Rays from across the pond

Success, according to MLB Advanced Media

2009-04-07T10:06:00.001+01:00

A little update for y'all, after yesterday's catastrophe of an opening night. Mark Newman's article is now updated a little, under the title: "MLB.TV, season off to flying starts".

Yeah.

Now, maybe I'm judging harshly. So, to be fair, here is a random selection from the dozens of comments on that article:

"I am very disgusted with what I am getting from this today. If Opening Day
is an indication of what this year is going to be like, we are screwed. MLB
should b much better at this."

"my reception kept freezing the pictures at crucial times during the
mets reds game. very diappointed. same thing happening during the yankee oriole
game on now!! what's the problem??"

"I don't think MLB is paying any attention to the problems. On the
"help" blog, the responses they give all sound like canned answers that are very
basic and do not address the real issues people are having. The problem is NOT
in our sets, it's on their end whether they want to admit it or not."

"Maybe some of these deep pocketed executives can come and tell my 12
year old son why he can't watch his favorite team. WHAT A SCAM!!"

"12:05 and I'm still getting errors. . . . clearly they are having
serious technical difficulties. You know what would make it less annoying?
Freaking admit it. Put a message up acknowledging the problems and apologizing.
Instead I look to see what the heck is happening and I find this article on how
awesome they say they are. It's an insult to those of us who have paid a bunch
of money to not be able to watch opening day."

"I've been an MLB.tv subscriber since they first launched the service
years ago. Today was one of the very few times I have been unable to watch a
game -- the Texas / Cleveland feed was down almost the entire game."

Ok, there are a few (a very few) positive comments. But this article is just the tip of the iceberg. There are comments galore on the MLB.tv blog, and the support forums are almost overflowing with complaints and problems. With the usual reply being along the lines of, "its your hardware". Um, no it isn't. Its your problem.

Its your problem, and it needs sorting. And it needs apologising for. It doesn't need a bragging article, front and centre on the MLB.com homepage, slapping yourself on the back for your service. That is arrogant beyond belief, and an insult to every single customer who hasn't received the service that they paid a lot of money for you.

An MLB.tv joke

2009-04-06T21:41:00.006+01:00

From past/present MLBloggers' erstwhile friend Mark Newman, in his annual "news" article on MLB.com selling MLB.tv:

Opening Day is a time for the players to step up and perform for real, and
the same is expected of the best technology in sports today. MLB.TV Premium has
gone through its own Spring Training, being carefully fine-tuned with the
assistance of the many fans who beta-tested it beginning with the World Baseball
Classic and on through Grapefruit and Cactus League exhibitions. Major League
Baseball Advanced Media developed this amazing technology with the fans and for
the fans, allowing them to follow the live action in a fashion previously
unimagined.

MLB.TV Premium is available for $109.99 for the entire year, a $10 drop
from 2008 despite multiple upgrades in features, quality and performance.
Highlights include dazzling HD picture quality (where HD is available), adaptive
bit-rate determination to ensure clarity along with manual override capability;
home and away broadcasts allowing you to choose which team's broadcast you
watch; a Live Radio Option that allow you to choose between TV or radio booth
feeds; a live game DVR and jump-to-inning navigation; picture-in-picture, which
will be huge when you need to follow other games that impact your team's pennant
race; a built-in live scoreboard of the day's games; game summaries and box
score widgets; full-screen and multi-view switching; a user preference setting
that can show/hide score spoilers; archived games and more.

Yeah.

Last year, with the standard Media Player, I could comfortably stream the highest quality video with virtually no buffering issues or freezing. The picture quality could only be described as excellent.

Today?

Judge for yourselves.

Not only is that terrible quality - I mean it is back to the 400k days from 3 or 4 years ago - but its not even streaming smoothly. It just freezes constantly. Right now I am listening to the voiceover from some advert while looking at a freeze of Jeremy Guthrie.

Some two or three weeks ago (shockingly my last post!) I pondered on the potential problems of MLB.tv's much heralded new player. Judging from the support blog and support forums reactions, my worst fears have been realised on a rather large scale.

