A Tampa Bay Rays Blog From The Other Half

Posts tagged Edwin Jackson

Game 69 – Marlins vs. Rays

Jun15
2008 3 Comments Written by Jessica

I was there!  Edwin’s best stuff was not.

Well it was not one of the Rays better games, but it was great to finally get out to the Trop.  I even got a little choked up when the boys first ran out onto the field.  I love baseball.  It’s a game for the senses.

SIGHTS - A diving catch.  An outfielder gunning out a runner.  A nasty breaking ball.  A stolen base.  An awesome throw.  A guy with his sunglasses on the back of head sitting in front of me. (I don’t get this.)

SOUNDS – The crack of the bat.  The pop of the mitt.  The cowbells.  The cheer after a homerun.  The cheer after a dropped fly ball.  The songs the batters come in to.  The annoying lady behind me who thought she was the first one to come up with the BallFour joke, and the Uggla joke.  Brilliant!

TASTES – Hot dogs way better than anywhere else.  Draft beer.  Soggy nachos.  Good stuff.

TOUCH – High-fiving Raymond.  Clapping to the beat of the bells.  Everybody that has to walk in front of you to get to their seats.

SMELL – The food.  I don’t sit close enough to smell the dirt or sweaty boys.  The cologne the man behind me decided to bathe in.

Would have been nice to have more to cheer about, but I still had fun.  Edwin had no control, he must have given it to Nolasco.  BJ struggled too.  He missed a ball in right center, and struck out three times.  He know he’s the constant right?  C’mon Bossman Jr. keep driving this team.  Balfour looked great.  Glover and Hammel looked not great.

Don’t want to dwell on this one.  They won the series.  Now it’s time to take on the Cubs.  Go Rays!! 

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Game 59 – Rays vs. Red Sox

Jun04
2008 Leave a Comment Written by Jessica

Sometimes you just have to make sacrifices for your friends.

I wanted to watch the Rays tonight.  My friends wanted to watch hockey, and since it is the Stanley Cup Finals I didn’t even try to argue the merits of watching baseball.  Also, Red Wings fans are dangerous.  I find that cookies keep them subdued quite nicely though.

The nice thing about hockey is that they have 20 minute breaks, so we did watch a bit of the Rays.  Tonight that was enough for me.  They ended up losing 1-5.

During the first break I got to watch Edwin walk Julio Lugo.  That’s just excruciating.  One of my friends said “If I was a pitcher I would have a hard time not hitting that dude.  He looks like a real douche.”  Exactly. 

Later I saw BJ get tossed for arguing, but after watching so much hockey I really wanted him to slam the umpire into the boards.  Wouldn’t that rock.

So what is it about Fenway that freaks the Rays out?  Shitty weather?  Chowder?  Do they spike the Gatorade?  Are they having too much fun at night?  Is Beckett sharing his beauties?  If they want to be serious contenders they are going to have to win a game there.

This could all be my fault though.  Over the weekend I noticed the Dunkin Donuts ad.  You know the one, if the Rays win you get a free donut.  So I’ve been kinda craving a donut, and since then the Rays haven’t won.  It’s donut karma.  Tomorrow I’m going to go buy myself a donut, so the Rays can get back to their winning ways.

Pena to the DL is sad news after his performance last night.  It’s also sad cause we’ll miss his hotness in the lineup.  But Ruggiano is back!  Man has everybody been waiting for this.  No pressure dude.  Shields to the rescue!  C’mon Rays fire up and get one.  Go Rays!!

As a rookie to the Rays blogosphere I am honored to have been asked to contribute to an interesting draft preview by David Chalk of Bugs and Cranks.  I hope to be as talented as the other contributors someday.  Check it out!

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Game 39 – Yankees vs. Rays

May13
2008 4 Comments Written by Jessica

Mercy Percy, you owe Edwin some surf n turf!

Edwin, Mr. Jackson if you’re nasty, pitched seven awesome shut out innings once again.  

