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.

Baseball season is a long winding emotional roller coaster.  After the Rays lost to the Yankees Sunday, this fan was feeling a little depressed.  The Rays only won one game in the series and it seemed like all three games were there for the taking.  I felt this sense of urgency.  Why wasn’t Joe Maddon doing everything he could to win those games?  Where was Soriano?  Andy Pettitte is out after three innings and the Rays don’t find a way to win?

The Orioles are the perfect prescribed medicine for depressed baseball fans.  The Rays bats came back to life.  Wade Davis aka WD40 looked slick.  Rays win, and they’re basically right back where they started before the ugly series with the Yankees.  I should know better than to panic.  It’s a marathon right?  The Rays are in second place and half of their guys aren’t even playing up to their potential.  Yep the O’s were my chill pill.

There is one other minor thing that made this Monday a happy day.  A minor league contract that is.  Rocco Baldelli is a Stonecrab!  I’m sure his goal is to get a September call up.  I would be so stoked if he could contribute this year, since you know I happen to love him.

photo by Dennis Maffezzoli

Wins are good.
Road wins are real good.
Price dominating is good.
BJ Upton mashing is real good.

However part of me felt a little bad today, for the Orioles that is.  It felt a little like…

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?

Whew!  James Shields has a lot on his mind.  His wife is about ready to pop.  He’s the opening starter for the third year in a row.  His team looks awesome on paper this year.  Yet tonight an old nagging worry showed up.  Is he ever going to get any run support.  How many times is he going to hold his opponents to two or three runs and not get the win.  When is he going to get some love?

We love him but James will be known as Hans Solo around these parts until he fixes that little glitch of giving up solo home runs.  At one point he had only given up four hits but three of them were dingers.  Let’s hope we can ditch this nickname after his next start.

Besides those mistakes he pitched pretty well through his troubles.  The guy is steady.  Also he can’t be sad tonight because the runs did show up, in dramatic fashion.  Rays win!  Man did I miss this.

I mean it’s a walk off win, on opening day.  Yippee.

Just a few thoughts…
Navi vs. Markakis was entertaining.
Is situational hitting a lost art?
Pat the Bat sees the stop sign, Pat the Bat flees the stop sign.
Long Longo balls are fun.
Bullpens that do their job are more fun.  However drama still arises.
Two catchers are better than one.
Carl Crawford is awesome, and I’m going to appreciate him like never before. 

One down 161 to go.  Think we can handle it?  Go Rays!

It was a little scary there in the beginning, and the end is always scary with the state of the bullpen, but they managed to beat the Orioles and end the skid.

Reid Brignac had a mind to win the damn game himself if he had to.  He went four for four and looked good on defense too.  Really makes me wonder what next season will hold when it comes to the shortstop position. 

Okay Rays fans, I have eight tickets I need to sell. (fundraiser)
Tampa Bay Rays vs. Toronto Blue Jays
Sun, Sep 20, 2009  1:38pm
Baseline Box Section 134 Rows L &M
$19.00  (less than face value)

If you are interested reply to this post or email me at jessica@herraysbaseball.com.

Six reasons to buy these tickets.
1. You would be supporting youth baseball which might end up helping the Rays someday in the future.

2. Minus the recent slump this hasn’t been a terrible season and the Rays could use our support in their final home games.

3. Aki rattle drums!  Oh good lord, maybe that’s not such a good reason.

4. The kids.  Hopefully Maddon will be playing the kids and we’ll get a look at the future of the Rays.

5. It’s your chance to hold up a sign encouraging Joe to return to the gray.  Make sure to include something about “It’s time”

6. Because deep down you still love them!  Go Rays!

Close, yet so far away.

I got home late tonight, so I didn’t see the first five innings.  The last four innings were pretty eventful though.

Top of 6th – Shields was cruising along but hit a road block when Longo biffed a throw.  He was able to get two outs, but he also walked two.  Result – bases loaded two outs.

