits (10) and walks (3) while cutting down the strike out total (4).  BUT they managed to go 1 for 12 with RISP stranding 10 runners total. 

This effort from the Rays was amateur at best.  They looked sluggish and unfocused.  They lacked any resemblance to the team of 2008 – you know, they team that was supposed to be the worst team we’d see for the next 5 years.  Here’s the problem as I see it – there are no leaders in the clubhouse.  This is the time we are dearly missing guys like Hinske and Floyd.  They need someone to take charge of this turnaround and make it happen.  There is no BIG personality on the coaching staff or within the ranks to light this team up.  They have no fire and appear to have no desire to this point in the season.  Personally, as a fan, this is a HUGE disappointment to me.  To see them open the 2009 season taking the series from Boston in Fenway pumped me up for an exciting 2009.  Now, to see them drop 6 straight series since and in the fashion they have makes me wonder “what the HE!!”…….

It’s easy to be a fan, be a player, be a manager, be a coach when all is going well as it did in 2008.  Now is the time when we’ll get a true gauge of how committed any of us are to this team.  The tough times will bring out the true fans, team leaders and ask that laid back coaches step up and do what is necessary to win.  I for one will not give up on the talent that exists on this team.  It’s time now for the cream to rise.

The Tampa Bay Rays pulled into Oakland and broke out the big bats.  Behind a nice starting job by Scott Kazmir the Rays mashed on the Oakland starter. 

Kaz pitched a very nice 6 innings scattering only 2 hits and 3 BB while striking out 2.  Kaz had a few rough spots allowing the 3 BB but seemed to gather his composure and push through it to earn his 3^rd victory of this season.  Kaz looks much better this young season than he did at any point last season.  When Kaz does struggle with his release point he seems to now have the ability to step out of the moment and review the fix in his head then apply it. Nice job Kaz 

The offense led by Carlos Pena opened up early and often.  Pena belted 2 HR and knocked in 4 RBIs and scored 2 runs.  Gabe Gross added a HR and a 2B of his own.  Gabe also showed a nice arm throwing out Sweeney trying to score from 3^rd on a pop fly to RF.  The Rays belted out 13 total hits, 7 of which were for extra bases.  Jason Bartlett continues his hot hitting by going 4 for 5.  

I still think the lineup should be reconsidered, at least until BJ Upton gets into a groove.  Right now BJ is hitting only .189 with and went 0 for 4 in the game although he did walk twice.  JB is hitting a solid .390 and all pertinent offensive numbers are significantly higher than BJ’s.

Nice rebound game but I’ll be looking at Saturday’s game.  Here’s the issue I have…the Rays have shown they can have a great game like this from time to time but have not shown any consistency to this point in the young season.  So, we’ll watch with anticipation as the Rays try to go on a winning streak of their own starting with securing the series in Oakland early.    

Ben Zobrist came off the bench in the 6^th inning to hit a bases loaded bomb into the LF seats at The Trop Friday night to put the Rays ahead once and for all.  This could not have come at a better time.  This game was all about the White Sox until this point.  The Rays had initially taken the lead on Carlos Pena’s 2^nd inning solo blast.  The White Sox then answered back with 2 runs.  All the action seemed to take place in the 5^th and 6^th innings of this game.  In the 5^th Dioner Navarro led off with a 2B and came around to tie the score on Jason Bartlett’s 2B.  The top of the 6^th proved to be trouble for Rays SP James Shields as he gave up 2 HR (3 hits total) and 3 ER with only 4 pitches to put the Sox up 5-2 just as the Rays had managed to tie this game.  The bottom of the 6^th contained all the dramatics for Ray’s fans.  Bases loaded with 2 outs Joe Maddon calls back scheduled hitter Gabe Gross and inserts Ben Zobrist who promptly deposits the baseball in the LF seats.  The Trop went crazy! 

James Shields struggled in this game.  Shieldsy went 7.1 innings allowing 7 hits (2 HR), 5 ER and 2 BB while netting only 4 K’s.  But something good did come out of this.  After all the dramatics in the 6^th inning Maddon sent Shields to the mound in the 7^th and let me tell you what a difference.   He was fired up and throwing with a vengeance.  He sat the White Sox down 1-2-3 and did not allow them to gain any momentum.  This was a good call on Maddon’s part, to allow Shields to go grab some confidence and he did just that.  This will pay dividends down the road.

The bullpen did a nice job with Wheeler, Shouse and Percival combing for 1.2 innings and giving up 0 ER.  However, it was not without incident.  Percival managed to allow runners on 1^st and 3^rd but get out of that 9^th inning mess to earn the save. 

