A Tampa Bay Rays Blog From The Other Half

Posts tagged Molina

Game 1 aka Buzz Kill

Oct06
2010 4 Comments Written by Jessica

This started off as such a great day.  Good coffee, everything was going smoothly and it was playoff day.  Things couldn’t get much better.  That is until this guy arrived…

Mr. Buzzkill

The game started off okay.  Price was a little amped, but that’s pretty common for him.  He worked out of trouble in the first.  Things looked good for the Rays in the bottom of the inning when they were able to load the bases with one out, but they failed to bring in a run.  Major buzzkill.

I’m tired, so here are some of my thoughts from the game.

Carlos Pena got thrown off his game in his first at bat and didn’t recover at all.  I love his defense but I don’t know how Maddon can keep him in the line-up tomorrow.

My love for Rocco Baldelli is well documented.  However I was extremely surprised that he made the post season roster.  I secretly hope he recaptures the magic and proves his worth, but he looked awful today.

David Price has had huge success living off his fastball.  Today I found myself longing for him to mix it up.  He was occasionally leaving it up, and the Rangers know exactly what to do with a fastball.  I guess I just wish he would have given them  more to think about.  He’s a hummer, maybe a chucker like James will have better luck?

Take a look at the Rangers line-up.  Did you really think it would be Francoeur and Molina doing the damage.

What ever happen to the Rays way of manufacturing runs?  Zobrist had a lead-off double in the 2nd inning.  The next two batters were Shoppach and Rodriguez.  Isn’t their goal a ball hit to the right side to move Ben?  Why was there no bunt?  I mean to me Shoppach is like having a pitcher bat anyway.  Good pitchers can bunt.  Shoppach struck out and Sean lined out.
The eighth inning also had Jaso lead off with a single.  BJ was up next.  Is it too late in the game to bunt him over?  BJ struck out badly.

Green lights are bad.  At least when your pitcher grooves a fast ball right down the middle and his opponent sends that ball packin.  This happened twice by the way.

I missed Sean’s error.  Was it bad?

Ben Zobrist was the bright spot today.  He hit a  home run and a double not to mention a hard liner in the ninth.

Chad Qualls was also really good.  He reduced the big Rangers bats to measly ground balls.

Red lights are bad.  The contrast in styles was never more evident than in Dan Johnson’s at bat.  The Rangers had been green lighting their sluggers all day.  Dan Johnson got ahead 2-0 in the count and proceed to take a fastball right down the pipe.  He got another pitch to hit at 3-1.  He ended up walking.  Some think that’s great.  I would have to like to see him swinging. 

Glass half full – it’s only one game and no matter how bad the Rays looked, we all know they are capable of big things.

If you want to read something a little more positive on the Rays, I did a guest blog post over at Oh, It’s Those Girls.  I try to convey why the Rays are a lovable team.  Her blog is stellar.  Hopefully the Twins fans won’t mind me mucking it up for a bit.

Go Rays!

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Don’t Run Forrest, Don’t

Apr25
2010 Leave a Comment Written by Jessica

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!

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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 6 – Rays vs. Yankees

Apr08
2008 2 Comments Written by Jessica

Pregame – All day long I was looking forward to watching the Rays game on ESPN, and hearing a fresh take.  It never occurred to me that the game would be blacked out.  I know why it never occurred to me though.  The Rays aren’t usually on ESPN!  It’s Hammel vs. Mussina so this should be interesting.

Top 1st – The Rays go down in order on like 6 pitches.  You gotta make Mussina work harder than that.

Bottom 1st – Damon singles off Hammel the bean pole.  Jeter hits into a fielders choice, Damon’s out.  Abreu (who is the slowest batter ever) shi*t! hits a two run homer.  Not Good.  0-2 Yankees.  ARod and Matsui both ground out to end the inning.

Top 2nd – Rays go down in order again.

Bottom 2nd – Yankees go down in order too.

This McGill Plumbing commercial is so bad.  I’m sorry but I don’t like crack with my baseball.

Top 3rd – What happened to Jeter, he’s not in the lineup?  And does Wilson Betemit have more or less range at shortstop??  Johnny Gomes!  Oh I have such a love/hate relationship with this guy, but he just hit one to the seats in left, so I’m feelin the love right now.  1-2 Yankees.  DeFelice grounds out.  Bartlett walks on a pitch that looked a lot like a strike, then steals second sliding under the tag.  Aki grounds out but moves Bartlett to third.  Carl Crawford hits a weak grounder to end it.  What’s up with him?  He needs to get hot.  Soon.

