HER RAYS!

Think Dice-K got tired of seeing Longo today?  Or did Garza’s face give Pedroia even more hell?  Either way that was a sweet win today.  Sweet I say!

The Rays won their first series, against the Red Sox, at Fenway, and I saw the game!  Ironically the game started with a Knology commercial that spewed about us all being connected.  To which I replied “not anymore, Brighthouse is coming tomorrow.”  Evidently in this area to get all the Rays games it’s either Brighthouse or a dish.

Did I mention that the Rays won two in Boston? 

Garza was fantabulous.  I wish I could enter the drawing to take him to school.  I was so glad to see him shut down the little guy with the neck beard, since he’s been on my nerves what with the getting a hit every time he’s up to bat.  I especially loved the time Garza just made him look silly.  Josh Beckett would have had his arrogant smirk if he would have struck someone out in that fashion.  I think Garza needs to work on something like that.  I wonder if he can raise one eyebrow, because that would rock.

Shirley you didn’t call him Joyce.  I think it is simply a case of love at first sight.  Pretty good play in center and a homerun.  I dig that about you Matt.

Oh and have I declared my love for Evan Longoria lately?  Not to mention the cherry on top of the day Shawn Riggans.  Yeah I know, I love almost everyone on the team.  Almost.

I missed the Zobrist debacle, so we won’t go there.  However Percival makes me blue.  No seriously I stop breathing when he’s in.  I guess I should give him credit.  He got the save.  Good thing.  Don’t want him getting on Garza’s bad side.

WooHoo Rays.  Hope tomorrow really is a good Friday!

(photo ESPN.com)

First the disclaimer.  Remember where you’re at.  This is a female fan’s perspective.  It is not always rational or spot on like Rays Index.  It will not appeal to your mathematical side with pretty graphs like DRaysBay.  Nor will it remain eternally optimistic ala Mr. Chalk.  The reason being, girls rely way more on their emotions.

You see viewing pleasure weighs heavily into how a female fan feels about her team.  If a player is attractive and fun to watch then he gets our vote.  Some would say “Well, that’s stupid.”  To these people I would point out two things.  First stupid is a mean word.  Second we don’t go on looks and entertainment value alone, we actually want our team to win games.  However the players ability directly effects his attractiveness.

Example 1 - Matt Garza is pretty attractive.  He’s got a great smile and a rockin body.  However after game seven of the ALCS, where he was the MVP for his awesomeness, he went from pretty attractive to super hot.

Example 2 – Robert Pattison is quite hot, but what if he trotted out there daily for the Rays and his OBP was nill?  His negative baseball ability would suck the hotness from him, and while we’d wish him well, we’d call for his replacement.  Maybe Ian Somerhalder?

Now you know how my twisted mind works.  Those Girls explain it better and they even have stats to correlate.

So how do I feel about the Rays this season?  Well to tell you the truth it feels a little odd.  Normally at this time of year I am uber-optimistic.  Really believing that they can do better than 97 losses.  Then last year they won more than 97 games.  They went to the world freakin series.  Yet when I look at the team on paper, it looks even better this year? Don’t know about you, but my mind is not sure how to deal with that.

Outfield
With any luck the Rays should have a healthy Carl Crawford and BJ Upton shortly after the season starts.  It doesn’t get much better than that.  I’m also very excited that Matt Joyce got a spot on the roster.  Because of the formula above I’m hoping he can do well enough to boot one of the Gabe’s when BJ returns.  The way Ben Zobrist swung the bat last year improved his value so I’m sure he’ll be in the picture too.  I love Perez, so I’m hoping he can make it back by the dog days of summer if they need him.

Infield
The Rays have a great infield.  Longo is Mike Schmidt like.  Which is cool, unless he decides to grow the porn star mustache.  Barty is superb on so many levels.  Did anyone else like him in the lead-off spot?  Aki is back, and although he’s no Mark DeRosa, he was obviously the best looking guy on the Japanese WBC team.  That’s something.  Then there’s Mr. Carlos Pena.  He’s as pretty on the inside as he is on the outside, and he happens to be really good at baseball.  That folks is a win-win-win.

DH
I don’t really have a read on the new DH.  He’s supposedly a machine, so he shouldn’t break down.  I’m excited to see how he can help the Rays.  Cliff Floyd’s personality endeared him to me.  I’m hoping Pat’s bat endears him to me.

Catchers
Navi and Riggy.  What’s not to love.  If Navi can continue to improve every year that would be phenomenal.  Plus Riggy is the perfect back-up.  He’s so cute that he doesn’t have to be awesome, and when he is it’s like the cherry on top of your day.

