HER RAYS!

Am I the only one that felt really sorry for James Shields last night?  He just did not have it.  Those darn Red Sox were hitting everything.  He gave it the ol college try but could not stop the bleeding.

I keep a notepad by me when I watch the game.  So last night when Gabe Gross came up to bat, I jotted down… “look up when was Gross’s last hit, and we were bitching about Haynes.”  Of course he hit a two run home run right after that!  So he’s forgiven.

Aki.  He started the night with a fly ball.  Grrr.  Then a bunt attempt, which I am all for by the way.  Then a base hit up the middle, just right.  Then a home run.  Of course I’m glad anytime the Rays hit a homerun, but I’ve got to admit I don’t want Aki to hit homeruns, because I’m afraid then he’ll slip back into the fly ball trap.  I could just be nutso though.

Catalyst Crawford came up empty last night.  Bummer.

Longo looked better, of course Josh Beckett is right handed so…

The Rays got schlacked.  Tampa 4 – Boston 12  Give credit to Boston though, Beckett pitched 8 strong innings and their offense is heating up.  They scored in six of the nine innings.

Kazmir has a tough assignment, but it sure would be great if the Rays could come away with a win today.  I hope to see BJ back out there too.
Go Rays!!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!  Rays 7  – Twins 3

The Rays got a good solid outing from Hammel tonight.  Would have been even better but he kept giving up two out hits. 

They had a great fifth inning.  Exactly the kind I asked for, where they string together some hits and send the pitcher to the bench.  How many of you thought Haynes was getting that bases loaded hit!

Six different players had RBI’s.  That’s a good team win.

Howell was superb.  So superb there was no need to take him out.

Evan Longoria is just awesome to watch both in the field and at the plate.  He makes it look easy.  They can’t send him back down can they?

DiFelice had a rough night with the bat, but the team wins more when he’s catching than when Riggans gets the start.

That pitcher for the Twins, Neshek, was freaking me out.  That’s what too much RedBull can do to ya.

Hope Pena just had a cramp.  If he needs someone to rub oil on it my number is 867-5309.

Okay I must be getting tired cuz I’m getting goofy.  Way to go Rays!  C’mon home and sweep the White Sox!

Who is Justin Ruggiano?  He’s right fielder number four for the Rays, but we’ve hardly gotten a chance to get to know him.  Perhaps everything he touches turns to gold ala another Justin, Timberlake.  Gomes and Hinske are great, just not in the field.  Haynes is not great, at the plate.  So when will Justin get his shot.  He’s had great success for Durham.  Who’s to say he won’t for the Rays!

After Monday’s game I found the differing emotions of Rays bloggers rather interesting.  A couple of us, myself included, were in the “at least they showed some spark” camp.  Others were understandably either pissed off or choking back tears of frustration.

While I think the mood you’re in when you sit down to watch the game has a lot to do with your reaction, there are definitely other factors that play into it.  For instance: comfort, savory snacks, beverage (preferrable alcoholic), Maddon’s lineup, and minimum suckage from the team. 

So to review, on Monday I got home late and while I wasn’t thrilled with Maddon’s bottom of the order I missed the suckage of the first five innings.  I had already eaten so I just settled into the chair with a nice Corona (since cinco de mayo is approaching) and watched the Rays score five runs to tie the game.  I was definitely bummed when Reyes all but soft tossed Cano a pitch to rip, but I liked what I saw the inning before, hence minimum frustration.

Moving on to last night.  I settled into the chair but I was cold and I had a blanket and I live in Florida!  For a snack I had peanuts, a perfectly acceptable baseball snack but I was out of beer.  At least I didn’t have sushi.  :)  I’m tired of Maddon’s lineups.  I understand there are injuries, and he’s trying to figure out the right field situation, and Aki needed a day off?, but how is the team supposed to become a cohesive unit when the lineup is never the same.  Not even close.  Try Ruggiano in right for a couple of games.  He’s got to be better than Haynes.  Have Gomes and Hinske split the DH duties.  And leave everyone else alone.  Is DiFelice too old to catch every day?  The team seems to do better when he’s in. 

