Rays Sweep Jays

After an ugly road series that involved losses to the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles, the Rays are heading back to Tampa with a sweep over the Toronto Blue Jays. In the 1st inning, Matt Joyce reached first on a bunt single and error by pitcher Henderson Alvarez; a relief to know that a no-hitter would not be an issue tonight. In the bottom of the 2nd, the Rays’ defense committed its first error of the game when Brett Lawre stole second. The ball thrown by Jose Molina did not reach Elliot Johnson in time, resulting in the ball landing in the centerfield and Lawre reaching third base. The error was charged to Molina. Luckily, David Price was able to get the next two batters out. In the 3rd inning, Ben Zobrist doubled and tried to score on BJ Upton’s single, but was thrown out at home by Rajai Davis. It was a beautiful throw.
In the bottom of the 2nd, Davis reached on an infield single, but managed to make his way to second due to a throwing error by Elliot Johnson. The Rays’ defense was starting to look like it had been this previous road trip: crappy. Davis then stole third and scored on Jose Bautista’s single. The next batter, Edwin Encarnacion, then hit a 2-run homer, making the score 3-0 in favor of the Jays.
In the bottom of the third, Davis hit an infield single that Elliot Johnson. Davis then stole third and Jose Bautista drives him. Edwin Encarnacion then hits a homerun; Jays now winning 3-0. The Rays scored a run in the 5th inning when Will Rhymes singled and then scored when Zobrist doubled. In the 7th inning, Sean Rodriquez hit a leadoff homerun to make it 2-3. Rhymes reached first on a single, as did Molina when Yunel Escobar committed an error. Elliot Johnson singled, allowing Rhymes to score when Davis committed an error. Johnson is currently on a 7-game hitting streak. Pitcher Alvarez (who just turned 22) threw a wild pitch, allowing the base runners to move to the next base. Zobrist once again reached base, loading the bases. BJ Upton hit into a double play, thus only Molina scored. Rays now led 4-3.
In the bottom of the ninth, with one out, Lawre was up to bat. After several balls thrown by Fernando Rodney, Lawre attempted to walk to first but was called back due to strike two. A few seconds later, Lawre tried walking again, but was called out on strike three. (In his defense, he should of walked, those looked like balls to me and they were out of the strike zone on Fox Tracks). Lawre was upset and threw his helmet down on the ground; the helmet bounced and hit the homeplate umpire – Lawre will be fined for that. Lawre and Jays’ manager John Farrell were later ejected after arguing with the umpires. Rays won the game 4-3.

What I Liked:

  1. David Price: Price only had one bad inning (which included pitching around an error), but he kept his cool after giving up a homerun and managed to pitch seven innings.
  2. Bullpen: Peralta hasn’t been too sharp lately, but today he managed to retire all three batters in the 8th inning. He did a great job getting the middle of the lineup out. Fernando Rodney once again retired all three batters (with some help from the ump). He now has 11 saves on the season.
  3. Rays Batters: Rays took advantage of the Jays’ four errors and scored four runs. Always a good sign when they score at least four runs, though the average number of runs scored in the AL East is five.

What I Didn’t like:

  1. There were two errors committed by the Rays, one became a run and made the inning last too long. Luckily, the Jays committed four errors, allowing the Rays to win.
  2. Red Sox played an early game today, meaning that they will get to Tampa and be able to sleep before the Rays do.

Rays Lose to Themselves

The Tampa Bay Rays dropped another game to the Baltimore Orioles tonight, though I am not surprised. When I first saw the line-up, I was disappointed that Carlos Pena and Matt Joyce were not playing tonight. I understand that Orioles’ pitcher Brian Matusz is a lefty and Pena and Joyce are also lefties, but seriously I’m tired of the Rays creating a whole new line-up for lefty pitchers. A few weeks ago Pena and Joyce both had several hits off a lefty pitcher, so it is possible for them to hit against lefties. And even if they do not hit, I would rather see Pena at first instead of Jeff Keppinger and Joyce in left instead of Brandon Guyer.
It was probably one of the worst Rays’ games I have seen in a while, worse than the other games this past week. In the 1st inning, Ben Zobrist got a lead-off walk, but Sean Rodriquez hit into a double play. BJ Upton singed and stole second, but his threat ended when Keppinger struck out to end the inning. In the 2nd inning, Guyer hit a homerun, making it Rays 1-0. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Adam Jones was safe at first on an error by Rodriquez; Rodriquez threw the ball over Keppinger’s head (Pena would not have been able to catch that ball). Jones was then safe at second on a throwing error by pitcher Matt Moore, who threw the ball into right field into of 1st base. After walked Matt Wieters, Moore struck out the next two batters but allowed Steve Tolleson to double, scoring two runs (run #2 was scored on an error caused by Guyer; the ball managed to roll by him into the corner of left field). Baltimore now led the Rays 2-1, all of the Orioles’ runs being scored because of errors. The Rays ended up committing three errors in the 2nd inning; making it the first time the Rays have committed that many errors in an inning since becoming the Rays instead of the Devil Rays.
In the 3rd, Will Rhymes hit a leadoff double but the next three Rays failed to bring him in. This seemed to be the theme of the week, the Rays manage to get on base but fail to bring the base runners home. In the 5th, Elliot Johnson was called out after bunting off his foot… enough with the bunting. In the bottom of the 5th, what would have been an easy pop-up ended up as catcher’s interference (error #4), this makes Chris Gimenez’s third error of the year. Moore began to fall apart and loaded the bases; to the horror of Rays’ fans, Jones was up to bat. Jones managed to single to centerfield, scoring two runs. BJ Upton committed an error by dropping the ball but even if he did not make the error, there was no one covering second base, allowing Jones to run to second base. Wade Davis was called in and he managed to get the final two outs. Moore failed once again to last past the fifth inning.
In the 6th, the Rays managed to score two runs due to the teamwork of Keppinger, Guyer, Luke Scott, and Orioles’ third baseman Tolleson committing an error. The error allowed Keppinger and Guyer to move up one base, thus allowing them to score on Scott’s single. The Orioles now led by only one run. None of the teams put up threats in the next several innings, minus a home run by the Orioles; thus the Rays lost to the Orioles again.

