HER RAYS!

Well I really didn’t expect the Rays to pull off a win against CC Sabathia, but he was a bit off and they definitely had their chances.  What did they do with these chances?  They squandered them!

The Rays picked away at CC and came up with three runs.  Shields was cruising, only giving up one.  Kapler made a great catch at the wall to save his butt.  Then it all went awry.  James gave up two home runs and the lead.  Bummer but the Rays still had their chances.

In the seventh one of my favorite things happened.  BJ got on base in front of Carl and soon after they were on second and third with no outs.  Can I have more of this please?  The Rays only got one run out of it, but that could have been a game winner. 

Balfour handled the seventh.  So the Rays have a one run lead going into the eighth.  I’m thinking no problem.  Benoit for the eighth and Soriano for the ninth.  Well Benoit was a little off.  I knew he wasn’t going to be perfect, but he picks now to be a little off!  He gave up a home run to Nick Frickin Swisher.  Plus he was super scary getting out of the inning, but he did keep the game tied.

Girardi makes the call to Mo Rivera to come in and shut down the Rays so the Yankees have a chance to win it.  BJ miraculously gets a broken bat single.  However he kills the rally himself by getting picked off first for the gazillionth time.  Not even close.

Maddon does not make the call to his closer and give the Rays a chance to win the game.  Instead he goes to Choate the lefty specialist.  The lefty specialist who let the two lefties he faced get on base.  I think specialist is the wrong term.  I have another term but we try to be nice around here.  Wheeler was then brought in with the daunting task of sitting Derek Jeter down in a clutch situation.  It took him four strikes but he did it. 

So who does Maddon bring in to face Swisher with two outs in the ninth of a tie game.  Lance Cormier.  Wait what?  I like Lance, but he has been struggling this year.  This game must not be as important as I think is?  Yankees win.  Rays fans go home totally confused.  After Mariano Rivera the Yankees bullpen is shaky.  The Rays would have had a chance if they could have gotten that far.  I know it’s not a save situation, but it’s a win situation.  Where was Soriano?

Time to turn it around tomorrow.  Go Rays!

Word – Anemic
Lacking vigor or energy.
Can you tell me the origin?  Ancient Greek.
Can you use it in a sentence?  The Rays offense is anemic.

Garza pitched just fine, holding the Yanks to three runs.  This loss rests on the offense.  The bullpen didn’t help the cause but it didn’t matter since nobody was hitting the ball.

The Pena Burrell combination is just ducky right now.  Does Pat always look at the first strike?  It bugs me.  I mean even against Mo Rivera.  That guy hardly ever throws a ball, so why give him anything?

Mark Teixeira is really annoying.  He’s made at least four plays in this series that Giami would never had made.  Get out of town. 

Might be time for Mr. Maddon to shake up that line-up.  Can’t make it worse.

Enjoy your off day tomorrow Rays fans.  Let’s hope the front office comes up with something great.  Let’s hope the guys regroup.  Let’s hope Friday is a better day, cause tonight’s game kinda sucked.  Go Rays!!

It started off on a sad note when I found out Longo wouldn’t be playing.  Where has that finger been?  You’re right, I don’t want to know.  At least he was replaced by Michael Young, whom I’ve always liked.

Pena was so geeked to be a part of these all-star festivities.  Did you see his face when he was getting his picture taken with the President?  So cute.

What the hell is on Ryan Franklin’s chin?  I bet you could find some nasty left overs in there.

Between Longo’s finger, Franklin’s chin pet, and Lincecum’s hair there was a whole lot of icky going on in this game.

If you believe in announcer jinxes then Roy Halladay was doomed before he took the field.

Crawford had a nice base hit and would have had a stolen base if it wasn’t for that darn Ichiro dude.

Can we have Joe Mauer please?  He’s good.

Glad to see Edwin Jackson doing so well.  Wish he would have done that well for the Rays…

Hmmm Ben Zobrist sure looked like Barty playing short.  Barty’s the best shortstop in the AL right now and Fox couldn’t get his name right?  Good thing he gets so much love around here.

