HER RAYS!

A face all Rays fans love.

I’m not sure how coherent this post is going to be since you know I’m totally stoked for Matt.  He threw the first no hitter in Rays history!  What a game.

I got home a little late and picked up the action in the 4th inning.  It took me a little while to figure out what was going on since frankly it was a long day and I was just glad to be sitting at that point.  First my frazzled brain goes to the score. 0-0.  Oh, pitchers duel is my next thought.  Slowly it sinks in, they are both throwing no hitters.  Then as a Rays fan my thought was “not again.”

Both pitchers were dealing until the 6th inning when Scherzer started to show signs of weakness.  He struck out Shoppach, but walked Zobrist.  Carl gets on due to catcher’s interference, and Longo walks.  The Rays have bases loaded but still no hits.  Pena strikes out for the second out.  Who’s up?  Surely you didn’t call me Joyce!  What does he do?  He HITS a grand slam!  How does he look?  Super cute!  How loud was it in my living room?  The squirrels outside ducked and covered.  IT WAS AWESOME!

Meanwhile Mr. Garza just goes about his business.  Carl Crawford as usual made a great catch and then followed it up with a home run. 

Then things got tense.  It was on to the 9th.  Todd Kalas pointed out that all the starting pitchers in the dugout were staying in the same seats so they didn’t mess anything up.  Of course I then felt the need to stay in the same spot even though I was super antsy.  Matt did a great job of keeping himself calm.  Me, not so much.  There was nail biting, knuckle cracking, and whisper chanting.  None of which mattered because he did it.  Matt Garza pitched the first no-hitter in Rays history!  IT WAS AWESOME!

You know it’s great when you’re compelled to watch all of the post game shows.  Congrats to Matt and all the Rays on a great night.  He had his own headline on the ticker!  Go 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.

Things were pretty hot this weekend.

The weather was hot both here and in Texas.

The players were hot, and not just in temperature if you know what I mean.  The Rays are always hot, but I also appreciate the Texas Rangers.  Many girls go for the likes of Ian Kinsler, but I fancy myself some Michael Young.  I like to see the Rays beat the Rangers, but I feel like everybody wins when these teams face off.  Besides Mr. Garza got a haircut and the thing on his chin has been tamed, so he’s back in the hot column.

Rays fans were hot.  After their team imploded on Friday, you would have thought the sky was falling.  Then Saturday happened adding fuel to the fire.  Thank goodness one game can calm down a fan base and Sunday’s four hour battle to get a win achieved just that.

The offense was hot.  Well some of them were, and only on Sunday but it’s something right.  Imagine for a moment if every Rays player in the line-up were to get hot simultaneously?  Scorching!  The stuff that dreams are made of.

Speaking of the stuff that dreams are made of, John Jaso is the stuff that wet dreams are made of.  Boys I’m looking at you too.

Off day today and then it’s back to work for the Rays because the Blue Jays are coming to town and they’re not letting up.

Rays pitching seems to be struggling against aggressive teams.  Let’s hope they rethink the strategy a bit.  The big solid oak tree Niemann is up, so let’s see how he weathers the storm.

Today is also the start of the draft.  Let’s hope they draft somebody hot.  In this case hot can also be defined as good at baseball.

Stay cool my friends.  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!!

Some would say the Rays suffered from an intensity let down.  Some would say there were a few too many cocky fans that thought a win was a certainty against the Astros.  Some would say the boys were tired from the quick turnaround.  What would I say?  Eh, you can’t win them all.  Although the Rays had every chance to win this one.

Garza didn’t have his best stuff, but this girl noticed that he was workin hard.  He saved the pen and battled through eight innings giving up only two runs.  If your offense can’t score two runs then you are in trouble son.  Matt did have a little league moment though where he couldn’t pitch strikes to the pitcher because he was showing bunt.  Like a youngster he got frustrated and ended up hitting him.  Kinda funny until a run scored later in the inning.

It was rather funny watching Mr. Garza bat.  It’s one of my favorite things in baseball.  Watching pitchers who rarely hit step in the box.  Now maybe Matt can imagine what it’s like for someone to see his pitches coming.  He did get a sac bunt down though.  It almost makes up for the pitch that he bailed on that turned out to be a strike.  Yep, I love him but I laughed at him.

What can I say about the offense?  Well Benny Z and Brignac hit well on the night.  Other than that the story is about LOBs.  The Rays left a family reunion on the bases.  What happened to get the mofo in?!

Why oh why was Zobrist stealing third with no outs???  It’s a puzzler.

There were many chances to win the game, but alas it didn’t happen.  Let’s hope Niemann can get them back on track tonight.  Oh and he will be most excellent to watch step up to the plate!  Interleague is fun, and I haven’t mentioned it yet but Brian Anderson makes me laugh.  Did you catch him giving Staats crap about calling Lee slow.  Good times.  Go Rays!

Jose Molina has a go-go gadget arm.  He will throw your ass out.  If he can throw Carl Crawford out TWICE, he can throw anybody out.  Why keep trying? Does it become like a Tin Cup moment?

They have a Molina, so what the Rays have a Price.  You see you don’t need to throw out runners if your pitcher doesn’t let them reach base.  David Price sent the Jays home today without even so much as a parting gift.  He was filthy and efficient, a wonderful combination. 

It’s so much fun having a catcher that can hit!  Jaso was 2 for 3.  Think Navi gives him the stink eye the whole game?

I love Barty, but it was awesome to see Brignac at short today.  Like Natalie Imbruglia, I’m torn.  At least Jason came in and drove in some runs.

BJ, Longo and Pena have been pretty solid lately, just quietly going about their business.  This team is so groovy.