Player of the Game:

  1. Part of the Rays’ Bullpen: Wade Davis came in the 5th inning with two on, one out. He walked one Oriole, but was able to get two outs without giving up a run. In the 7th, Davis got all three batters to ground out. If Moore does not improve by the All-Star break, I would not be surprised to see Davis as a starting pitcher again. In the 7th, Burke Badenhop walked one, struck out three to end the inning. Badenhop’s last pitch was just amazing. The Bullpen worked several innings and did not give up any runs. JP Howell pitched the 8th inning, striking out the first batter but gave up a homerun in the 8th inning to make it 5-3. The homerun really did not effect the outcome of the game.

What I Liked:

  1. Bullpen: Reasons listed earlier

What I Didn’t’ Like:

  1. Lack of Aggressive Swinging: The Rays swung at balls out of the strike zone, but did not swing at fastballs done the middle (Rhymes and Keppinger for example). In majority of the strike outs tonight, the Rays did not swing on strike three. Several times, the Rays were about to swing, but held back for some reason. I also don’t think it’s a bad thing for Rays to hit balls out of the strike zone; Orioles’ Robert Adino managed to hit a double off a ball that was out of the strike zone. Rays are going to have to start being aggressive at the plate if they want to make it to the World Series.
  2. Bunting: There were two bunting attempts today, which resulted in two outs. I had no problem with bunting until this year because the bunt seems to be used in the wrong situations. As Brian Anderson said, why would Rhymes bunt at a ball “up and off the plate?” I’m for Carlos Pena bunting against the shift and Desmond Jennings bunting and beating the throw to first, but lately the Rays have looked awkward at the bunt.
  3. The five errors committed in today’s game were just plain awful and resulting in the Orioles winning the game. Rays have been known for pitching and defense, but today the Rays did not have either.
  4. Matt Moore’s Short Outing: Moore has the talent and I know he will be a great pitcher, but at the moment he is having trouble getting strike three. He drives his pitch count up high in the beginning of the game, resulting in him getting pulled in the 5th inning several times this season. It is becoming a burden on the bullpen who is forced to work four-five innings whenever Moore pitches.

Predictions: Rays will get out of this slump, but to do that these things need to happen:

  1. Matt Moore needs to last more than 5 innings. As soon as he does, he will have the confidence to be the Moore of last year. His problem is getting the final third strike due to command issues. If he fails to fix his problem by the All-Star break, I wonder what if the Rays will make a roster move.
  2. Aggressive Hitting: Rays are going to have to score at least four runs every game if they want to remain competitive. Walking is great, but walking does not score runs, hitting does. Scoring three runs may beat the Seattle Mariners, but not the Orioles, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, etc. Swinging at balls but not at strikes is baffling.
  3. Better Defense: The defense this season has just been awful. Tonight the Rays made five errors, that has not happened since 2001.

I believe the Rays are capable of winning without Evan Longoria; I mean they have done it before, they can do it again. Though I can’t wait to see Desmond Jennings and Longoria back.