CC aka Superman saves the day!  Way to go Carl!

Is it bad that I thought it was kind of funny that Papelbon almost blew it?  Twice.

Granderson showin off the triple.  If the Rays didn’t have so many great outfielders of their own, I’d be pretty jealous.  Same thing for Adam Jones.

Benny Boo Boo struck out, but he did catch the final fly ball.  I hope he had a great time.

Major props to Joe Nathan for striking out Ryan Howard in a huge situation.

It was very fitting to have Mariano Rivera easily put the game to rest.

AL wins home field advantage in a game that defense made the difference.  The NL’s lack of in the first doomed them and Carl’s catch saved the AL.

I know the Rays had home field advantage last year and it didn’t make a difference, but the way the weather was in October the more games at the Trop the better.

Congratulations Carl, you’re an MVP around here all the time.  Go Rays!

All in all a split with the Yankees is not so bad right now.  The Rays aren’t necessarily fielding their star players.  You could even be pretty stoked about them beating CC Sabathia.

I can’t lie though, I am on edge watching the later part of these games.  The bullpen is severely lowering the comfort level.  I have no confidence in them what so ever, and I really don’t want to be that fan again.

What is the plan going forward?  Do they need to see the team shrink?  Do the Rays seek replacements?  Do they just keep going to these guys even if they can’t get the job done?  I mean the Rays are fielding their B team and they are getting the job done, until the bullpen comes in and blows it.  Saturday the offense had to beat Mo Rivera in order for the Rays to get the win!

A good friend of mine thinks they should be fired.  For him it’s simple, they are getting paid to do a job and they are flat out not getting it done.  Give them a couple of chances and then find someone else.  Why not? Sometimes, like this weekend, it is easy to get on board that train of thought.

One thing is for sure.  If the Rays want to compete in this division the bullpen needs to step up their game.  Stop the sucking!

I hope tonights game is a little more comfortable to watch.  I know, don’t hold my breath Sonny’s pitching, and the relief corps will be deployed. 

Please for my sanity let Longo play!  Go Rays!

The Rays must have been out to impress the chicks tonight.  You know since chicks dig the long ball.  They hit 6 dingers, two off of Mr. Rivera.  Obviously the new Yankees Stadium is some bizarro world of opposites.

Barty, who chicks dig anyway, got it started right off the bat.  Get it, right off the bat.  I crack myself up.  Sorry I get goofy when I’m tired. 

Pena was next to join the party.  Longo hit two.  He’s a bit of a show off.  Zobrist’s was the most impressive.  Carl Crawford’s was pivotal.  I declared my love for him quite loudly.

Pat the Bat deserves some credit too, he drove in a much needed run.  Also the defense was pretty solid all around.

This was a great win, especially heading into Boston.  However the pitching was scarier than Norman Bates or 2007.  Pick your poison.  Every time the Rays got a lead the pitching handed it back.  When are Davis or Price going to be ready?  Sonny was very good last night so hopefully he’s fixed, but Niemann is frightening.  I know he had his moments at the beginning of the season, but maybe the scouting reports are a factor now?  Will the Rays make a move, or am I doomed to be seriously stressed every fifth start?

At least Howell looked much better and a little fired up.  It’s weird that Wheeler kind of blew it, but then ended up with the win?  Whatever.

Time to take it to the Sox again.  Go Rays, keep climbing!

editors note* – Apparently the official scorer later awarded the win to Nelson.  Much better.

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…

Or better known as the never ending all-star game!

I guess it was quite a fitting send off for Yankees stadium.  You don’t have to be a Yankees fan to appreciate the stadium as a piece of our history, or to know how awesome that must have been for the Yankees past and present to be a part of.  Derek Jeter seemed to be just soaking it in all night.

Sheryl Crow seemed like an odd choice to sing the national anthem?  I expected some one more relevant to NY.

Wouldn’t it have been awesome if A-Rod came up to bat to a Madonna song?