Pitchers
This is where I get a little worried.  Don’t get me wrong these guys can pitch.  I’m just worried about them staying healthy.  Although the Rays have a better back-up plan than most teams.  Ever heard of Wade Davis or David Price?  That’s quite a back-up plan.  I’ll be following them at Watching Durham Bulls.  So who should be the fifth starter when the season starts?  If you go by my highly scientific theories it should be Jason Hammel.  He is way more attractive than Jeff Niemann.  Plus his Mom is a HerRays reader.  Major bonus points.  Besides I think Niemann is better trade bait.

The Bullpen
I just hope they can be more like 2008 than 2007.  This is the one area where I could care less what a player looks like.  At this point in the game my sanity is much more important.  Of course if the Rays could find a closer that looked like CJ Wilson and pitched like Mariano Rivera I would not object.  Plus there would be many nights I would go to sleep with a smile on my face.

All of that to say I’m totally geeked about the start of the season.  Go Rays!  Too bad Monday’s game is during the day.  I could use some brown liquor to help me deal with this…

Closers or Openers??

The Rays won a doozy this afternoon in extra innings.  Final score Detroit 5 – Tampa 6.  Some thoughts on the game…

When I turned on the TV there was some bizarro cartoon involving the Rays and an ice cream lady.  I came into it in the middle so I was a little confused.  Was it funny?  My reaction was basically “What the heck was that?”

In the second inning Joe Magrane was talking about how Polanco is a gold glove second baseman.  Then he called him a very heady player.  I almost spit out my soda.  If you’ve ever taken a good look at Polanco, he is indeed very heady!

Longo legs out a single on a ground ball to third.  He actually looked swift.  Let that be a lesson to all the slackers out there.

In the third the Rays had a pop up problem.  A ball was hit to shallow right, Aki made his way out there and Hinske was coming in, but neither caught the ball.  I have no idea whose ball it was, but that runner ended up scoring later in the inning which is frustrating.  Barty made a nice line drive catch and doubled off Guillen to stop the madness.

In the fifth Polanco doubled and Ordonez drove him in.  2-0 Tigers.

Polanco doubled again in the seventh and that was the end of Shields day.  Which was a very good day by the way.

Bottom of the 7th BJ ground rule doubled.  Total bummer since he was diggin for three.  Yes he was hustlin.  Love it.  Pena drove him in.  2-1 Tigers.

Balfour finished the 7th and then came out for the 8th.  I think he gets a little too pumped up.  Sheffield got himself into a full count, and Grant was getting more and more into it, at which point he pitched it hard but it was right over the middle of the plate.  He’s not going to be able to blow it by everybody.  Had he kept that ball down he would have struck him out, instead Sheffield crushed it out of the stratosphere.  3-1 Tigers.

Bottom 8th – Hinske gets one right back.  Home-run! 3-2 Tigers.  Barty strikes out, it happens.  Aki singles.  BJ Upton hit a two run homer to give the Rays the lead.  So awesome.  He’s heating up.  3-4 Rays.

Percy comes out in the 9th with a one run lead, so what does he do?  He gives up a first pitch home-run to Granderson.  So deflating.  Tie ball game. 

Nothing doin in the bottom of the 9th, and I mean nothin.  I think Jonny Gomes struck out with out even swinging the bat.  That’s not going to get ya the walk-off celebration.  On to the 10th.

Percy out to work again.  He lays one in there for Miguel Cabrera and Crawford watches it fly.  No shit, he gave up another home-run.  5-4 Tigers.  He then managed to get a fly out, but followed it with two walks.  Miller came in to save his behind, and actually did just that.

Bottom of the tenth, better known as wack a Ray.  Aybar walked.  Bartlett tried to pull back from a bunt attempt, but took it off his index finger.  On his right hand.  Not good people, Barty has a boo boo.  It looked pretty nasty when he removed his batting glove.  Everyone send him good vibes tonight.  Last time this team was without Barty, they went into a downward spiral, and I was sad since I love him. 

Maddon brings Riggans in to pinch hit for Bartlett.  Next thing ya know, Riggy’s layin on the ground.  He took a pitch to the chest.  It was actually really scary.   You have to love him too, he just tried to catch his breath, shook it off and went to first base.  Aki comes up and lays down the perfect sac bunt and moves the boys over.  Sweet two guys in scoring position, one out.  BJ draws a walk, a questionable walk, but a walk is a walk.  Walk much?  Bases loaded.  Crawford singles, run Rays run.  Aybar scores, but Riggy has to stop at third since he didn’t get a good jump.  Tie ball game. 