Shields, Upton lead Rays past Twins

After losing 5-4 to the Minnesota Twins in Friday’s game, the Tampa Bay Rays were once again looking to James Shields to have a strong outing. The first threat of the game came from the Rays in the 2nd inning when B.J. Upton hit a single followed by Jose Molina getting hit by a pitch but nothing came out of it. In the 4th, the Twins had their first threat after Joe Mauer singled and stole second (as Rays’ broadcaster Brian Anderson said, Molina was being lazy with that throw). Mauer would have at least made it to 3rd base but Upton robbed Justin Morneau out of a hit with an amazing catch (glad he’s back). In the 5th, Molina doubled then made it to 3rd base after Sean Rodriquez sacrificed to third baseman but for some reason Manager Joe Maddon had Desmond Jennings bunt. I was surprised by this call due to the fact that Molina is a slow runner and Jennings has been having pretty good at-bats lately. The call ended up not working after the bunt landed in Morneau’s glove, thus ending the inning.
The game started getting interesting in the top of the 6th inning when Shields allowed a single, walk, and he hit a pitcher to load the bases. Luckily, Ryan Doumit lined out to Evan Longoria, who by the way made an impressive catch. When the Rays were up, Ben Zobrist struck out but Carlos Pena walked, Longoria singled, and Luke Scott hit a sac-fly. The Twins intentionally walked Matt Joyce to load the bases with Upton coming to the plate. Upton singled to center, scoring Pena and Longoria. In the same play, Denard Span made an error, slowing Joyce to score and Upton to reach 3rd base. The Rays now led 3-0. The next time the Rays were up, Alex Burnett was pitching for the Twins. Zobrist and Jennings both reach base safely after Jamey Carroll commited an error. Pena was then hit by a pitch, allowing Longoria to come to the plate with bases loaded and one out. Longoria reaches the 1st base due to an error by Danny Valencia; the Rays now led 4-0.
Now Shields has not had any trouble since the 6th inning with the Twins, but it was surprising to see him enter the 9th inning after having 111 pitches. After giving up a single and double, Fernando Rodney was called in to get the outs. Though the Twins ended up scoring 1 run, the Rays still won 4-1.
Players of the Game:

  1. James Shields: Shields once again had an outstanding performance. Shields went deep, thus allowing the bullpen to rest (in case they are needed in tomorrow’s game). Shields has worked 8+ innings in 18 of his last 37 starts, which is the most in MLB in that span.
  2. B.J. Upton: Upton is back in his 2nd game with the Rays this season and he showed why the fans have been missing him. He made a great catch in the 4th inning, possibly preventing a threat by the Twins. Upton’s biggest moment came when he singled in the 6th inning, scoring 2 RBIs (though 3 runners scored, the last one was due to an error). Upton had 2 singles, 1 walk, and 2 RBIs today. Before the game, he visited All Children’s Hospital to visit a boy name Dom. Though he did not hit a homerun in the game, Upton “came up with a pretty big hit” possibly winning the game for the Rays. I’m sure Dom is really proud of Upton today.

What I Liked:

  1. Everything: The starting pitcher was great, the relief pitcher was outstanding, the defense was amazing, the hitting was wonderful, and the crowd was large (over 31,000 braved the thunderstorm to support the Rays).

What I Didn’t Like:

  1. Catching: Jose Molina allowed a passed ball in the 2nd inning, allowing Josh Willingham to reach 3rd base (luckily no one scored). Also, Molina had an awful throw when he attempted to catch a runner stealing second. As Anderson said, he believed Molina was “being lazy.” I’ve seen catch Molina catch Carl Crawford stealing twice in one game so I know he is defensive. Hoping to see improvement as the year goes on.