The one down spot in this game was the umpiring behind the plate.  CB Bucknor has got to be one of the worst ball/strike callers I’ve ever seen.  AJ Pierzynski was blatantly moving his glove, pulling balls back into the strike zone and Bucknor was giving those to him.  Shields and Colon had a nice pitchers duel going on for the first 4 innings or so but Bucknor would not give them anything.  These guys were making some unbelievable pitches at the knees and e would not budge.  It was absurd and I hope he gets called on his performance.  It was poor at best.

Saturday night Scott Kazmir will take to the mound to keep this train rolling!

See you at The Trop! 

The Tampa Bay Rays crushed the New York Yankees in their home opener 15-5 Monday night!  This was an awesome night!  Not only did we destroy our division rival but we also raised the AL East and AL Championship banners!  The feeling in The Trop was amazing – people were very emotional.  Then to come out in the first inning and burn Wang in the fashion we did just added to the emotion.  I really believe the Rays converted a lot of bandwagon fans to die hard Ray fans with all that transpired last night.  It was a very classy, well conceived ceremony including the moment of silence to Harry Kalas – our condolences Todd! 

Carlos Pena provided the BIG bat during this game going 3 for 6 with 6 RBIs (4 by Grand Slam), 2 2B and 2 runs scored.  Jason Bartlett doubled his HR production from last year by belting his 2^nd HR in as many nights.  Nice to see Pat Burrell hit a rope into the LF seats as well, his first of this young season.

In total the Rays racked up 17 hits and 8 free passes!  The offense was clicking on all cylinders last night and chased Wang after 1+ innings.  The pitchers that followed Wang didn’t fair much better giving up 11 runs the rest of the way.   Yankee skipper Girardi was so desperate he had 1B Nick Swisher pitch the 8th inning!  Swisher actually did better than the rest of the Yankee staff.

The defense was clicking as well.  BJ Upton made his return to CF with a catch that would have made Willie Mays cheer.  Nady blasted a long fly to CF and as Upton approached the wall we all thought it was out.  BJ just reached his glove about 6 inches from his body and snags the ball as he ran into the wall.  Let me tell you — The Trop was silent.  No one knew where the ball was until he turned and fired back into the infield then a moment of disbelief hit……then…….ROAR!  BJ got a much deserved standing ovation.  This was an unbelievable catch!  Carl Crawford got into the action by taking a Swisher hit right off the top of the LF wall. 

Not to be overshadowed by the outstanding offense and defense was Scott Kazmir on the hill.  Kaz came out firing and was spot on with everything he threw.  In 6.2 innings he scattered 6 hits and 3 ER while accruing 6 K’s and 0 BB.  Kaz’s 2^nd great performance of this young season seems to point to him being 100% healthy.  He certainly looks like he is back to the form we all remember. 

This game had everything you could ever imagine; banners being raised, HR (3), one of which was a Grand Slam, 2Bs (4), stolen bases (4), outstanding defense and outstanding pitching.   A baseball fan could not ask for more!  Nice to see BJ make it back and look healthy walking 3 times, scoring 2 runs, swiping 2 bags and making outstanding defensive plays!  Nice to see Kaz pitching like we all know he can!  And of course – nice to see the Yankees lose!

Don’t forget – tonight is replica ring night – get your tickets now!

See you at The Trop!

Wow – nice turn around from the previous evening!  Rays SP Scott Kazmir was awesome on the mound!  Kaz had a shaky first inning but came out firing in the 2^nd inning and through the rest of his 6 complete innings of work.  In the first he got ahead of a few batters then looked like he was pecking away at the corners rather than going after them.  He lost them and issued free passes.  He recovered to end the first inning unscathed.  He come out in the 2^nd inning and looking much more aggressive and confident.  In his 6 innings he only allowed 5 hits, 1 ER and 4 K’s while allowing 3 free passes (2 in the first inning).  Kaz had a lot of late movement on his pitches and was using his breaking ball to off set his fast ball!  His pitch speed was varying from 92 down to 78.  He locked the knees of many Red Sox hitters.  Kaz was the difference in this game – period!

The offense had a nice day at the dish as well.  Nice to see the first home runs of the season by Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria!  Carlos went dead center with his monster blast and Evan went down to drive his shot over the Green Monster.  

Here is the play of the game, a patent Maddon safety squeeze!  This took a few guys executing perfectly for this exciting play to work.  Gabe Kapler led off with a walk.  Next to the dish, Akinori Iwamura.  With Kapler running Aki slapped a single into the vacated #6 hole allowing Kapler to head to 3^rd.  That was a nice piece of opposite field hitting!  Jason Bartlett, probably the best bat handler on the team, then laid down a beautiful bunt to the first base side allowing Kapler to score form 3^rd.  These 3 guys executed everything perfectly in this entire sequence – it was beautiful!

I love this “NL” style of play – love to see the Rays burning up the base paths and laying down the safety squeeze – outstanding!