And the support being offered? A joke. "Try rebooting your modem." "What graphics card do you have?" "Try reinstalling NextDef." Ha. If only. You can reinstall NextDef to your heart's content, and you still won't be able to access the Hi Def feed. Not that it would stream if you could.

I don't, by any means, claim to be a computer expert, but I know enough. I know that this problem is not at my end - however much the support team wish to make us believe that it is so.

This is a spectacular failure on MLB Advanced Media's part. Trying to launch what is a potentially excellent player with massively limited testing, and with no option of using the tried and tested old player as a backup for when the inevitable happens. Instead, I cannot watch baseball at the moment. I cannot get the product that I paid for. And I am not the only one.

MLB.tv is the only way that I can watch baseball. For that opportunity, I am thankful. But I paid a lot of money. And I am not receiving the product as advertised. Hell, right now I am not receiving any product at all.

That is totally unacceptable.

And while me ranting may not achieve anything - it won't miraculously fix the problem, and I highly doubt that it will get me any form of compensation, it will make me feel better. And to that end, I am going to go against my normal tendencies, and spread this blog post as widely as I possibly can.

Sort it out MLBAM. Sort out MLB.tv. Do it now. And apologise. Publicly and profusely. It is the very least you can do.

March means MLB.tv

2009-03-17T15:13:00.003Z

Pretty much every year since I've been blogging I've posted something around this time of year about MLB.tv. Usually, it has to be said, a complaint of some kind. You see, I have a sort of love-hate relationship with my main source of baseball action.

I'm sure that most people who have any kind of interaction with MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM) will understand what I mean. And while I am of course grateful to be able to watch hundreds of baseball games from thousands of miles away, this years post is, to some extent at least, another complaint.

I do feel that I should make clear though, that I love MLB.tv. I love the service it provides. I love being able to watch 162 Rays games. I love being able to watch the playoffs, spring training, the WBC and the all-star game. I love having baseball on demand whenever I feel like watching it. Last year, I upgraded from standard to premium, and it was worth every single penny. Or indeed cent. Improved video quality, and the much-needed ability to choose either the home or away TV feed simply made things even better.

The problem is, that all that brilliance and accessibility makes the small problems that do exist even more glaring. Take ad breaks. When MLB.tv first started (or at least when I first started using it) the feed simply played all the adverts, as shown on the local TV station. Fine, no problem with that whatsoever. But then MLBAM decided to cut away from the feed during ad breaks. Sometimes to show their own ads for MLB.com, and associated sponsors, and sometimes just to show a placeholder MLB.tv screen. Fine, that's ok too - I don't need to see ads for random car dealerships in Pinellas County. It is unlikely that I will be looking to purchase a used Chevy from South Florida anytime soon. But, to cut away from and back to the feed needs somebody to be concentrating on the game the whole time. Which, when there are 15 games (and 30 feeds) on offer, simply doesn't happen. I have lost count of the number of times when the feed doesn't cut back in to hear the start of the commentators conversations. Worse, I have lost count of the number of times where the feed doesn't cut back in time to see the first few pitches of an inning. I can even remember a couple of times when whole at-bats (and on one occasion an entire half inning) weren't transmitted to MLB.tv subscribers. That is quite simply unacceptable.

Then there are picture sizing issues. That was my theme last year. A move to an updated version of media player meant different zooming options were available - and that all broadcasts were presented in widescreen. A move that resulted in 90% of the games I watched last year not taking up anywhere near the whole of my computer monitor when I put them into fullscreen mode.

So, this year's complaint. The new player. First off, can I say for the record that from what I've seen so far it is going to be fantastic. Going to be.

Right now there are problems galore. Ok, so its only in Beta, but there is a huge amount of work to be done if it is to be fully up to speed for opening day. IF the picture quality truly gives stable, HD-level output, it will be brilliant. But right now the quality setting jumps all over the place for no apparent reason. IF the DVR functionality works properly, it will be truly awesome for anyone who actually has to do other things while the game is on. But right now, it isn't exactly ready. IF the multi-game and picture-in-picture options work, then it'll be great fun for keeping track on what's going on elsewhere. But right now, the viewing experience isn't even first rate with one solitary game available.