Anyway Jackson pitched okay not great.  Rays left a couple men on, but not nearly as many as the Yankees.  Since every Rays reliever decided that he needed to load the bases before getting the third out.  The bottom of the order actually out hit the top, but the end result was a sweep by the Yankees.  Hense I’ve switched to the pissed off camp.

Better luck tonight boys.  Go Rays!   

I couldn’t make it home until about 9pm tonight and I didn’t have it in me to rewind the game to the beginning.  I had a vague idea of what was going on because every where you go in Florida there are Yankees fans.  So I’d heard about multiple homeruns, yada yada.  Why do I want to go back and put myself through that.

Sounds like Sonny had a night to forget right from the beginning.  He must not have been breathing through the right eyelid or something.  Damon and Rodriguez each hit one out in the first inning.  Then in the second Morgan Ensberg sends one to the seats in left.  Morgan Ensberg!  He looks like a tax accountant not a baseball player, and I’m pretty sure he should be an easy out.  After four more runs in the fourth Sonny’s done.

So I sit down to 7-2 Yankees, just in time to see BJ get thrown out at third.  I’m not entirely sure he was out, but he’s got some seriously bad base running karma going on right now.  Maybe he should play it a little safer for a while.

Cut to the bottom of the seventh where things get real interesting.  Aki flies out.  Carl Crawford 2 run shot!  Pena hit by pitch. (possibly on the end of the bat?), BJ Upton 2 run shot!  Longoria hits his first homerun, to tie it up!  Cool! 7-7  Hinske grounds out and Riggy strikes out to end the party.

Top of the 8th, things are rolling along.  Reyes gets the first two outs, then Robinson Cano comes in to pinch hit and totally rains on our hit parade, homering to right.  Dag-nab-it.  I had a feeling that might be the end and that was before they brought in Rivera. 

I guess this is what you call a positive loss.  Yankees 8 – Rays 7.  Some would argue that a loss is a loss but the Rays showed some spark tonight.  Doh!mann was impressive and kept the game from getting really ugly by fending the Yanks off for 3.2 innings.  Reyes took another loss, but Glover did a great job getting A-Rod out in the clutch.  The offense got going.  Carl Crawford cranked it up for 3 RBI.  BJ, Longoria and Hinkse hit well too.  It would be great to see more of that.

One negative thought – This batting order gives me the heeby geebies: Riggans, Haynes, Bartlett, and Aki.

C’mon EdWIN, get them back to .500!

The story of the day was Evan Longoria’s debut, complete with pregame interviews and shots of his family cheering him on.  It was all pretty exciting until the Rays lost a downer of a game.  Orioles 3 – Rays 2. 

Here are some of my thoughts:
Rough first inning for Hammel.  Roberts leads off with a double and then steals third easily.  Hammel actually hits the batter and the catcher with one pitch.  Tough start, but he holds them to one run.

Huff gets a double when BJ completely loses the ball?  Hernandez triples to give the O’s a 2-0 lead.  Ok it’s going to be a long night if they score every inning.

In the top of the 4th Pena makes a brilliant diving stop on a ball up the first base line.  He saved a double for sure.

Longoria gets on base his second time up, but it’s ruled an error??

Bottom of the 6th – Pena grounds out.  BJ walks.  Hinske base hit, BJ to third.  Longoria gets his first base hit and RBI! Then Haynes kills the buzz and hits into a double play.  Dammit!  2-1 Orioles.

Hammel gets them in order in the seventh to finish with a nice performance.  He settled down and held them to two runs.  I think we’d all take that every time from him.

Howell pitches the eighth and besides hitting a batter he gets through it.  Longoria looks great in the field by the way.

Bottom of the eighth – Pena ties it up!  Love him!  BJ lays down a nice bunt, but then gets caught in a run down.  Not his fault the pitcher balked but no one called him on it.  Hinske grounds out.  Longoria walks, but we got to see a taste of his swing when he creamed a foul ball.  Haynes strikes out.

And with one out left to go in the top of the ninth.  Wheeler gets behind in the count and lays one in there and Hernandez hits it out.  What a mood killer. 