Bobby Valentine’s Day Massacre

On April 20th, 2012 the Boston Red Sox celebrated Fenway Park’s 100th birthday. Over 200 former players, players, coaches, managers returned to Fenway Park to celebrate this special occasion; but after the game, no one except for the New York Yankees was smiling. After all, the Yankees just beat the Red Sox 6-2 on Fenway’s birthday. This was a much different outcome from what happened 100 years ago when the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Highlanders (renamed the Yankees). But that was 100 years ago; the Titanic sunk 100 years and things have changed a lot since then. Though in reality, most of the changes to the Red Sox happened within the past year.
A little more than a year ago, the Red Sox were predicted to win the A.L. East and the World Series after signing 1st baseman Adrian Gonzalez (7-year, $154 million) and outfielder Carl Crawford (7-year, $142 million). But due to injuries, pitching woes, lack of hitting, and the fact that money can’t buy everything, the Red Sox failed to live up to the expectations. Everyone knows how the Red Sox were 9 games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays in the beginning of September and failed to make it to the playoffs. Everyone knows how Red Sox manager Terry Francona was blamed for the loss and after being embarrassed by talks of family problems and pain medication addiction (leaked from someone within the Red Sox organization), he retired from coaching. And everyone knows that the Red Sox pitchers ate fried chicken and drank beer during games that they were not pitching. But no one knew what was going to happen to the Red Sox in 2012. Would they be able to rebuild Red Sox Nation or burn it even farther into the ground?
Well so far, Red Sox Nation is still not in business. The Red Sox started the season with a few injuries, including Crawford (recovering from left wrist surgery and inflammation in the left shoulder), and pitchers John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Then in the 2nd week of the season, Jacoby Ellsbury slid into Rays’ player Reid Brignac in an attempt to break up a double-play. He might be out with a shoulder injury until June. Besides the injuries, the Red Sox have not been off to a great start on the road. In the first series against the Detroit Tigers, the Red Sox lost all the games, including a 10-0 lost and a 13-12 lost in extra innings. In Toronto, the Red Sox lost 2 games to the Blue Jays and in Texas, the Red Sox lost 18-3 against the Rangers. Thus, it was not surprising when the Red Sox returned home that some of the Red Sox were actually booed by their fans (new manager Bobby Valentine and pitcher Josh Beckett).
The home opener brought hope to the Red Sox after they beat the Rays 3 out of 4 games, only losing the game on Patriot’s Day. Their 3-game winning spree was overshadowed by Valentine’s comments about Kevin Youkilis. On Sunday, Valentine said that Youkilis was not as emotionally or physically into the game as he used to be. Youkilis confronted the new manager, who apologized, and fellow teammate Dustin Pedroia told the media that he and the team has Youkilis’ back. Already, Valentine was creating enemies with the fans and players.
On Fenway Park’s 100th birthday, the Red Sox lost to the Yankees 6-2. Though it was embarrassing for the Red Sox, it only got worse on Saturday. The day after the big celebration, the Red Sox were seeking revenge against the Yankees. After 5 innings of baseball, the Red Sox were winning 9-0. After a single homerun by Mark Teixeira in the 6th, the Red Sox were still winning 9-1 when the Yankees entered the 7th inning. Red Sox relief pitcher Vicente Padilla managed to load the bases and gave up a grand slam to Nick Swisher. The next relief pitcher Matt Albers gave up a 3-run homer to Teixeria. After the 7th inning, the Yankees had scored 7 runs and now the Red Sox only led 9-8. In the 8th inning, the Yankees managed to score 7 more runs. Somehow, the Red Sox bullpen managed to give up 14 runs in 2 innings!
So what is going to happened to the Boston Red Sox? Well since September of last year, they have lost 28 out of 39 games. They are currently in last place in the A.L. East and the only team worse than them in the A.L. is the Kansas City Royals. Youkilis left today’s game with some kind of soreness, further adding to the injury problems for Boston. The Red Sox starters currently have a 6.15 ERA, one of the worst in baseball. Let’s just say no one in Boston will be singing “Sweet Caroline” for a while.

Errors prove costly as Rays lose to Jays

The A.L. East isn’t boasting impressive win numbers from any of its five members like the other divisions, but that is because all the A.L. East teams have been playing each other; every single team is a threat. In a division that usually only saw action from the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees for numerous years, it is exciting to see that every team is now a threat. The Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays, and the Toronto Blue Jays are also viewing the A.L. East Title this year.
Today the Rays headed up North to do battle with the power-hitting Jays. It was already in the Jays’ favor since lefty Ricky Romero was pitching (and we know how well the Rays hit off of left-handed pitchers).The game didn’t start out well when Carlos Pena singled, but got caught stretching at second; not sure why he wanted to test Jose Bautista’s arm. Bautista quickly demonstrated his power by hitting a towering homerun a few minutes later in the bottom of the 1st inning.
In the 3rd inning, J.P. Arencibia was safe at first on an error by Evan Longoria – no seriously, Longoria made an error. In Longoria’s defense, it was a hard hit ball and Arencibia would have probably been safe on first anyways; but then the game got weird. Yunel Escobar hit into what should have been a double play, but Longoria mishandled the ball so all players were safe. Yes, you read that correctly; Longoria made two back-to-back errors. The next batter, Kelly Johnson, hit into a fielder’s choice, making the first out (and what should have been the final out). To the horror of everyone, Bautista was up at bat and hit a sac fly, scoring Arencibia. Adam Lind, another power hitter, showed why he should also be feared by hitting a 2-run homer. The Jays now led 4-0; 3 runs were unearned.
Now the Rays’ offense wasn’t doing much; there were a few walks and hits, but no threats. In my opinion, Ricky Romero is a good pitcher BUT he was not throwing 100 fast ball strikes. In fact, many Rays were swinging at balls. The Rays finally scored a run in the 6th after Reid Brignac singled, scoring Matt Joyce and then Chris Gimenez singled, scoring Sean Rodriquez. Now the inning turned sour after Desmond Jennings bunted, getting out at first base. Jennings had a good weekend so I was surprised to see him bunt after Romero showed signs of falling apart. It was probably to prevent a double-play, but Jennings is quick enough to prevent double-play balls so not sure why he had to bunt there. Carlos Pena ended the inning by striking out. The Rays should have scored more runs in that inning since who knows when the Rays would have a chance like that to score numerous runs. In the bottom of the 6th inning, Jeff Niemann walked Bautista, causing Joe Maddon to make a call to the bullpen. J.P. Howell pitched, but after throwing a wild pitch and walking the batter, Brandon Gomes was called in to get the job done. Gomes got the Edwin Encarnacion out, but Eric Thames reached first and Bautista scored due to a throwing error by Longoria. Longoria made 3 errors tonight, which led to 4 runs scored by the Jays.
In the 7th inning, Matt Joyce hit a homerun, but that would be it for the Rays. The Jays scored another run in the 7th. In the 8th, Pena reached base by bunting, then Luke Scott walked. So the Rays had 2 on, 1 out with Ben Zobrist and Matt Joyce coming to the plate. This would be the last Rays’ threat and it would end with both batters striking out. In the 8th, Brett Lawrie hit a homerun off of Burke Badenhop. Jays now led 7-3.
Player of the Game: The Texas Rangers for beating the Boston Red Sox 18-3. The Red Sox had recently beaten the Rays badly and had gained ground in the A.L. East; now they are the only team the Ray are ahead of. The Rangers had six homeruns in the game; 3 of those were in the 8th inning.