Speaking of groovy, Mr. Garza and Aybar were groovin in the dugout.  I think we need an encore. 

There was a Matt Joyce spotting.  Somebody twirl that boy in bubble wrap, until he gets better.

In conclusion, the Rays are awesome right now.  Baseball is fun.  Let the good times roll.  Go Rays!

I got my free t-shirt.

I’m surprised there weren’t more men going for these shirts.  I know guys who have way bigger crushes on Longo than I do, and that’s say something.

The place seemed pretty empty, but then the people just kept rolling in.  22,000 is not bad for Friday night, and I would think there will be more over the weekend.  Plus wasn’t there some sort of draft going on?

So I’m not going to lie.  When Matt Garza’s other personality showed up I was squirming in my seat.  You see my mind is warped and I was starting to wonder if this was all my fault.  Did I break the streak by not being in my comfy chair at home, where I was for the first three of his awesome starts.  Then I decided to get over myself, and hope he’d snap out of it.  It turned out to be the first inning from hell.  Matt did better after that, but I don’t think he was ever feeling good out there.  Remind me to never piss him off in person.

I wish I knew if he was getting squeezed on pitches.  The Navi ejection made me think so, but it’s hard to tell without foxtrack.  Cecil seemed pretty comfortable.  Plus he looked badass in those glasses.

The Rays had quite a hole to dig out of and they just came up short.  Willy Aybar got things started with a home run, but Grant Balfour came out and gave it right back.  Mood killer.

The boys kept picking away though.  Benny doubled in Kapler to add one.  Kapler homered to add two.  He and Willy had great nights.  BJ singled to add one more.  Plus he’s awesome to watch roam centerfield.  So they are down by one, with two on and Jaso hits one hard and far but…it’s caught.  Tease.

Oh the bullpen did a good job of keeping the game within reach.  On to the bottom of the ninth, which puzzled me.  Why didn’t they pinch hit for Kapler?  Barty struck out looking.  Where was that pitch?  Looked too good to take.  Carl singled.  Which brings up Benny.  Once again, I don’t know where the pitches are but man it looked like they were close to take.  I’m surprised he wasn’t more aggressive there?  I’m not going to doubt him though since he’s pretty good at baseball. 

It was a bummer, but exciting to the end.  It’s not easy to win games when your starting pitcher is human and gives up five runs early.  Let’s hope Niemann gets back on track tomorrow.  The game is not on TV, so someone will have to let me know how he looks.  Go Rays!

Listen up Rays fans.  The time is now.  Your favorite team just came off the best road trip ever.  It’s time to get out to a game and show them your support.

This team is making it work.  Last night James “Hans Solo” Shields finally got some run support.  So of course what happens, his defense was a little scary.  James had to work extra hard and get extra outs through a few innings.  Luckily the bats picked him up.  I hope the crew made sure to pack those bats carefully and bring them back to Tampa Bay.  Because those bats are working.

Anyway after all their hard work on the road, I think we should make sure to come out and support them at home.  There is a lot to cheer about right now.

Garza is on the hill tonight, hoping to continue his dominance.
Barty was streaky on offense and defense on the road trip, so we need to perk him up.
Who knows how long we’ll be able to witness Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena’s greatness. 
Great news, Zobrist just got a shiny new deal.  He’s not going anywhere.
Longo gets plenty of cheers, but a few more and an ”I heart Longo” shirt won’t hurt.
Let’s scream extra loud for BJ.  To show him how awesome we think he is, so maybe he can get a shiny deal like Benny.
Navi definitely could use some positive reinforcement.   
Then you have the kids, who are super fun to watch.  Brignac is coming off a great game.  Rodriguez and Jaso are entertaining also.
How about cheering for Pat Burrell for once.  He’s been driving in some runs.  I think he’ll hit one out this weekend.
Don’t know if Willy’s baby has arrived, but I always like to see his bat in the line-up.
Oh and don’t forget about Kapler he’s nice on the eyes and he’ll scare you in the field but he usually makes the play.
The bullpen has been doing their job.  Let’s drink to that!

Let’s do this people.  See you at the Trop.  Go Rays!

OK Mr. Garza, you are the man and your chin thing can stay as long as you deem it necessary.  I don’t care for it, but I will definitely learn to accept it if you keep pitching as if you own the place.  I’d also like to thank you for shutting down those Sox today.  You see there has been a whole lot of baseball in the last two days, so it was good to know that with a little help from your offense you had it under control.  Your fans appreciate this because at some point in the weekend we must acknowledge that our families exist and hang with them.

We all know it’s a long season, but the winning is fun.  See you again tomorrow.  Go Rays!

It’s the Orioles so make sure you remember the grain of salt.

The main ingredient is the starting pitching.  Garza made one mistake early, but was able to correct himself.  More importantly though he was economical and had enough left over to stick around through the eighth.

Every thing is better with a little Cajun seasoning.  Reid scorched one and got his team right back in the game.  Team Brignac!  Even his accidental RBI bunt was hot.

Don’t forget the staple ingredients.  They are always on hand and are a big part of the final product.  Barty keeps contributing as does Zobrist.  Longo drove in a run.  BJ singled and scored, and even Pat Burrell complimented the recipe. 

Then there’s the creme de le creme.  Carl Crawford was flippin stellar tonight.  He was four for four with a homerun, and he made an incredible catch to save Mr. Garza’s behind.  Maybe we should all starting saving our pennies so we can keep him as a steady part of our diet.

The only thing that can make this recipe better is to follow it with a night cap.  Soriano works nicely.

Let’s have the same thing tomorrow night.

The chin thing lives, but it did seem trimmed?