Now, there's still a couple of weeks until Opening Day, so I can only hope that these problems will be sorted. But here's the thing that has annoyed me, and it strikes me as typical of MLBAM's attitude to its users. This page advertises the subscription. I cannot see any mention that the player is still only in Beta mode. It looks to me as though it is up and running and ready to go.

And, hold on a minute, why isn't it? I realise that it isn't possible to fully test its capabilities during the offseason - but surely, if MLBAM were planning to herald its features as a major part of their subscription drive, then they ought least to have been able to ensure that it could successfully broadcast a single feed at a sustained quality level? Its that kind of attitude that annoys me - the assumption that customers will be happy to be used as testers. I mean, I'd be renewing my subscription whatever, but what of the people who looked at that advert and thought, "ooh, hi-def and DVR on my computer? I'll have some of that!"? They'll shell out their money, and then find they've got to test out an unready product - at least for spring training, and potentially going into the regular season as well. Not exactly responsible business practice.

Anyhow, semi-coherent rant over. As I said, I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to watch baseball over the 'net. I just find the customer relations and cavalier attitude of MLBAM incredibly frustrating. Especially since they don't need to be. They have a fantastic product to sell. Be honest, be open, be truthful. Develop what they can, when they can. Test it, test it again, release it. The business will take care of itself - and you'll get easy, good press into the bargain. Not random postings across the internet complaining about your customer service. Maybe it's just me, but I think I'm talking sense.

Spring watch - 28/2-2/3

2009-03-03T12:12:00.005Z

As it turns out, I got home in plenty of time to watch the Rays-Phillies matchup on Saturday evening. And it turned out to be a bit of a slugfest at a breezy Bright House Field in Clearwater. Mitch Talbot - one of the outsiders for the rotation's fifth spot - was starting for the Rays, and suffered a rough first inning. He gave up five runs and three homeruns before getting out of it. Still, he came back and pitched a scoreless second and third, so it wasn't a total disaster for him.

Next up in the battle for rotation duties was Jason Hammel, starting against the Jays on Sunday. By all accounts he put himself to the front of the line with four scoreless innings (three hits allowed). Carlos Hernandez followed, but was hampered by some shaky defense - it looks like the Rays have been comitting more than their fair share of errors so far this spring. Not that I'm overly worried. Not yet, anyway.

Positive signs are coming from the few regulars who have been playing so far - CC belted two triples in Sunday's game, while Evan Longoria hit 3 doubles in 2 games over the weekend.

Yesterday, Wade Davis went to the hill for the second time this spring. He's the longest shot of all to make the rotation, but he had another fine outing anyway - 3 2/3 innings, no runs, just one hit allowed. The Rays won that one over the Cards, to move their spring record to 2-4, if that means anything at this point.

Story so far on the pitching - definitely looking good. The big four (Kaz, Shields, Garza and Sonnanstine) won't start pitching until the weekend, but the competition behind them is looking fierce. Right now, Jason Hammel is looking the favourite to get the nod, although it has been solid outings all round. I reckon we could well see Hammel take the fifth spot, with Jeff Niemann in the 'pen to start the year. Then we'll have Wade Davis, Mitch Talbot and David Price starting the year at AAA - I'd advise hitters looking to get their swing honed to avoid playing against Durham for the first month or so of the season!

Spring watch - 26/2

2009-02-27T09:12:00.006Z

I rushed home from work last night to catch the first televised Rays game of the spring - against the Yankees in Tampa. Missed the top of the first (which is fairly usual for weekday afternoon games), but caught the rest of what turned out to be the Rays' second straight loss to start the spring.

Best performance for the Rays by a distance was from Wade Davis, who was making the start. He mowed through two perfect innings against a strong Yankees team (Damon, Jeter, Teixeira, A-Rod, etc), picking up three strikeouts along the way. What with the plethora of choices that we have for the fifth spot in the rotation, its highly unlikely that Davis is going to be starting the season anywhere other than AAA. Still, its an encouraging start for him, and a great reminder to everyone that the pitching talent in the Rays' farm system isn't all about David Price.