The Rays can’t get anything going in the bottom of the ninth.  Game over.  3-2 Orioles.

The offense was quiet again today.  I for one wasn’t a fan of the lineup but what do I know.  Longoria had a nice debut.  He looked comfortable in the field and at the plate. 

Let’s hope the Rays can pick up their first series win tomorrow and stay at .500!  Go Rays!!

Well I came in late, just as the O’s were making it 5-2.  So I really didn’t get to see how Shields did.  From reading the recap the game sounds a little sloppy to that point.  Evidently only two of those runs were earned.

Some thoughts on the part of the game I did watch.

Miller got a huge out on Huff and Puff with the bases loaded.
Congrats to Carl Crawford.  1000 hits. 
Carlos Pena is not only tall, dark and handsome but he can crank a baseball!  What more could you ask for in a man?
Al Reyes is in to pitch?  WTF?  Isn’t he hungover?  Doesn’t a taser take something out of you?  Why didn’t he get grounded?
Nathan Haynes had 3 hits.  Way to totally confuse the right field situation.
Everyone wanted in on the action in the bottom of the eighth to take a commanding lead.
Percival slammed the door shut.

Big Win!  Baltimore 5, Tampa 10!!

Longoria and Niemann are coming to join in on the fun this weekend.  Go Rays!

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!

Just as I wished for in my lame poem.  The Rays brought their “A” game and rocked the house that Ruth built.  Here are some of my thoughts from the game.

Nice piece of announcing by Staats and Magrane with back to back errors.  First they said Johnny Damon is serving his one game suspension, and then they called Jose Molina, Benji.  Both honest mistakes, but put together before the first pitch of the game doesn’t make a great impression.

Ian Kennedy takes FOR-ever to pitch and he looks like Beaver Cleaver.

Rays have a great first inning, playing small ball.  A walk, a stolen base, moving runners over, and Clifford gets an RBI.  1-0 Rays.

BJ makes a great sliding catch in center and follows it up with an RBI in the third.  2-0 Rays.  Navarro has a freak accident on the dugout steps and cuts his throwing fingers.  No pressure for Riggans, who looks maybe 15 yrs old, and faces bases loaded.  The kid hits a double and scores three runs!  5-0 Rays.  Kennedy’s done and in comes Albaladejo, which means man with big bottom half.  Hinske doubles too and the Rays take a 6-0 lead!

Matsui homers and I realize it’s way too early to be excited about a six run lead.  Yankees score four on Molina’s double, Jeter’s triple, A-Rod’s single and a Giambi double that Carl Crawford should probably have caught.  6-4 Rays.  Ugh.

Sonnanstine settles down and does a great job.

In the eighth Clifford crushes one.  7-4 Rays!  Hinske doubles.  He’s a keeper.  Okay even Haynes can hit off this pitcher.  Bartlett singles to score two runs.  9-4 Rays.  He’s a keeper too.  Even if he doesn’t hit, it is so nice to have a shortstop that can field a ground ball and actually throw the runner out!  Aki and CC get base hits too.  10-4 Rays.  Pena creams a three run homer!  13-4 Rays.  BJ singles and they cut to Brian Cashman’s face, and it says it all!  Rays win 13-4!

They better get some sleep so they can give Andy Pettitte a hard time tomorrow!  Go Rays!

Pregame – Another cold night in Baltimore.  As a fan I prefer settling in for the night games though.  Maybe it’s just that I live in Florida, but I have a hard time sitting down for three hours in the middle of the afternoon.  Especially when it’s 80 degrees and sunny outside.  Staats and Magrane have the call again, and they’re hot according to the Rays TV commercial.  

Top 1st – Aki grounds out to second, but CC follows him with a base hit.  Pena pops out.  CC steals second.  Well Rays of Light called that one.  BJ Upton shows a lot of patience and gets a walk.  WooHoo! Clifford just hit a 3 run homer!  Aybar fouls out to end the inning, but 3-0 Rays!

I wonder if Baltimore has these low budget 80’s looking commercials?  And why is nobody there?  It’s like I’m watching a Marlins game.

