HER RAYS!

This is one of those games that you could tell your friends about and it sounds so far fetched that they’ll think you’re making the whole bloody thing up.

You – Carl Crawford got picked off first.  Guess where the ball hit him?  In the hoo-hoo.
Friend – No way.
You – Way.  He left the game.  Nobody had the balls to call him tater-nuts though.

You – Garza gave up back to back to back home runs in the second.
Friend – Get outta here.
You – Seriously I thought his head was going to explode.

You – BJ Upton hit a home run.
Friend – Because he wanted to jog around the bases instead of running hard?
You – Hardee Har Har

You – Garza gave up another home run to Luke Scott in the 3rd.
Friend – Bringing the total to four?  This story is getting deep.
You - Seems like it.

You – Matt Joyce hit a home run.
Friend – Now that I believe.
You – Plus he’s cute.

You – The Rays scored 4 runs in the 6th inning.
Friend – It’s the Orioles, that’s possible.

You – Benny made a boo boo in right and two runs scored.
Friend – You are a liar.  Take it back.
You – It wasn’t the only weird route he took.

You – Choate was only able to retire one of the lefties he faced.
Friend – That sounds about right.
You - No, I said left.
Friend – Right.

You – Brignac homered to take the lead back to two.
Friend – He’s no Sean Rodriguez.
You – Reid my lips, I love that kid and I will throw you down.

You – The Rays had a two run lead going into the ninth.  Bring in Soriano.
Friend – Game over.
You – Not so much.  Soriano’s a tad rusty since he’s been on the shelf FOREVER.  Tie ball game.
Friend – That blows.
You – Chunks.

You – They go to extra innings.  The Rays take the lead in the top of the 12th.
Friend – But?
You – But they give it right back in the bottom half of the inning. 
Friend – This story is getting tired.
You – You’re telling me.

You – Guess who blew the game?
Friend – Lance Cormier?
You – Oh you’ve heard this story before.
Friend – Tragically.
You – Know what else is tragic?
Friend – What’s that?
You – The Yankees finally freakin lost a game.
Friend – Well you always have the day game after a night game to look forward to.
You – Yippee.  Go Rays.

Well I really didn’t expect the Rays to pull off a win against CC Sabathia, but he was a bit off and they definitely had their chances.  What did they do with these chances?  They squandered them!

The Rays picked away at CC and came up with three runs.  Shields was cruising, only giving up one.  Kapler made a great catch at the wall to save his butt.  Then it all went awry.  James gave up two home runs and the lead.  Bummer but the Rays still had their chances.

In the seventh one of my favorite things happened.  BJ got on base in front of Carl and soon after they were on second and third with no outs.  Can I have more of this please?  The Rays only got one run out of it, but that could have been a game winner. 

Balfour handled the seventh.  So the Rays have a one run lead going into the eighth.  I’m thinking no problem.  Benoit for the eighth and Soriano for the ninth.  Well Benoit was a little off.  I knew he wasn’t going to be perfect, but he picks now to be a little off!  He gave up a home run to Nick Frickin Swisher.  Plus he was super scary getting out of the inning, but he did keep the game tied.

Girardi makes the call to Mo Rivera to come in and shut down the Rays so the Yankees have a chance to win it.  BJ miraculously gets a broken bat single.  However he kills the rally himself by getting picked off first for the gazillionth time.  Not even close.

Maddon does not make the call to his closer and give the Rays a chance to win the game.  Instead he goes to Choate the lefty specialist.  The lefty specialist who let the two lefties he faced get on base.  I think specialist is the wrong term.  I have another term but we try to be nice around here.  Wheeler was then brought in with the daunting task of sitting Derek Jeter down in a clutch situation.  It took him four strikes but he did it. 

So who does Maddon bring in to face Swisher with two outs in the ninth of a tie game.  Lance Cormier.  Wait what?  I like Lance, but he has been struggling this year.  This game must not be as important as I think is?  Yankees win.  Rays fans go home totally confused.  After Mariano Rivera the Yankees bullpen is shaky.  The Rays would have had a chance if they could have gotten that far.  I know it’s not a save situation, but it’s a win situation.  Where was Soriano?

Time to turn it around tomorrow.  Go Rays!