Aside from Kaz being the star of the game let me mention someone else who was quietly impressive in my mind, Gabe Kapler.  Gabe didn’t tear the cover off the ball, hit a HR, steal a base but he had a very nice game both offensively and defensively.  At the dish he was 1 for 3 with a run scored and a free pass.  He was the lead cog in the wheel that manufactured the run on the safety squeeze.  Defensively he played CF.  He made a few nice running catches on balls that were hit well over his head and to me that was most impressive.  I watched him just turn around and sprint for the fence then make a difficult play look easy.  He also had an assist by throwing out Youkilis at 2^nd base.  Nice job Gabe!

The Ray bullpen was outstanding expect for a little hiccup from JP Howell.  Grant Balfour earned the save by being an intense beast on the mound.  In the 9^th inning he threw 10 pitches -9 were fast balls.  He was pacing all around talking to himself – it was awesome!

Good to see the Rays play with some intensity and desire.  They wanted this game and it was obvious.  Today the Rays send the always hyper, intense Matt Garza to toe the rubber.  Matt will probably be hurdling the ball at about 200mph the first inning he’ll be so pumped!  Cannot wait until game time!

And that my friend, is the story behind Game 1 of the Tampa Bay Rays first ever World Series. You would have liked to see the Rays get off to a fast start but that was not to be. When your 2-3-4 hitters go 0 for 12 and leave 5 on base the writing is on the wall.

Scott Kazmir had a typical game for him. The problem was we needed an atypical game from him. Kaz throwing against Cole Hamels was going to need to pitch better than he had all season long. He did not pitch too badly but did give up 3 ER including a first inning bomb by Chase Utley. That was all Hamel needed. Kaz pitched the usual 6 innings with 110 pitches thrown, 4 free passes and 4 strike outs.

The story of this game was Cole Hamels and his very effective change up. He had the Rays hitters off balance all night long. He made a very good hitting team take a lot of check swings for 3rd strikes. Carl Crawford and Akinori Iwamura were really the only Rays to get good wood on the ball. CC sent a line drive shot into the RF seats and Aki nailed a shot to LCF to drive in the 2nd Ray run.

This is the type of game I expected. I was very concerned about the Ray hitters matching up against the very tough LHP for the Phils. The Rays absolutely had opportunities to score runs a few times early in the game but Hamels shut the door, twice enticing BJ Upton in to inning ending DP. But, these are the 2 best teams in MLB so expect more of the same for this series.

The fan energy was very low last night in The Trop. I was quite surprised considering the gigantic stage the Rays were now playing on. So, leave work early, go take a nap and get to The Trop all rested and ready to ring that cowbell!

See you there!

WOW!!! The Tampa Bay Rays series has been filled with lots of WOW but this……WOW…. The Rays had 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th inning and a lead of 7-0 when the bullpen, our salvation all year long, imploded. Scott Kazmir put on a pitching display we haven’t seen form him all season long. He was awesome. He pitched 6 innings only allowing 2 hits and 0 runs. The game appeared over. Our bullpen was coming in and they have been virtually untouchable in the postseason, heck they have been untouchable just about all season long. Why/how could anyone see what was about to happen?

Joe Maddon marched Grant Balfour, Dan Wheeler and JP Howell out to close this game. That did not happen. They didn’t even come close. The three aces of our bullpen, if you can have 3 aces, allowed 9 hits and 8 runs in 3 innings! They gave up home runs to Big Papi and JD Drew. Evan Longoria chipped in with a throwing error that allowed Kevin Youkilis to 2nd base and eventually score the walk off run. It was clear to me from the get go that there may be problems. Balfour threw nothing but fastballs pitch after pitch. Sorry Grant, but in the majors they will catch up with a fastball eventually. You need to find another pitch or two to compliment your fastball. I know you have a slider – ¬use it! Wheels had control issues pitch after pitch. He could not find any consistency. Howell actually pitched well. Had it not been for the Longo error the inning would have been over and we would have gone to extras once again.

This was definitely a tale of 2 games within the 9 innings. The first 61/2 innings were all Rays! BJ Upton, Longo and Carlos Pena added 3 more home runs to the Rays amazing postseason total. Upton also added a 2 run double of Papelbon late in the game giving him a total of 4 RBIs for the game. The Rays were thieves on the base path – Gabe Gross and Jason Bartlett each had one and Akinori Iwamura swiped two.

The Ray offense beat up Red Sox starter Dice-K while Ray starter Kaz pitched his best game all season long. Shame he didn’t get that win – he deserved it! Now the series travels back to St Pete and The Trop where the Rays have been more successful than any other team in MLB this season. The Rays are still in the driver’s set leading the series 3-2. I don’t anticipate the rays dwelling too much on this loss on their day off Friday. They have been resilient all season long and I expect to see even more focus and determination coming out of the box Saturday as Big Game James Shields takes on Josh Beckett.