What I Liked:

  1. Matt Joyce: Joyce hit a homerun, scoring run #3 today. He went 2-for-4 today (against a lefty), so its good seeing him making hits. Joyce had an amazing beginning 2011 season and it would be lovely if he could come through again this year with the big hits.
  2. Reid Brignac: Brignac didn’t do much hitting last year and hasn’t been batting too much this year, so it was very important for Brignac to gain self-confidence by having important hits. Today, he scored the first RBI and kept the 5th inning going. He went 1-2 today.
  3. Pitchers: Yes, the pitchers weren’t pitching like Justin Verlander, but there were some things I liked. Jeff Niemann had some good pitching combinations and only made two really bad pitches; the pitches just happened to be to power hitters Bautista and Lind. The problem was the high pitch count; though he had to make extra throws due to Longoria’s errors. Brandon Gomes, who was just called up yesterday, made important throws to kill a Jays’ threat (though an error caused by Longoria led to a run being scored).
  4. Carlos Pena: Carlos Pena went 3-for-4 and is batting .390 so far this season. He got 2 hits by bunting against the shift twice tonight.

What I didn’t like:

  1. Errors: Evan Longoria made 3 errors in tonight’s game, which led to 4 of the Jays runs (officially it was 2 un-earned runs, but I think the other two were scored also due to errors). Longoria is a gold-glove, so it is very surprising to see him commit so many errors tonight. Longoria also went 1-for-4; as one announcer said, he’s “playing angry.” Longoria was trying too hard to hit a homerun, which led to him striking out. I’ll be surprised if Longoria scored another error this year; it is no argument, he’s the best 3rd baseman in the A.L.
  2.  Pitching: Jeff Niemann’s bad pitches ended up resulting in homeruns. Brandon Gomes looked a little shaky; J.P. Howell walked and had a wild pitch. Jake McGee allowed run #6 and Burke Bandenhop allowed run #7. The Rays have allowed 29 runs in 7th inning, the most in MLB.
  3. Lack of runs…again. The Rays only scored 3 runs, which is not much considered that the Blue Jays are known for hitting homeruns. The Rays are not going to win games by scoring three runs; just tonight the Rangers scored 18, the Red Sox scored 3, the Orioles scored 3, and the Yankees scored 8. If the Rays want to beat teams, they need to score more than 3 runs. Also, the Rays have been outscored 18-0 in the 8th inning; in the old days, that was the only inning they would score in. All Rays’ fans know that the Rays don’t start hitting until the 7th inning, but this hasn’t happened this year. Today, the Rays went 2-for-10 with RISP.

I predict that the Rays will win tomorrow; Evan Longoria and David Price will come through.

J.P. Howell #74

J.P. Howell is a 28-year-old left-handed pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays. Howell was traded by the Kansas City Royals to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in June 2006. Howell made a few starts in 2006 due to starting pitcher Scott Kazmir spending time on the DL and a few starts in 2007 whenever a starter was hurt, but in 2008 he made the opening day roster in the bullpen. He became the first lefty to lead the majors in relief since 1997 and he ranked 9th among A.L. relievers with a 2.22 ERA. Howell did not allow a run in 11 outings in September; he was very vital to the Rays first playoff appearance that season. In 2009, Howell continued his success; 69 appearances, 7 wins, and 17 saves. He became the primary closer after Troy Percival was sent to the DL in May. Even though the 2009 season wasn’t that great (The Rays failed to make the playoffs), Howell was very dependable. So dependable that I stupidly said “I would trust him with my life.” A second later, he gave up a homerun on August 7th in Seattle. Howell was never the same and had a shoulder-injury, missing all of the 2010 season. Though I may have jinxed him, it is also possible that his arm/shoulder was blown due to overuse in the bullpen in 2009.
Howell returned on May 20th and threw a scoreless inning, but he was not the same. In fact, he seemed to give up a homerun whenever he pitched. It was just plain ugly and sad whenever he pitched. In 2012, Howell made his first appearance against the New York Yankees on opening day. He pitched in the 6th inning, getting the two Yankees to pop out. He made another appearance against the Detroit Tigers, relieving Jeff Niemann. Howell was able to get all three batters out, due to one runner stretching a single. In Howell’s last appearance, which was against the Red Sox, he relieved Badenhop and allowed two doubles, a single, and walk, allowing 2 runs; he managed to get the last two players out. Howell looks much better this year and hopefully will be the pitcher he was in 2008 & 2009.