Following Davis on the hill was Chad Orvella - a very welcome site following his struggles with injuries. He gave up a homer to Jorge Posada with his first pitch, but retired the next three batters in order. If Orvella can get fully healthy then its possible that he'll have an outside shot at making the 'pen. I was a big fan of his when he first broke into the majors, so it'll be interesting to see how what kind of shape he's in now.

At the plate there wasn't an awful lot going on for the Rays. They picked up their first run of the spring courtesy of an RBI-single from Jon Weber, but otherwise it was pretty quiet. The highlight play on defense was a terrific running catch by our late-inning centrefielder (who I'm reliably informed by the St Pete Times was Ray Sadler).

Still, despite the loss, it was good to see the Rays in action again (even if it meant watch the YES network's coverage...). Next live game is Saturday afternoon against the Phillies. I'll be at a Six Nations Rugby game, so not sure if I'll be able to see any live, or if I'll be watching on Sunday morning. Mitch Talbot will be starting that one for the Rays I think - another of the contenders for the rotation (Jeff Niemann is starting today). What with the good performances so far from Carlos Hernandez, Jason Hammel and now Davis, it's looking like it could be an interesting spring.

Spring back to (blogging) life

2009-02-24T13:13:00.002Z

Hmm. So, I was going to write something trying to justify not putting up a single post for over two months. I even started typing it. But let's face it. There is no possible justification for taking such a holiday right after your team wins a ridiculously improbable American League championship.

But hey-ho.

The dark months of winter have passed (well, February in Scotland is still firmly winter, but you know what I mean...), the American football season is over, and the (proper) football season in England is reaching its climax.

And yes, baseball is back.

In an odd way, I'm not quite excited yet as I normally am by the time Spring Training kicks into gear. I have a feeling its partly due to the fact that last year I was still watching baseball deep into October - a full month later than I've normally closed the book on the season. Then of course, there is the nagging fear - if that's the right word - of expectations. For possibly the first time ever as a Rays fan, I actually have some. I'm not really sure what to do with that. Frankly, while I know that I have some real expectations for the team this year, I'm not entirely sure what they are. A repeat AL title? Another win in the East? Just getting to the playoffs again? Being happy with challenging the hyper-spending Yankees and Red Sox? I don't know yet what I'd be happy with.

Anyway, as ever in baseball its been all-change over the winter in St Pete. For a start, the Rays aren't in St Pete at the moment - they're at their new spring home in Charlotte. Then there are the player comings and goings. In: Pat Burrell, Matt Joyce, Gabe Kapler, Brian Shouse, Joe Nelson. Out: Edwin Jackson, Eric Hinske, Cliff Floyd, Rocco Baldelli, Trever Miller, Jonny Gomes (sad face :-( ). Plus a few others in both columns. At some point I'll probably give my thoughts on the new faces, but here is a rather important one for starters - I really don't know that I'm comfortable having two outfielders called Gabe.

And since the last time I posted, Dewayne Staats has a new partner for the TV broadcasts. Not exactly a major news story in the grand scheme of things, but for someone who is limited to watching games on TV, it is important. I've already posted on the hard job that replacing Joe Magrane will be, and the man taking on the challenge is Kevin Kennedy. I've only read good things about him so far, so fingers crossed.

I haven't seen yet when the first Rays spring training game will be shown on MLB.tv - will have to check on that. Actually, just typing this has made me a bit more excited about seeing them in action again.

Excellent. Rays baseball 2009 is go.

Jackson for Joyce

2008-12-11T09:00:00.004Z

The Rays made their first major move of the offseason yesterday, bringing in outfielder Matt Joyce from the Tigers in exchange for Edwin Jackson.

I'm not totally up on Joyce - I imagine that I saw him play last season, but I can't really remember. From the numbers he looks like he had a pretty decent season, and the Rays are obviously keen on his power potential and defense in right. The impression I get is that while he'll compete for the starting job in '09, he may well be one for the future. I guess my one real surprise is that we've added another left-handed bat - we really could do with someone to hit from the other side!

Obviously losing Jackson is a bit of a shame. He had his best year ever this season, and finally looked as though he was working through his inconsistancy issues. I think that Detroit have picked up a good player there. Still, with the pitching depth that the Rays have, any trade was always likely to involve either him or Andy Sonnanstine. And while Jackson is probably the more talented, I think I'd rather lose him that Sonny - as I've said many times this year, Sonny just has a great knack for winning.