The Gatorade ball girl climbing the wall to catch a foul ball commercial would have been a huge hit if it wouldn’t have been all over the Internet a month before hand.

Sheets pulls a Chase Utley and drops a nice F-bomb for the national audience.

A good friend of mine has now added Kevin Youkilis to his list of Red Sox players he would have to hit with a pitch.  He’s up to three now including Lugo and Crisp.  He has a point.

I saw a FOX commercial that really disturbed me.  Are they really going with the “There’s only one October” slogan again?  Cuz, I don’t know if I can take it.

Great to see Kazmir getting cutter lessons from Mariano Rivera.  I like his thinking.

Zambrano pitched one over Manny Ramirez’s head.  It was kind of cute, like a love tap or something.

Matt Holladay finally got past the awesome pitching and hit one out in the fifth.  I think he’d look great in a Rays uniform.  Ya with me simkins?

NL strikes again in the sixth as Buck and McCarver are giving the Rays some love.  Hanley Ramirez and Utley both get basehits, and Berkman hits a sac fly to score the run.  2-0 NL

In the 7th Morneau starts it off with a double.  Navi is in.  Oh, he strikes out, bummer.  Drew hits a two run shot to right.  I can honestly say that is the first time I’ve been happy to see Drew hit a home run!  Tie ball game.

Wierd.  Papelbon pitching and Navi catching.  Papelbon has had a shitty time in NY.  He was kind of unfairly ripped in the press, and the crowd is taking it out on him.  Maybe it’s like a karma thing for shooting his mouth off?

Tejada gets a base hit then steals second when Navi makes a terrible throw letting Tejada go to third.  Ugh, suddenly I know what it’s like to have little leaguer.  You just want him to shine.  Sac fly and the NL takes the lead 3-2 on a critical error by our guy.

Bottom of the 8th.  Sizemore gets a 2 out base hit.  Longo’s in!  Oh my gosh, he hit an RBI double!  I’m so proud!  He tied the game and saved Navi’s ass.

Top of the ninth K-Rod came in to pitch.  I was very surprised Rivera wasn’t called on, but then Terry Francona brought him in after a couple of batters, and he was able to make his grand entrance.  He and Navi get a strike out throw out to end the inning!  So proud again!

Navi struck out again in the bottom of the 9th, but remember these pitchers are filthy!

Dan Uggla had a nightmare of a night.  He ground into a double play top of the 10th and then made two errors in the bottom half.  They walked Guillen to load the bases.  0 outs.  Sizemore, Longo and Morneau all hit weak grounders and Cook was able to get out of the jam.  Unbelievable, I just wanted to go to sleep.

How many times do you think Corey Hart has been asked if he wears his sunglasses at night?

Bottom of the 11th was interesting.  Kinsler started it off with a base hit, then was thrown out stealing 2nd.  He was actually safe but whatever.  Navi walked.  Drew base hit.  So 1st and 2nd, 1out.  Young, who is quite cute, hits a basehit.  Run Navi, Run.  Navarro gets thrown out at the plate.  Looked like his feet might have gotten in, but I bet there are quite a few blog comments about the fat catcher today.

Continuing Uggla’s nightmare he struck out with bases loaded in the 12th, but so did Gonzalez.

Bottom of 12th.  Very late.  Guillen almost hits one out, settles for a double.  Sizemore grounds out and moves him over.  Longo has a chance to be the hero again, but…struck out.  Morneau walked and Kinsler grounded out.  C’mon! Doesn’t anybody want me to sleep?

Navi grounded out in the 13th.  Our guys sure are getting a lot of playing time.  Longo struck out again in the 14th.  I think.  Stuff was getting blurry.

Kazmir in to pitch!  He did great.  So proud again.

Bottom 15th.  Morneau base hit.  Kinsler flied out.  Navi gets a base hit!  WooHoo, I was delirious at this point.  Drew walked.  Then that super cute Michael Young hit a sac fly and Morneau scored the winning run!  Hallelujah it’s over.

Kamir was the winning pitcher!  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!