The Rays are slumping.  Inter-league play was dreadful.  They were no hit AGAIN, by a former Ray no less.  When Sunday afternoon rolled around everyone was pretty cranky.  Perhaps BJ was more cranky than others.  His whole family was in town to watch him.  He was constantly being compared to his younger brother, and I’m sure the idiot fans who never have anything nice to say to him let him know who they thought was the better Upton.  He wanted to win the series, but there’s also a good chance he wanted Calgon to take him away.

Some people are frustrated with BJ, others are defending him.  Since I’ve been asked how I feel about “the incident” a lot in last couple of days I’ll give you my take.

If you are a fan of baseball you know that there are several different types of players.  I would classify BJ Upton as a gifted player.  He has talent that other players only dream about having.  He can easily get to balls in the gap.  He can easily steal bases.  His bat speed is another gift.  I’m sure he’s worked on these things since he was a kid, but I still classify him as gifted because regular dudes could work their whole lives and never have these things come easy.

Take Jason Bartlett as a comparison.  He is a really good baseball player, but in order to get where he is he’s had to make sure to do all the right things.  I know some people are down on Jason lately but he is a very smart player.  He puts himself in the right place at the right time.  If anything lets him down it is his athletic ability.

So why hasn’t BJ been able to take it to the next level?  Because the elite players are gifted and smart.  For example the guy who called BJ out on Sunday, Evan Longoria.  Like Barty he’s in it.  He’s smart and has great instincts, but he’s also a gifted athlete.

You can say BJ is lazy or whatever, but I’ve come to the conclusion that he’s just not that baseball smart.  He’s easily above average on ability alone.  The nice thing is, if BJ wants to he can change and become the player we always knew he could be.  I hope he’s with the Rays when he figures it out, because believe me it will be a sight to see.

Disclaimer – You know I love this team but sometimes tough love is better medicine, especially when they are playing like dog doo.

John Jaso JingleHeimer Schmidt – I like you lots.  I suggested that you should run for president.  Tonight you drove in the lone run, and you’ve been doing pretty well overall.  However tomorrow you will be practicing your Lord of the Dance moves for many hours.  That way you will be able to avoid line drives at your feet.  Oh and for the record I don’t like you in the lead-off spot.

Evan Longoria - You are awesome.  You are an all-star.  Please for the love of Pete do not start slumping now when nobody on this freaking team can hit.  If you keep this up I will have to make comments about your not so stellar hair.

Mr. Pena - Your defense is superb.  However first basemen are also supposed to hit the ball. 

Sean Rodriguez – It’s time I told you that you annoy me on many levels.  First I hate how you roam so far into the outfield on fly balls that are clearly the outfielder’s ball.  Second, many people commend you on being so aggressive on the base paths.  I find you aggressive to a fault though, and tonight was a good example of this.  You almost got doubled off, and then you were thrown out by a MILE in the bottom of the ninth when your team was only down by one run.  Ugh.  I do realize that there are worse things than being too aggressive, but remember I’m extra cranky tonight.

Beej – see Carlos Pena.  Your amazing defense is keeping you in the line-up.  However against logic I think you should be batting first.  I think you do better there, and if you do get on base then the fun starts.  I love the thought of you and CC on base together.  Make it happen would ya.

Navi – You are the third player mentioned that is in the line-up for their defense.  How long do you think that is going to last? 

All in all the Rays need to do better, much better.  I really like Wade Davis but five walks and 103 pitches in 4.1 innings is not going to cut it.  Hellickson was selected for the Futures game, but the future is now.  He should get a shot.

Although it’s not going to matter how well the Rays pitch if their offense can’t score more than one run!  Yes they have faced some tough pitching, but they look down right awful at the plate.  Like everyone says it’s time for a roster move.  Joyce to the rescue.

Since I’m cranky I’ll make my only comment on the stadium issue.  If you’ve been to the Trop, you know that it’s not a bad place to watch a game.  However if you’ve been to any of the new parks, you know there are much better places to watch a game.  How great would it be for the players of our beloved team to have a new park to play in.  I really don’t care where they build it as long as it’s in Tampa Bay.  If the high speed train from Orlando to Tampa becomes a reality it seems that downtown Tampa would be a great spot.  People travelling to Orlando for vacation could include a trip to watch their team play ball.  I’m not sure my opinion matters on this subject though, since if they keep the team somewhere in Tampa Bay I will still go to my handful of games in a season.