Jackson's departure also dramatically increases the likelihood that David Price will start the year in the Rays' rotation. Its not quite a done deal - Jeff Niemann, Mitch Talbot and Jason Hammel will have a shot as well - but I don't think it would be much of a surprise to see the big lefty win out.

Tampa Bay's other Joe

2008-11-20T08:45:00.004Z

Possibly the best thing about watching sports live is the connection you feel to the players. You can almost feel like you're part of the team. My current seats at Southampton football games (for when I am actually back down south) are no more than 10 yards from the edge of the pitch. When I shout, the players (and the referee/linesmen!) can hear. I mean sure, I know that they're not going to take any notice of me, but they can hear. And when you're that close, watching them all season long, you get to know them. Not in a personal, go and have a chat way, but you get a feel for their personality, their style - basically of who they are.

Its something you just don't get from watching on TV. And thats what I find sometimes about the Rays. As much as I love watching them, and as badly as I want them to do well, I don't have that connection to the team that comes with seeing them live.

The wonderful thing though about watching baseball on TV is that you can get a connection. Not to the players or the manager, but, thanks to local TV stations showing virtually every game, to the broadcasters. And for me - and no doubt many other Rays fans - that link has always been Todd Kalas, Dewayne Staats and Joe Magrane.

To me, they are as big a part of Rays baseball as anyone who puts on their glove and takes the field.

And as far as I'm concerned, not only are they Rays institutions, they're among the very best in the business.

Which is why I'm doubly saddened with the news announced earlier this week that in 2009, for the first time ever, Joe Magrane will not be calling the Rays.

Its sadness on an entirely selfish level of course - Joe has been hired by MLB network, a fantastic opportunity for him to put his outstanding analytical and personable skills to use in front of a far larger audience (potentially) than he has for Rays games. I'm sure he will do fantastically - he is a brilliant broadcaster - and I do of course wish him the best of luck.

But, at the risk of sounding incredibly cliched, it does make me want to cry out, "say it ain't so, Joe?"

I know from experience, from the time (a few months? It seems more) before MLB.tv offered both the home and away feed, that not all broadcasters are created equal. Some can be patronising, some can be ignorant and ill-informed, and some can be just downright annoying. But Dewayne Staats and Joe Magrane are none of those things. They are entertaining, informative and - something that is too easily overlooked - talk to the viewers, and not at them. I'm piling up the cliches at a rapid rate now, but watching the Rays with them is honestly like inviting a couple of friends into your house.

Now, as far as I know, the legend that is Dewayne Staats is staying on. As is "the strapping young lad" Todd Kalas. And no doubt a new man will come in, and in his own way be entertaining and informative. And we'll still have Staats' to guide us through the action.

But Rays baseball without Dewayne and Joe in the booth - well, for me at least, its never going to be the same again.

Joe's the boss

2008-11-13T08:48:00.004Z

One more piece of silverware for the Rays in this remarkable season. And the one that is, without question the most deserved. Ok, sure Evan Longoria was head and shoulders above the other rookies, and Carlos Pena was virtually automatic with the glove down at first base.

But if either of those two prizes had gone elsewhere, you could just about have understood it. I mean other first basemen played their position well, and other rookies did have good years. But the manager of the year award?

Well, there was nobody in baseball quite like Joe.

He took the Major League's biggest joke, and turned it into a confident, can-do, must-see team.

He took ten years of losing - and losing badly - and turned it into a World Series place.

He took the league's worst record, and turned it into top spot in the toughest division in baseball.

Joe Maddon of the Tampa Bay Rays, American League Manager of the Year.

I like how that sounds.

For once, I'm not going to ramble on about why he deserves it, and the miracles that he has performed for us this year. Instead, I'm going to quote this article from MLB.com by Mike Bauman. I don't think I could possibly put it any better:
This was the kind of managing job that not only deserves an award, but also merits a textbook. This was a life lesson on how to turn failure into triumph, and in a hurry. Yes, Maddon is the American League Manager of the Year, but even that may be something of an understatement.