Chien-Ming Wang pitched pretty well himself, giving up only one run through seven.

The Rays scored in the fourth when Pena doubled.  Clifford moved him over, and then Hinske knocked him in.  Stellar.

The Yankees threatened in the 6th when Hinske turned a Jeter single into a triple.  He dove and missed a ball that he should have let drop.  It wasn’t even close by the way.  Jackson did a great job to pitch out that inning and the 7th when once again he had a runner on third.

The whole game was kind of tense, because although the Rays were winning, one run wasn’t going to cut it.

Is it just me or does it seem like Carl Crawford doesn’t listen to his teammates when they are calling fly balls??  A coach needs to address this situation or someone is going to get hurt, and then this blogger won’t be a happy camper.

Wheeler shut them down in the eighth, and even avoided his urge for the dramatic.

The Rays had two men on in the 8th, but Clifford hit into a double play.  Not good.

Percy left a ball up with one out in the ninth and Matsui showed him why that is not recommended.  Tie ball game.

The Rays couldn’t get anything going in the ninth, mostly I think because they knew I wanted to go to bed.

Howell made quick work of them in the 10th.

Top of the tenth, CC singles against Rivera!  Rock on, speed on the basepaths.  Except he doesn’t run, at all, anywhere????  And to make matters worse Staats and Magrane are giving us sick stats on why he should be running against Mariano.  BJ, Pena and Longo go down in order.  Even less sleep.

Howell again proves his worth in the 11th, aided by a nice double play.

Bottom 11th, Rivera still pitching.  Clifford leads off with a single!  He is totally forgiven for the whole double play thing.  Gomes comes in to run for him, and Gomes being Gomes steals second, with a terrible jump.  He should have been out by a mile, but Molina biffs the throw and Jonny is safe!  Gabe Gross is up.  Gotta admit I’m comin around to him especially since he singled!  And Jonny scored!  The winning run!  The Rays win!  New York 1 – Tampa 2.

They handed Mariano Rivera his first earned run and lost save attempt.  They moved into first place.  Todd Kalas said they have the best record in the American League, and he’s a handsome fella so I believe him. 

You know what’s awesome.  The Marlins have the same record!  What kind of twisted world are we living in?  I need to buy a lottery ticket!

All this winning.  Jonny Gomes said it best “Tell ya what, it doesn’t suck!”  Go Rays!!

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Game 9 – Mariners vs. Rays

Apr10
2008 Leave a Comment Written by Jessica

Now that’s more like it!!  0-7 Rays!

There’s nothing quite like watching/checking a game on gamecast while trying to work.  First, the computer gives you bare bone details, so everything is boring.  Hit by pitch, ground out, homerun it all looks the same.  You never know if a ground out is basic or if Jason Bartlett made a phenomonal play.

Then there is the problem of containing your emotions.  Like when I snarled “Here we go again!” at the beginning of the game when the Rays weren’t hitting.  Or when I whisper shouted “Yes!” and pumped my fist in the air as Hinske hit a homerun.  Yes I’m a dork.

Ed-WIN Jackson as he is affectionately called only gave up three hits!  And he pitched 8 innings!

The Rays had 10 hits!  That seems like more than the last four games combined. 

So I hope Maddon is more flexable when Aybar comes back.  Many of us agree that Haynes should not be a regular.  Would it be so terrible to have Hinkse and Gomes in the same lineup?

Bring on the O’s!  Time to make up some ground in the AL East!

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Superstition

Apr05
2008 1 Comment Written by Jessica

I wrote a little ditty
and got what I wished for
the Rays won big!
guess I better write one more

Here’s hoping Edwin Jackson
is in excellent form
and the Rays batters can
weather the Andy Pettitte storm

Patience is the key
just bide their time
until Yankee relievers come in
then commit the crime

Steal bases, assault pitches
whatever it takes
to send the Bombers packin
and raise the stakes!

Go Rays!

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