They say it’s not good to go to bed angry so I will finish with a positive note.  Congratulations to Dewayne Staats on his 5000th broadcast.  I’d like to thank him for his dedication.  Just think I grew up listening to Ernie Harwell and my kids will grow up listening to Mr. Staats.  He is the voice of the Rays, and he’s a great one.

Let’s hope the Rays give us something to feel better about tomorrow.  Go Rays!

A popular trend among female baseball bloggers is to chose a player who performed well as their boyfriend of the game.

Well let me just tell you that tonight I would be a ho.  How could I chose just one boy on a night like this?

Jeff Niemann was brilliant.  He pitched a two hit shutout.  In other words, he did it all by himself.

Carlos Pena hit TWO home runs, to the tune of FIVE RBIs.  Plus he really needed that.  He even got a curtain call!

BJ was back in the lead-off spot and he owned it.  He was on base four times. 

Oh and don’t forget Longo who quietly went three for five and drove in two.  He has 46 RBIs on the 8th of June.  Dude.

So how is a girl supposed to be faithful to one?  Yeah it’s not happening.  I love them all.  Especially when they beat the Jays like that.

I do have one question about tonight though.  Why is the clean-up hitter bunting with two men on???

A win is a win right?  Last night I didn’t post anything because frankly it was one of those games where I just didn’t want to talk about it.  Tonight’s game didn’t feel much better.  Niemann wasn’t great but, it was like a study of opposites as far as hitting goes.  The Jays were striking the ball hard and far, while the Rays were pretty much stinking up the joint, again.

Then in the seventh they started picking away at Toronto’s lead.  I’m not really sure why they took Tallet out, but it worked for the Rays.

The way they have been playing lately, I still didn’t have oodles of confidence that a win was in their future.  Enter Kevin Gregg.  He made quick work of BJ Upton, but then the wheels fell off.  He walked Carl, who stole second immediately.  He had Carl picked off but threw the ball into center field, so Crawford took third.  Gregg then walked Longo.  We’ll skip the Pena at bat because it was shitty all around.  He got out and so did Maddon.  So there are two outs.  I didn’t have a lot of hope, but Gregg was the gift that keeps on giving.  He walked Jaso, and then walked in a run with Benny.  Bases loaded for Sean Rodriguez.  I still didn’t have hope, but Sean came up big!  A double in the gap scored three.  The Rays took the lead.  Whoa.

Slowriano came in and saved the day.  A win is a win right? 

A couple of thoughts on the game…

It’s nice to see BJ in the lead-off spot again, let’s hope it sets him off.
Navi had a pretty good night.  Credit where credit is due.
Balfour scared the crap out of me.  Rodriguez sure saved his butt.
Briggy had a tad of a rough game.  He did have an RBI double, but he looked pretty bad in his other at bats.  He has a  bit of Vladdy in him.  He doesn’ t meet too many pitches he doesn’t like.  I still love him even if he had an error in the bottom of the ninth that caused me and many others serious stress.

A win is a win right?  Put this one in the books and let’s hope the Rays can be more convincing tomorrow.  Go Rays!

Splits are good right?  They don’t feel so good.  Matter of fact these games against the White Sox were a bit draining to watch.  One minute they’re up, the next minute they’re down.

Yesterday was great.  Davis was dealing.  Pena and Upton were producing!  Then today was a game of bizarro.  Shields finally got some run support but was totally out of character and gave up a grand slam.  I guess I can’t call him Hans Solo anymore.  I’m sure it was a freak accident and we won’t have to call him Hans Quatro.

Tomorrow is my birthday, so I’d like to make a few wishes.  I’ll list them in my favorite batting order.

I wish for…
Zobrist to embrace his new role as lead-off and continuously set the table.
Carl Crawford to keep being his awesome self even if it turns him into a hot commodity.
Longo to stay healthy all season so we can witness greatness.
Pena to find his stroke and keep it.  I want to see that smile back on his face.
Jaso to stay hot, and keep working hard on his defense.  He shouldn’t make me appreciate Navi.
Willy to keep hitting a heavy ball, and good things will happen.
BJ’s offense to be half as good as his defense which is phenomenal.
Briggy to stay fresh and into it.  I love this kid.
Sean Rodriguez or Gabe Kapler to be successful in their roles, even if it is king of the bunt.