Joe said before the season began that 9=8. And then went out and proved it. And you know what, now there is no argument that the boss who wears 70 is number 1.

Longo, meet ROY

2008-11-11T09:50:00.003Z

Ok, so not exactly surprising news, but it is exciting never-the-less. Tampa Bay have their first ever BBWAA award winner, and it is who else but Evan Longoria. He was named yesterday as the American League's first unanimous Rookie of the Year since 1997.

I hardly need to go over Evan's amazing stats, or indeed his intangibles. Suffice to say he has been the brightest spot in a whole sea of brightness for the Rays in 2008 and the award, for which he was favourite even before he had a major league at-bat, is massively well deserved. Even missing a month through injury, he still dominated all other rookies. And while I would want to take nothing away from the other rookies who received the second and third place votes - Alexei Ramirez, Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Aviles, Armando Galarraga, Joey Devine, Denard Span, Nick Blackburn, Joba Chamberlain and Brad Ziegler - they simply weren't in Evan's league in 2008. Mind you, nor were many established players.

I think it says something pretty special about Longo that, in his first season in the bigs, he has already been made the Rays' player rep by his teammates. If that doesn't say something about his maturity, and the shear respect that other players have for him, then I don't know what does.

Longo is a superstar. And long may that continue.

But for now Evan, enjoy the prize. You have certainly earned it.

Carlos is Golden

2008-11-07T09:38:00.002Z

And quite right too.

The firsts just keep on coming for the Rays, even after the season has ended - yesterday Carlos Pena claimed the first ever Gold Glove in Rays history for his outstanding work this year at first base. And although a lot of times the award seems to go to players who are not exactly known for their glovework (Rafael Palmeiro anyone?), Carlos is, in my mind, a truly deserving winner.

All year long, commentators from across the country have been describing Pena as "a Gold Glove-calibre" first baseman. Now they can describe him as a Gold Glover. Its not just the fielding he does himself, its the confidence that he gives to the other infielders. They know that if they can get the throw in his vicinity then, more often than not, he's going to dig it out and make the play. He has fantastic range, great hands, and can turn the 3-6-3 double play as well as anyone that I've ever seen. In short, its very well deserved.

And you know what, it could be the first of many for these Rays. I mean, look around the field and its hard to spot someone who doesn't have a chance of nabbing some gold in the future. Evan Longoria is as close to a dead-cert future winner as you will find, while CC is probably unlucky not to have one already. BJ Upton just needs to cut out a few sloppy plays, and he could get one, while Aki Iwamura must have been very close to winning in his first ever season at second. Hey, even Jason Bartlett and Dioner Navarro are above average defensively...

They're all heroes

2008-10-30T21:13:00.003Z

You know, the longer this season went on, the more I thought that I wasn't going to have to write this post. I thought that this was our year. I suppose, in many ways, it still has been our year.

But take nothing away from the Phillies. They played better than the Rays all through the World Series, and they are fully deserving of their championship. Well done Philadelphia. Perhaps we'll make it to a rematch next year.

To be honest, right from game one I wasn't quite as sure of a Rays win as I had been going in to it.

(And before you draw any conclusions, no that's not why I wasn't blogging - I've had a ridiculously busy couple of weeks. And that combined with staying up all through the night has meant that I probably couldn't have written a coherent sentence even if I did have time to... Truth be told I probably still won't get back to something like normal service for another week or so yet, and then you can expect a proper set of season reviews, as well as the much anticipated (by me at least!) RAPAs - the Rays from Across the Pond Awards).

As for the series - well, we didn't perform. We were out of form in pretty much every area, starting pitching, relief pitching, hitting and defense. And though we kept it close even through all that, you can't expect to win against a quality side like the Phillies if you're not playing at your best.

And it's true, that after the amazing first 173 games of this season, not ending the year as World Champions is a disappointment.

But I just want to think about that statement for a second. We can actually have a sense of disappointment that the Rays are not the Champions. The Tampa Bay Rays. A team that's highpoint in its whole existance before this season was winning 70 games.

What a year it has been.

And every single player that has pulled on a Rays uniform is a hero. What they have achieved, even having fallen short of the biggest prize, will not be forgotten quickly by anyone in Rays-world. By anyone in the baseball world come to that.