Lance Cormier was brought in to take care of business.  Result – grand slam, aka four runs.  This was especially painful for me because Lance is one of my favorites.  That’s impressive because as a Rays fan my favorites don’t tend to come from the bullpen.

Bottom 6th – Barty starts it off with a base hit.  I loved him last year, but I really love him now that he’s all hitty.  Longo doubled.  Love him too.  Then BennyZ hits a three run homer!  The Rays are right back in it.

Top 7th – Cormier walks the first two batters.  I’m a little worried about him.  I hope it’s just an off night.  Springer is brought in for relief, but alas it’s not to be had.  Three runs are what’s to be had, and the Rays are right back out of it.  Grrrr.

Bottom 7th – The Rays go down one, two, three.  Not good.

Top 8th – Choate doesn’t choke.

Bottom 8th – Crawford singles.  Longo grounds into a double play…except Wiggy booted it.  Oh sweet justice.  Pat the Bat singles and moves the runners.  Gross ground in one run, and Pena doubles in two more to make it 8-7.  I thought Zaun and his mighty mullet might tie it up but not tonight.

Top 9th – Choate and Wheels sit them down.

Bottom 9th – BJ, BJ, BJ what the hell was that, and was it your own idea?  He pop bunted to the pitcher.  Bartlett singled, then stole second.  Crawford grounded out and moved him over.  Man on third, Evan Longoria in to save the day.  Not this time folks.  It’s crazy that it was even this close of a game what with the handing out of homeruns with runners on.

Now it’s time to make up that game with a few games of Texas hold’em.  Go Rays!! 

Yay, the Rays won the opener against the O’s.  Just some quick thoughts tonight.

BJ really likes Berken’s pitching.  He was a double away from the cycle.  Yep, BJ.  Can you imagine what this team could do if he were to get his bat going?  Besides he’s super cute in his post game interviews.

David Price didn’t really have it, but he still put the team in the position to win.  Unlike Mr. Choate who brought his team closer to losing.  Not good.

I’m sorry but I’m really tired of Kevin Kennedy.  I’m sure he’s a nice man, but can I have Brian Anderson back please.  I really like Todd Kalas in the booth, but he’s also a really good rover reporter.  Brian is fun.  Todd just blends in with the game, which is spot on for some people.  Kevin actually takes me out of watching the game because he annoys me.  Could just be me I guess.

Looks like Joe Maddon is going to need more ties.  That’s a joke grenade for all you FSN viewers.

C’mon Jefferson Niemann keep it going.  Go Rays!

All you can eat meatballs of course!

That game sucked.  I love Sonny but he’s been more like Cloudy this year.  He faced 15 batters and only really got four of them out.  Yep it was a  pitchers duel.

I actually went to take a shower in the middle of the game.  Of course once I got in the bathroom I decided to pluck my eyebrows and use a face cleansing mask.  In typical chick fashion I spent way more time in there than I needed to, but in the end it didn’t matter.  THE RAYS DIDN’T SCORE ANY MORE RUNS!  Brutal.

Speaking of runs, I would like to apologize to Felix Pie.  Sorry I made that joke about you not coming back out because you had the shits.  I didn’t know that you really did have stomach problems and were sent to the hospital.  I hope you are feeling much better. 

Okay Rays how about shooting for that elusive .500, or at least beating the Orioles.  Jeff Niemann is on the mound tomorrow.  Oh yay that’s a confidence builder. 

When do we get the kids?  I want the kids, Price and Davis.  Oh and I’d like a line-up shake up too, but really who cares what I want.

I know, I’m a little whiny tonight, but that game stunk a big one. 

(photo ESPN.com)

That was ugly.  I’m just going to write this one off.  I’m going to convince myself that they had a post Boston let down.  I do have one question though.  Is Maddon’s hook broken?  Is anyone else at home requesting pitching changes?  I guess that’s two questions.

C’mon boys we all know you can beat the O’s, so prove it.