Bases loaded again, only 1 out.  Longo strikes out.  Two outs.  Oh and I really want the game to be over since I hate sitting there for so long during the day.  It’s all up to Pena, and he delivers.  The walk off walk!  Rays sweep.  Detroit 5 – Tampa 6.

Once again Percy blows the save but the Rays still win?  He’s a lucky SOB. 

Tomorrow night it’s time to rock Cleveland.  Let’s hope Garza can out-duel Lee, he seems to like a challenge.  Go Rays!!

photo from yahoo sports

Time to stop the madness!

The Rays won again today.  They won another series.  They are back in first place in the AL East.  If the White Sox can beat the Cubs tonight, the Rays will have the best record in baseball again.  That’s all fine and dandy but they’ve got bigger fish to fry, and no I’m not talking about the Red Sox.

The beards have got to go!  It will not jinx them.  They were winning without them.  They are playing so great that the fans will come but if they want to expand their female fanbase they need to get back to their fine selves!

Thankfully some of the prettier Rays have decided to boycott.  Yes I’m looking at you BJ.

I bet Riggy would grow one if he could, but he’ll always have that Kirk Cameron face.  That makes him a great back-up catcher.  He’s quick on defense, he has had 5 RBI’s in his last two games, and he’s really cute.  Do any other teams have a back-up catcher that can hold a candle to him?

Sonny did a great job today, but I hardly noticed because I was so distracted by his beard.  It’s getting really thick, and sucking all of his hotness away.

Longo has been on fire, and I love him but there is no way his girlfriend likes that scraggly, patchy stuff growing on his face.

Navi’s is just humorous.  I want to take him with me to the Amish restaurant in Sarasota.

Barty doesn’t have a beard, but it looks like he grew his sideburns a little longer so that he didn’t feel left out.  Oh by the way, I’m calling it right now, Bartlett will hit one out against the Red Sox.  (I know, really going out on a limb)

So how do we stop this madness?  We go to the source.  Rocco Baldelli.  These guys are growing beards to show Rocco support on his comeback.  Rocco used to look like this.

Now he looks like this.  Alright, that’s not Rocco, but it proves my point.  Even Brad Pitt can’t pull of this kind of beard!

So Rocco I’m begging you, please shave.  You are a great looking guy.  Don’t hide it.  We will support you no matter what, but it sure would be nice to have the Rays winning AND looking good!  Go Rays!!

Holy crap that baseball guru is worth every penny!

The former Fresno State bulldog put on a show for his boys today.  Mr. Garza fit all the cliches.  He was in the zone, dialed in, bringin it, yada yada.  He was flippin superb.  9IP 1H 1ER   One away from the whole enchilada.

The Rays swept the Marlins.  Tampa 6 – Florida 1.

A commenter over at DRaysBay, I should look up who but I don’t feel like it, said that Evan Longoria is made of awesome.  He IS made of awesome, with a sprinkle of yummy on top.  He had two doubles and a home run today, the product of his awesomeness.

Riggy also had a good day knocking in three with a sac fly and a double.  His dad was even there to cheer him on.  How heartwarming.

Benny Zobrist had another home run, but I still want Bartlett back ASAP.

The Rays continue to amaze.  Let’s hope they can stay on target!  Go Rays!! 

Triples and homeruns aren’t usually Gross, but today they are!

Holy cow I can’t believe the Rays won with this line-up, but they did dramatically and they win the series.  Final score Chicago 3 – Tampa 4.  Some thoughts from the game:

BJ gets picked off once again.  Just make him stand on the base already.  He hit a triple shortly after that and the whole time I’m hoping he doesn’t get picked off third!

Pena finally came through in a big situation and drove in a run.

It was interesting how they walked BJ later in the game to get to Pena.  Worked like a charm. 

Riggy had a good day with two hits.

Normally 3 earned runs for Sonny would be great, but today it could have been a whole lot worse.  There were times that it looked like Raymond could have hit a double off of him.

Ball-four looked anything but, and Reyes was pretty sharp.

Good time to put Crawford back in the game, he made a diving catch to rob Nick the ventriloquist doll Swisher of a hit.

But then Crawford came up to bat and grounded out to the CATCHER.  Seriously.

Howell was amazing today.  He had a runner on third, only one out and he kept the Rays in the game.

The hero du jour was Gabe Gross.  He knocked in 3 of the Rays 4 runs with a triple and a walk-off homerun.  Superb outing Mr. Gross.

So the Rays take the series and have a terrific home-stand.  Now they head to Boston for a big test.  C’mon boys keep the wild ride going!  Go Rays!!

Riggan a series win! 

The Rays win AGAIN.  Cool beans.  New York 2 – Tampa 5. 

Some of my thoughts from the game:

Longo makes a great diving stop to start the game.  Love him.