I anticipate the Rays closing this out Sat and the dome glowing orange as we drive down 275! See you at The Trop!

Go Rays!

The Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox hooked up for game 1 of the ALCS at The Trop Friday night.  It was a magical atmosphere in the dome but the Rays offense was vanquished by Dice-K Matsuzaka.  This game was one of the premier pitching match ups of the season.  James Shields toed the rubber for the Rays in an effort to get an early jump on the BoSox.

Dice-K ran into trouble several times through out his 7+ innings of work but always managed to work himself out of it.  Notably in the first inning Dice-K walked the bases loaded and then managed to get Cliff Floyd to roll over and hit a lazy ground ball for the third out keeping the Rays off the board early.  In the 7^th inning the Rays Carl Crawford managed the first Ray hit of the game, yes that’s right the first hit in the 7^th inning, and went to 3^rd on a Floyd single.  Now with, at that point, the tying run on third with 0 out the Rays could not even manage a long fly ball to score the run.  

The Rays made the BoSox pitching staff’s jobs a bit easier by swinging on counts of 3-0 and 2-0 all night long and having nothing to show in return.  The Rays lack of big game experience seemed to rear its ugly head in this lack of patience all night long.

Well nothing positive to note from the offensive side of the game.  The Rays managed only 4 hits and 4 free passes for the game.  That’s a shame as Shields pitched just as well for the Rays and deserved a better fate.   

In my opinion the difference in this game was the experience factor.  The Rays had opportunities to score runs multiple times but could not muster the key hit.  The BoSox didn’t have many more opportunities than the Rays to score runs but they managed to be patient and, rather than swing for the fences, focused on the base hit to score the runs.  

The Rays have now put themselves in an early must win situation in my opinion.  They cannot go to Fenway down 2 games.  That will spell doom for them.  The Red Sox would have far too much momentum.  If the Rays are patient at the plate they will score against Beckett.  Even though his postseason numbers are incredible through his career he has struggled a bit as of late due to a rib injury.  Scott Kazmir will take the mound for the Rays and he must keep the ball in the park for the Rays to have a chance.  If the Red Sox get out to an early lead the momentum given to the Red Sox will be difficult to overcome.  The postseason is their stage and they know that.  I don’t really think the Red Sox care too much about winning or losing the division pennant.  Their focus has always been to make it to the playoffs where they seem to become an entirely different team.  The Rays have to squash the thought that we will lie down for them early in this game 2.    

Go Rays!

The Tampa Bay Rays have continued their dominance of visiting teams at The Trop by pounding the Chicago White Sox 6-2 in the second game of the ALDS.  The Rays combined all components of the game – hitting, pitching and defense – to take a convincing 2-0 lead in the series.

Scott Kazmir pitched as he has all season long, early trouble, a lot of pitches and early exit.  Kaz had allowed the Sox to load the bases with 0 outs in the first inning. He showed a great deal of poise and resilience while limiting the damage to 2 runs.  His line ended at 5.1 innings, 8 H, 2 ER, 2 free passes and 4 K’s.  More importantly his postseason record stands at 1-0!  Enough cannot be said of the Rays bull pen.  Grant Balfour, JP Howell and Chad Bradford followed Kaz and stifled the mighty White Sox bats!  These guys have been outstanding in any and all situations you send them into.  They fear no situation and more often than not are successful!  The turn around in that BP is by far the biggest reason, in my opinion, for the Rays consistent success this season. 

The offense was potent in racking up 12 hits.  The big bat was provided by Akinori Iwamura in the 5^th inning.  With Jason Bartlett standing on first base and the Rays down 2-1 Aki hit a bomb into the LC field seats!  The Trop exploded!  Aki smack placed the Rays on top to stay.  The Rays added 3 insurance runs in the bottom of the 8^th to secure the game!  Aki’s hit was even more exciting because SP Buehrle had made Aki look sick up to that point.  Aki’s concentration and focus when his team needed him most exemplifies the Rays success all season long.  Key hits, key plays, key pitches at the most important times all season long, that’s the Ray’s game.

I have to tell you, I’m exhausted!  LOL – having gone to the first 2 playoff games in Tampa Bay Rays history is in my top 5 of most exciting things I’ve ever done (not sure what kind of statement that makes about my life but..).  The atmosphere is amazing in and around The Trop!  The restaurants in and around The Trop will find people from all walks of life sitting together at tables cajoling about our Rays!  I have met more people just trying to get a bite to eat than I have met in a long time.  The tie that binds is our Rays!  Even though the ALDS is far from over it has been a very eye opening experience for me. Around the nation the Ray’s fan base has been knocked continually for not being absent.   But, trust me, they are there.  Next year The Trop will have a much bigger fan base and more seats will be filled.  From what I’ve seen and heard I’d just about guarantee it! 

Go Rays!!