James Shields ruins Patriot Day for Boston Red Sox

Boston Red Sox fans whipped out their brooms Monday morning, anticipating a 4-game sweep over the Tampa Bay Rays. Too their dismay, James Shields showed up, ready to “stop the bleeding.” Shields pitched 81/3 innings in the Rays’ 1-0 victory over the Red Sox. The only concern about Shields was in the 1st inning when it took him 18 pitches to get out of the inning.  In the 2nd inning, Ben Zobrist was hit and Jeff Keppinger walked; with 2 outs and 2 on Jose Molina came up to bat. Sadly, Molina was robbed by a great catch by Ryan Sweeney in right field. In the 2nd inning, the Red Sox had a man on third but Shields was able to play defense and help Carlos Pena get Nick Punto out.

In the 3rd inning, the Rays had another chance to take the lead. After Sean Rodriquez struck out, Desmond Jennings walked then stole second. Pena and Evan Longoria were up next but both ended up striking out. In the 4th inning, Ben Zobrist walked then made it to second on Matt Joyce’s single, but Keppinger hit into a double play, once again ending a Rays’ threat. Meanwhile, Shields continued to keep the Red Sox at bay, preventing the Red Sox from getting men on base.

In the 7th, the Rays scored the only run in the game; what is  impressive was that it was on two outs. Rodriquez walked, Jennings singled, and Pena walked on four pitches. It was looking as though Daniel Bard was falling apart. But to the surprise of many, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine kept Bard in. In Valentine’s defense, Longoria had chased some balls and struck out twice. This time though, Longoria learned from his mistake and walked to first, scoring Rodriquez. Valentine was booed when he went back to the dugout after lifting Bard for Justin Thomas. Valentine later admitted it was a poor decision to leave Bard in.

Red Sox were ready to answer back in the 7th after Cody Ross singled on one out, but Sweeney struck out and Molina caught Ross stealing second. It was a beautiful sight, seeing Molina and Reid Brignac teaming up to catch a runner. The Rays had another chance to add more runs in the 9th inning, but failed. Luckily, the one run was all the pitching staff would need. In the 9th, Shields was able to get Mike Aviles to ground out but he walked Dustin Pedroia. Manager Joe Maddon made the call to the bullpen, allowing Fernando Rodney to enter the game for possibly his 4th save this year. Rodney was able to get Adrian Gonzalez to ground out and then he intentionally walked David Ortiz. Meanwhile, the Red Sox fans sang “Rod-ney” over and over – I didn’t get it. The hopes of the Red Sox winning the game all came down upon batter Cody Ross. Ross, after being called out on strike three, slammed his helmet on the ground and argued with home-plate umpire Larry Vanover. Aww, poor Red Sox, something didn’t go their way. That had to be the first ball-called-strike I have ever seen in favor of the Rays. With this Rays victory, Joe Maddon received his 500th win as a manager with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Player of the Game: James Shields. Shields was on his A-game for the second start in a row. He kept his cool throughout the game, dodged several broken bats, and even played defense in the infield. Shields looked confidant and made it look easy to pitch to the Red Sox. Before today’s game, Shields was 1-9 at Fenway Park, but the Rays usually scored 2.6 runs in his starts there. Today, he was able to win the game with only 1 run. It’s a great sign seeing the starting pitcher pitch like an ace and hopefully the rest of the rotation will follow his example.

What I Like:

  1. Pitching: James Shields and Fernando Rodney both pitched an amazing game. So far this year, the pitching has not been too special, especially since the pitchers had walked an American League high of 42 walks and had allowed a MLB high 57 runs. Before today’s game, the Rays’ pitchers had an ERA of 6.75, the highest it has been since April 2007. The Rays have one, if not the best, starting rotations in baseball so it was important for them to get back on track. Shields pitched 81/3  innings and dispersed 4 hits while Rodney has been 4-for-4 so far. .
  2. Stolen Bases: Desmond Jennings stole a base in the beginning of the game; the Rays had gone 7 games with a stolen base. Rays are known for their baserunning, so hopefully once B.J. Upton returns; there will be more stolen bases.
  3. Catching Runners: In the 7th inning, catcher Jose Molina threw the ball to Reid Brignac who tagged the Red Sox baserunner out. For the last couple of years, it was known that the Rays could steal bases, but had trouble catching base runners. It had been 123 games since Rays’ last strikeout-caught stealing double play. It was one May 24th, 2011 against Detroit; it was between pitcher Wade Davis and catcher John Jaso.

What I Didn’t Like:

  1. RISP: The Rays have been hitting, but they do not seem to hit when there are baserunners. In fact, they bat around .126 when there are baserunners. Today (around the 6th inning) the Rays were in a 6-for-47 (.128) slump with RISP going back to the 9th inning of Wednesday’s game against Detroit. There were 11 runners stranded today; if the Red Sox had scored 2 runs, they would of won the game and each of these stranded runners would have come back to haunt the Rays. Today the Rays were 0-7 for RISP. This was the 16th 1-0 win in Rays’ history. I am really happy they won, but the starting pitchers (especially Shields) needs more run support.