Garza to relax and go to work keeping those Blue Jays at bay.
Barty to take it easy and get healthy.
The Rays to keep their amazing road record going.

Well that’s a lot of wishes, but I have one more.  Please take a moment to remember the soldiers, past and present, for all that they’ve done for us.  Go Rays!!

Jeff Niemann, the big solid oak tree, brought the Rays back to the winners circle.  He had a couple of walks in the second that scared the bejesus out of me, but he got out of it and only really made one mistake all night.  I’m telling you the dude is solid.  Embrace him people.

Carl Crawford soothed the whole fan base with his first inning home run.  This was really good considering it wasn’t until the fifth that the Rays could get anything going again and it was Carl who drove in that run too.

Remember when everyone was choosing between Sean Rodriguez and Reid Brignac?  I was happy when Sean got hit by a pitch tonight, because he didn’t seem hurt and that actually put him on base.  Reid on the other hand I want in the line-up every day.  Sean did get lucky on a gutsy/dumb play taking third base, and he eventually scored.  This doesn’t really change how I feel about him vs. BJ.  As painful as it is to watch BJ at bat right now, I would much rather see him in center field.  Besides offensively they’re about the same.

I have the same problem with Pena.  He is the master at first base.  Does his defense make up for his sucking at the plate?

Longo homered in the sixth.  I cheered and then found myself wondering if he really manscapes.  Ugh. 

Hank Blalock drove in some much needed insurance runs.  I have more warm fuzzies for him than Burrell.

Choate gave up a hit, but Wheeler saved the day.

See they just needed to change their Sox.  Let’s hope David Price can find his groove again tomorrow.  Go Rays!

Tight, beast, ninja, these are the popular words among kids these days.  For example if you were telling them about tonight’s game you might get these responses.

The Rays scored three runs in the top of the first.  That’s tight.

Benny Z hit his first home run.  Yeah he’s beast.

James Shields worked through some troubles, including home runs and multiple bunts.  That’s tight.

BJ hit a home run to retake the lead.  Bossman is beast too.

Did you see him lose that fly ball?  Yep, fail.

Carlos Pena hit two home runs and made some really great defensive plays.  That dude is ninja.

The Rays are five games up and have swept the Red Sox and the Yankees on the road.  They are so tight.  The defense is beast and the pitching is ninja.

Here is the key.
tight = cool, sweet
beast = really good, super
ninja = freaking awesome
oh and fail is self explanatory

Anyway you say it, these guys are really fun to watch.  Plus it’s going to be even more fun this weekend in Houston.  Pitchers get to hit, now that is ninja.  Go Rays!

The Rays keep on winning even when this blogger procrastinates. 

I missed the game on Sunday because I was watching kids play baseball.  Cliff Lee pitched a complete game and the Rays still won.  I didn’t really have too much to say about that except “Good on ya mates.”

Then yesterday the Rays squeezed out another win, but it was pretty late when they finished and I was falling asleep at the computer.  I figured since there was a day game in a few hours…

On to today.  Rays win.  Again.  They are totally ridiculous right now.  Half of the team is not even hitting well and they keep finding ways to win.

The pitching has been pretty great.  Even if they aren’t perfect they find a way to keep their team in the game.  Can’t ask for anything more than that.  The bullpen is pulling their weight too.  Ben Wha?  Been awesome.  Sonny has even been getting some big outs.

Pena had some big hits today, and BJ is smacking the ball it just happens to be right at someone.  Longo is on fire.  I can’t believe I’m going to say this but I agree with Kevin Kennedy that Longo should be the number three hitter. 

It feels weird not having anything to complain about.  Rays fans could get used to this.  Oh, I can think of one thing that annoys me.  Watching a third strike, with runners in scoring position.  Yeah I’m lookin at you Benny and Willy.  Those pitches were way too close to take.  Matter of fact the nickname Zorilla came about because Ben was an animal who was aggressive at the plate.  Time to let the Zorilla loose again!

Oh and from bummer central comes the news that JP Howell is probably done for a year.  There needs to be a full blown investigation here.  I need to know if I should be hating on Peggy Fleming for wrecking the boy’s shoulder.

Tomorrow the boys will face the big bad Yankees.  Let’s hope they just keep keepin on.  Go Rays!