Bottom 3rd – Molina doubles.  Still no report on Jeter.  I bet ESPN has a report.  Damon pops out.  Ensberg is up to bat.  He is way late on the fastball, Hammel should just rock and fire!  He pops out too.  DeFelice has tons of finger paint on.  Should we be worried about Hammel’s eyesight? 
This just in…Jeter has a strained left quad.  I bet they are just being overly cautious.  Meanwhile Abreu gets a base hit, but BJ holds Molina at third, and ARod grounds out to end the threat.

Top 4th – Three more ground outs for the Rays.  Oy.

Can Aflac not afford to get Ben Affleck in one of their commercials?  Think of the possibilities.

Bottom 4th – Hinske makes a great snag in right and the Yankees go down one, two, three.

Top 5th – Aybar and Gomes strike out feebly.  DeFelice doubles in a great at bat against Mussina, but Bartlett flys out to strand him.

Bottom 5th – Melky grounds out.  Have I declared my love for Jason Bartlett lately?  Julio Lugo made three, yes three, errors yesterday.  Molina grounds out.  Damon, who has great sideburns by the way, hits a bloop single to center.  Ensberg grounds out to third when Pena makes a great scoop on Aybar’s throw in the dirt.

Top 6th – Aki and Carl ground out AGAIN.  Pena grounds to second and Cano makes a sorry throw to first.  He gets the “E”, but the first baseman Ensberg should have been able to handle it.  Cano must drive Yankees fans insane.  He’s brilliant one minute and then…kind of like Johnny Gomes!  BJ follows suit and grounds out.

Bottom 6th – Abreu hits one to right center where Hinske flubs it.  Triple.  Ok.  Hammel needs to settle down right here and not let this get out of control.  ARod singles.  1-3 Yankees.  Matsui doubles and Rodriguez scores from first.  1-4 Yankees.  Uh, still no outs.  WTF?  Cano grounds out but moves Matsui to third.  Betemit strikes out.  Okay lets get out of this inning.  The Rays walk Melky to get to Molina.  It worked he grounds out.  Interesting stat provided by Stats and Magrane – both pitchers only have one walk at this point in the game.

Top 7th – Time to get those bats going.  Brian Bruney is in to pitch.  That surprises me since Mussina was good on pitch count.  Hinkse flys out.  I think Bruney is need of a kleenex.  He keeps wiping his nose on his sleeve like a little kid.  Aybar gets hit by a pitch, but Gomes and DeFelice can’t get him anywhere.

Bottom 7th – Dohman in to pitch.  Damon flies out.  Ensberg gets a base hit up the middle.  He should have been an easy out.  Abreu walks after an eternity.  ARod strikes out looking on a pitch outside.  Dohman got lucky there.  Matsui gets another base hit to make it 1-5 Yankees.  Cano, who is battling Abreu for slowest batter ever gets a base hit.  1-6 Yankees.  Can we stop the bleeding please?  Staats mentions that Glover is now up in the bullpen and I’m thinking “You mean nobody’s been up!”  Finally Betemit strikes out.

These “we are one team” commercials are really annoying when they’re losing.  We are one team that needs to get their sh*t together!

Top 8th – Farnsworth in to pitch for the Yankees.  Bartlett flies out.  Aki strikes out swinging, and I know Magrane says he keeps his hands back, but he totally stepped out on that pitch.  Carl Crawford yuck, taps it to the pitcher.  Does he always swing at the first pitch?

Bottom 8th – Glover in to pitch for the Rays and he gets the Yankees in order.

Top 9th – Hawkins pitching for the Yankees.  Pena base hit, and then moves to second on a wild pitch to BJ.  Ok Rays get something going.  BJ grounds out.  Hinske, who’s getting heckled for his Red Sox days, walks.  Aybar grounds out and moves the runners over, but Gomes strikes out hook, line and sinker.  Final score 1-6 Yankees.

Post Game – Absolutely nothing to get excited about tonight.  If I hadn’t had a bunch of caffeine today I might not have stayed awake.  The Rays hitters couldn’t get anything going and seemed to be guessing at pitches all night.  They gave Hammel no help and he did pretty good considering who he was pitching against.
I think it’s a good thing they’re heading back to Florida.  The warmth and home crowd should re-energize them.  .500 is not bad for this road trip, but now it’s time to catch the Orioles.  Yes you read that right.

Time to watch basketball.

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