Aki hit a lead off homerun!  That new do is serving him well.

Riggy gets a nice base hit in the 3rd.  Zobrist is hit by a pitch.  Not on the thumb.  Aki walks and the bases are loaded with no outs.  Crawford hits a sac fly and Damon’s throw literally rolled to the plate.  I laughed out loud.

In the top of the 4th Kazmir picked off Melky Cabrera.  Except he didn’t get the call.  Dammit he was out!  Maddon should have pulled a Pinella on that one.

Bottom of the 4th Hinske cracks a double, and then Riggy absolutley crushes a ball to left.  Did he lose the Mr. T necklace?  I didn’t notice it today.

Scott Kazmir walked Morgan Ensberg twice.  C’mon man that should be an easy out.  Kazmir still didn’t look back to normal but he pitched another 6 shut-out innings so I’m not going to bitch about it.

Rays scored again in the 6th when Aki started it off with a double.  So great when the lead-off hitter gets on.  Crawford moved him over with a sac fly.  He was the sac man today.  That sounds kind of funny in my dirty mind.  BJ hit a sac fly too and Aki scored the Rays 5th run.

Glover in to pitch in the 7th.  Glover hit their bats instead of the glove.  He gave up two runs.

Question – There were a few balls up the middle today.  Would Bartlett have gotten to those balls?

Pena kinda blew today, and as much as I love Longo he didn’t look so great at the plate either.

Wheeler and Percy shut those Yankees down, and sent them to last place in the east.

So now it’s off to inter-league play.  Should be interesting.  Can’t wait to see Sonny go yard!  Go Rays!!
 

Pregame – Staats and Magrane with the call again.  I’m so obsessed with Staats hair.  Do you think it’s crunchy?  Ed-WIN Jackson vs. Clay Buchholz tonight.

Top 1st – slow roller + speedy runner = base hit for Ellsbury.  Pedroia hits into a nice 5-4-3 double play.  Drew gets a freakish broken bat single to Aki.  Jackson blows it all off and strikes out Ramirez.

Bottom 1st – Buchholz looks like a cute lemur, with way too many necklaces.  Aki strikes out.  Crawford grounds out.  BJ and Pena walk, but Bucholz blows it all off and strikes out Longo.

Top 2nd – Youkilis walks.  Crisp hits into a fielders choice, Youk out.  Varitek flys out to center and BJ doubles Crisp off first.

Bottom 2nd – Three up, three down go the Rays.

Top 3rd – Lowrie rips a nice base hit.  Word on the street is he’s workin Fabio Lugo out of a job.  Lugo flies out.  Ellsbury and Pedroia go down too.

Bottom 3rd – Three up, three down go the Rays again.  Shucks.

Top 4th – Three up, three down go the Red Sox.  WooHoo!

Bottom 4th – Upton doubles to left.  Rock on.  Pena grounds out but moves BJ to third.  Longo and Hinske both ground out.  Fudge.

Top 5th – Crisp base hit.  Varitek strikes out.  Wild pitch to Lowrie and Crisp goes from first to third.  Ugly.  Lugo strikes out.  Ellsbury hits a hard grounder to third and Longo damn near got him but Crisp scores.  1-0 Red Sox.  Pedroia grounds out.

Bottom 5th – Gross, Riggans and Bartlett sit back down in order.

Top 6th – Pena makes a great grab at first and they get the Sox 1,2, 3.

Bottom 6th – 3 Rays get out.

Top 7th – 1 walk but 3 Sox get out.

Bottom 7th – 3 Rays  don’t get on base.

Top 8th - Miller gets Ellsbury to pop out, and strikes out Pedroia, but then walks Drew.  No fear, Doh!man strikes out Manny Ramirez!

Bottom 8th – Gross strikes out.  Navarro in to hit for Riggy.  He totally struck out but the Sox didn’t get the call and one pitch later he singled to right.  Bartlett flies out.  No Way!  Aki hits a two run homer to right!  Who knew??  Rays take the lead .  Boston 1 – Tampa 2.  CC gets out.

Top 9th – Percy in to pitch.  He gets Youkilis and Crisp to fly out.  Then strikes out Varitek!  Rays beat Boston again!

Postgame – This game was not nearly as exciting as last nights most due to some great starting pitching.  Edwin pitched a great game.  Glad I’m not making the decision when Kazmir returns.  Buchholz also pitched great.  I actually felt sorry for him since he only made that one mistake and it cost him. 
More good relief pitching.  It’s hard for a Rays fan to handle.  Navarro came in and stepped up big with a single.  Aki is the hero tonight!  What’s next?  Is Bartlett hitting a walk off tomorrow?  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!

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!