Bottom 1st – Meet Matt Garza.  The new ace who just gave up a home run to the first batter! If it weren’t for the three run cushion that would have been really painful.  On another note Brian Roberts wants out of Baltimore so bad that he is batting 1.000.  Garza gets the next three.

Top 2nd – Navarro pops out.  Hee Hee That’s what she said.  Sorry, I’m tired.  Haynes hits a little tapper but beats it out and steals second.  So right fielder number two has the speed option but not as much power as right fielder number one.  Bartlett grounds out and Aki strikes out.

Bottom 2nd – Huff grounds out.  ION shows us a close up of Matt Garza’s grip for his two seam fastball.  I think he has a future in hand modeling.  I also just noticed that he has something under the bill of his hat.  It looks like a price tag but I’m sure it’s a motivational message.  Maybe, “my better is better than your better.”  He retires the side.

Top 3rd – CC walks, I’m guessing Pena walked too.  ION just blacked out.  BJ grounds out but moves the runners over.  They walk Clifford to load the bases.  Aybar strikes out and Navarro grounds out leaving 3 runners on. 

Bottom 3rd – Jones first pitch base hit.  Garza walks the 9 hitter, and uh oh here comes Roberts.   Meeting on the mound worked they get Roberts to fly out.  A double play ball would be nice here.  Mora base hit, no throw, 3-2 Rays.  So now it’s Markakis with men on 1st and 3rd and 1 out.  Another base hit ties it up 3-3.  They’re hitting everything!  The Orioles!  Millar hits into a double play two runs after I asked for it.

Top 4th – Three ground outs for the Rays.

Bottom 4th – Garza gets them one, two, three, but we get to see a close up of him spitting on himself.  Real nice.

Top 5th – CC gets a “nifty” base hit.  Magrane’s words not mine.   Homerun Pena!  Rock on.  5-3 Rays.  BJ hits a double.  Clifford grounds to short and BJ beats the throw to third.  That was a high risk play, but it paid off.  Aybar walks to load the bases with no outs and end Cabrera’s night.  Navarro hits into a double play but BJ scores.  6-3 Rays.  Haynes grounds out.

Bottom 5th – This is what my notes say.  GO, SO, walk, GO.

Top 6th – Aki doubled but was left stranded.

Bottom 6th – Markakis gets a base hit.  Millar flys out.  Huff & Puff  Uh-Oh, whew it was foul!  This guy just looks like a tool.  Sh*t! He just straightened it out.  6-5 Rays.  Bummer for Garza he’s done.  Glovers in, and he gets two ground outs.

Top 7th – Chad Chad bo Bradford gets three straight ground outs from the Rays.

Bottom 7th – Wheeler sits them down one, two, three.  I like it when that happens.

Top 8th – Walker strikes out the side.  That not so much.

Bottom 8th – Reyes pitching.  Walks Mora.  Markakis grounds out but moves Mora over.  Millar hits a hard grounder to short and Bartlett knocks it down but has no play.  WTF?  Huff hits a triple.  See he is a tool!  Haynes gets an error on the exchange.  6-7 Orioles.  Reyes walks Scott.  Not sure why he’s still pitching here.  Hernandez hits a sac fly to score Huff.  6-8 Orioles.  The pinch runner steals second and Jones hits a single to score him.  6-9 Orioles.  Dohman comes in to get the last out via strikeout.  This blows.

Top 9th – Aki walks.  CC strikes out.  Pena strikes out.  BJ walks.  I’m confused.  Johnny Gomes is coming in.  I thought he had a two day suspension.  I must have missed something because Staats and Magrane aren’t even mentioning it.  I’m also confused as to why Clifford is not hitting here.  He hit a homerun earlier in the game!  Johnny pops up the first pitch.   6-9 Orioles.

Post Game – Big Bummer.  I guess this is to bring us all back down to earth a little bit.  Hopefully they can pick up a win tomorrow and take the  series.  I think everyone wishes Garza had done a little better, but it wasn’t all bad.  Reyes on the other hand…  I know Matt gave up more runs but Reyes did it all in one inning!  Oh and so far I like right fielder number one.