Random Facts:

  • The Rays are 3-0 when playing the Red Sox on Patriot’s Day.
  • Republican President Nominee Mitt Romney and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft were both in attendance in the game. I don’t care for either, so it was an added bonus to have both men watch their baseball team lose to the Rays.
  • Before Mondays game, the Rays were under .500 for the first time since last April.
  • Ben Zobrist has played 246 career starts in outfield without an error, most of any active MLB player at the moment.
  • Before today’s game, Rays were being outscored 31-11 by the Red Sox.

News

  1. Evan Longoria is excited to play a night game; after playing 8 straight day games. The Rays went 3-5.
  2. Alex Cobb was sent back down while Brandon Gomes call up.

Trouble Brewing in Boston

The Boston Red Sox should be celebrating; after all, they ended an early season disaster by winning 3 out of 4 games against A.L. East rivals the Tampa Bay Rays. Instead, they are questioning the odd comments from their new manager, Bobby Valentine. On Sunday morning at his weekly interview at WHDH-TV’s Sports Xtra, Valentine was asked about Kevin Youkilis. Youkilis is off to another slow start after having his worst career year in 2011, one that was plagued by injuries. Youkilis is currently batting .200 with 8 strike outs, 3 RBIs, and 6 hits. Valentine said “I don’t think he’s as physically or emotionally into the game as he has been in the past for some reason. But (on Saturday) it seemed, you know, he’s seeing the ball well, got those two walks, got his on-base percentage up higher than his batting average, which is always a good thing, and he’ll move on from there.” It was strange of Valentine to question Youkilis’ emotions since at time he seems to be too emotionally involved in the game; practically dancing at his at-bats and throwing helmets in anger. Also, the interview did not help Valentine gain new fans. Valentine was already booed on opening day at Fenway Park due to the Red Sox’s slow start. When the interview aired Sunday night, baseball fans all over the country began to question why a new manager would bad mouth one of the Red Sox’s star players.
On Monday morning, Youkilis confronted Valentine about his comments. This actually surprised Valentine, he was just expecting Youkilis to update him about his groin injury (Youkilis would miss Monday’s game because of a minor groin injury). What exactly was said we may never know, but Valentine claims he apologized, though he does not know if Youkilis accepted his apology. Valentine attempted to explain his bizarre comment before Monday’s game, saying “I should have been more specific. Physical is about your swing, emotional is about not being happy when he doesn’t hit a ball off the wall,” but no one is buying it. Some have theorized that Valentine is attempting to unite the Red Sox as a family. Dustin Pedroia stated that he is confused by Valentine’s comments, but he and the rest of the team have Youkilis’ back. It is no secret that the Red Sox clubhouse has had an adverse feeling since there was at least one rat in the bunch telling secrets to the media last fall. Valentine could also have been attempting to motivate Youkilis, but the real reason why Valentine would throw Youkilis under the bus is still a mystery. Criticizing a player is a strange way to build a family.

On Monday, Terry Francona, former Red Sox manager and current ESPN analyst, was asked about his experience with Youkilis. Francona says at first, the Red Sox organization thought Youkilis was too emotional and they tried to calm him down, but they realized that was just who he was. Though he sometimes went back to the dugout and threw a helmet down in anger, he quickly moved on from his bad at-bat. Francona also commented that each manager is different and has his own way of handling things. I bet the Red Sox players are regretting all the chicken they ate and all the beer they drank since their poor sportsmanship helped kick Francona out of Boston. Valentine is no Francona as the Red Sox players are realizing. The Red Sox players were already worried that Bobby Valentine would make “it all about Bobby,” since he is known for making odd comments. Now they have to worry which player will be publicly criticized. Though Valentine tried to do damage control by explaining he just meant to talk about Youkilis’ batting, he pretty much lost all the Red Sox fans that he gained by beating the Rays. Valentine could either help unite the Red Sox by leading them to the playoffs, or he could tear Red Sox nation down either further by creating a hostile environment.
Quotes are from Sports Illustrated 

 

Matt Moore Fails to Limit Red Sox Damage

The game has just started and already the Red Sox have taken the lead (3-0). Since it is only the 2nd inning, I am nervous to see what is going to happen in the 8th inning. This is Matt Moore’s third career start for the Rays and he is not showing his best stuff out there. Moore had no trouble in the 1st inning but in the 2nd he allowed Kevin Youkilis to single, David Ortiz to double, and Cody Ross to hit a 3-run homer. The Rays attempted to answer back in the 3rd, but luck was not on their side. After Matt Joyce singled, Desmond Jennings hit a ground-rule double because the baseball skipped over the back wall. If the ball had stayed in, Joyce would have scored a run. Instead, Joyce was stuck on third. Power hitters Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena failed to hit a sac-fly, stranding the two players in scoring position (a common pattern in this game).

In the 4th inning, Jeff Keppinger hit a ball (that barely stayed foul) that hoped the wall, making it another ground ruled double. So the Rays have the leadoff man on – can anyone guess what happens next? If you guessed that they left him stranded, you are actually wrong. What actually happened was after the next two Rays batters got out, Sean Rodriquez got a hit; but Keppinger misread the ball and got stuck between third and home, being tagged for the out. The Game got interesting, for the Red Sox, in the 4th inning after Ortiz singled, Ross walked, and Kelly Shoppach doubled. Luckily, even though Longoria dropped the ball, he recovered and threw the ball to Chris Gimenez (catcher called up yesterday), who tagged Ross out at home. The score was now 4-0.

In the top of the 5th, Gimenez singled as did Desmond Jennings. Pena looked as though he hit a homerun, but it went right over the foul pole. He came through, hitting a double and scoring 2 runs. Longoria hit a ground rule double, scoring Pena. The score was now 4-3, in favor of the Red Sox. Moore quickly got rid of the next 3 Red Sox batters, bringing the Rays back to the plate with momentum on their side. Luke Scott, who badmouthed Fenway earlier this week, hit a homerun, tying the game and kicking the Boston pitcher Felix Doubront out of the game. Sean Rodriquez and Matt Joyce reached base, but Gimenez attempted to bunt. It was the ugliest bunting attempt ever; he looked awkward and was trying to bunt balls that were outside the strike zone. I have no idea why he was being told to bunt and I believe it helped kill the Rays’ momentum. Jennings and Pena were the next two outs, stranding the two runners on base. This would come back to haunt the Rays after Moore walked Youkils and allowed Ortiz to double; Red Sox now led 5-4. (Why anyone would throw a fast-ball down the middle to a power hitter is beyond me).

Cody Ross and Kelly Shoppach were intentionally walked. At this moment, a little of me died inside at the thought that Shoppach is actually a threat to the Rays. Moore survived the inning after almost walking a run in, but now the Rays had to hurry and score some runs if they wanted to split the series.  In the 7th Mike Aviles hit a homerun, making the score 6-4. Jose Peralta was then put into the game and managed to get Youkilis and Ortiz out. This is a good sign since Peralta hasn’t looked too hot this year due to not playing winter ball during the offseason. In the 8th, Jose Molina and Gimenez both singled, but Jennings and Pena failed to bring them in. Fernando Rodney pitched the 8th, getting three quick outs on 6 pitches. The Rays lost 6-4.

Player of the Game:

  • Power Hitters: Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria, and Luke Scott all had RBIs today. Its great to see that Pena is continuing his hot start, Longoria is hitting again at Fenway, and that Scott is acting like a DH and hitting homeruns. They were the only players to have RBIs.
  • Bullpen: Joel Peralta and Fernando Rodney did their job and got the last five batters out quickly.  After a bullpen that has recently allowed 28 runs in 20 innings, this was an amazing feat.

What I like:

  1. Hitting: Rays were actually hitting today; every player but Ben Zobrist had a hit today. Desmond Jennings, Sean Rodriquez, and Chris Gimenez each had two hits. There was a total of 13 hits today.
  2. Bullpen: Bullpen did not allow 8 runs in the 8th; in fact, there was not even a threat in the 8th thanks to Fernando Rodney.

What I didn’t like:

  1. Matt Moore: This is only Moore’s third career start and he did last to the 7th inning, but he also allowed 6 runs. He kept throwing fast balls right down the middle to the power hitters and seemed to lack variety in his pitches. Moore has ALOT of potential, but so far this year I have not seen the Moore from 2011.
  2. Hitting: Though the Rays actually hit the ball today, they had 13 hits and only 4 runs. They left 10 on base. It is the same old story; the Rays failed GTMI: Get The Man In.
  3. I still can’t believe the Rays lost a series to the Red Sox…

Alex Cobb #53

After the recent bullpen troubles, the Tampa Bay Rays decided to call up pitcher Alex Cobb on April 14th, 2012. Cobb is a 24 year-old right-handed pitcher from Boston who was drafted in 2006 by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In 2010, he was named Most Valuable Player in Double-A Montgomery. In 2011, Cobb made his first major league appearance on May 1st, 2011, but earned a no-decision after allowing 5 runs. He was quickly sent back down, but was recalled up a few weeks later after the Rays sent starter Andy Sonnanstine to the bullpen. He pitched on May 30th and made 4 starts, before being sent down on June 18th. He was called up again on July 18th due to starters Jeff Niemann and Wade Davis spending time on the DL and because the Rays were using a 6-starter rotation. Cobb was with the Rays until he underwent a season ending surgery in August to remove a blood clot around one of his ribs. He was given an American bulldog named Axel after his surgery. With the Rays in 2011, his record was 3-2 and his ERA was 3.42.

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