And even before I have the time to write a proper tribute to them all, I just wanted to take the opportunity to say that. These Rays have nothing to be disappointed about. They should feel only pride at what they have achieved. They have done the impossible. They have dispatched the Yankees and the Red Sox. They have won games that they never should have won, and won series that they never should have had a chance in. They have gone from nobodies to household names.

And more than any of that - they have put Tampa Bay on the baseball map.

Don't get me wrong, I would have liked the big one. But come February when pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training, the 2009 season will start and the defending American League Champions will have the word RAYS emblazoned on their chests.

I'll settle for that.

World Series

2008-10-22T19:51:00.003+01:00

Five hours from now.

Tropicana Field, St Petersburg, Florida.

First pitch of the 2008 MLB World Series.

Scott Kazmir.

Of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Unreal.

I am very, very excited right now. Not to mention incredibly nervous. But, 1am UK time, you can be certain that I will be in front of the TV watching a little bit of history being made. And hoping that these amazing Rays might just be able to make a little more.

Go Rays!!!

ALCS game 7 - American. League. Champions.

2008-10-20T12:37:00.005+01:00

Say it slowly.

Say it again.

Believe it.

The 2008 American League Champions are the Tampa Bay Rays.

Playing for the 2008 World Series title will be the Tampa Bay Rays.

Boston Red Sox 1 - Tampa Bay Rays 3

Seven outs away, and coasting to a five-game win, to a game 7 decider against the defending World Champion Red Sox. I cannot begin to tell you how nervous I was last night. As it turns out, I was far more nervous than anyone wearing a Rays uniform.

And you know what? After all they have done this year, that doesn't even surprise me anymore. They have taken on the best all year long, and they have never waivered and never faltered. They are unbelieveable.

And last night, no-one was more unbelieveable than Matt Garza. He gave up a homerun to the second batter of the game, and then nothing. He simply powered through the dangerous Boston lineup time and time again. He didn't allow another hit until the seventh inning. He left after 7+, having struck out 9 and given up just the two hits. It was a magnificent display of pitching under huge pressure. And nobody could possibly argue that he wasn't a worthy choice for the series MVP.

Garza's performance was just one of a littany of storybook tales that helped sned the Rays to their storybook World Series. The relief effort might have been even bigger. Dan Wheeler, JP Howell and Chad Bradford all pitched to a batter or two in the eighth, as Boston loaded the bases with two out and JD Drew coming to the plate. Who does Joe Maddon call from the 'pen? David Price. A 23-year-old rookie with just 5 regular season appearances. Crazy?

Nah. Because David Price was clearly the coolest man in the Trop. Slider, slider, fastball, fastball. JD Drew struck out, inning over. Price comes back out for the ninth. He walks the leadoff man, but again shows his remarkable calmness - strikeout, strikeout, ground ball. His first ever save. In game 7 of the American League Championship Series. This kid is something special.

So is Evan Longoria, whose impressive battling at-bat was responsible for tying the game up in the fourth. He fought off several pitches before flipping a pitch down the right field line for an RBI-double. And the way Garza was throwing, even against Jon Lester, only one team looked likely to win it.

Move on to the fifth, and Willy Aybar is on second. Rocco Baldelli comes to the plate with an 0-6 career mark against Lester. This is a Rays' fairytale right? Well then, how about a game-winning RBI for a long-tenured Ray who had earlier in the year been diagnosed with a condition that left him in a constant state of fatigue, and which meant that he wasn't certain whether he would ever play Major League Baseball again. Sounds good to me. Rocco slapped the ball into left for a single and Aybar came motoring around to score the go-ahead run.

Aybar has been a bit of a hero for the Rays this season as well, and he gave the team some breathing room in the seventh, going deep for the second time in the series..

And now the Rays are going to another series.

The World Series.

I'm not quite sure I can believe it.

ALCS games 5 & 6 - Sucked

2008-10-20T12:32:00.002+01:00

Tampa Bay Rays 7 - Boston Red Sox 8
Boston Red Sox 4 - Tampa Bay Rays 2

Ok, so a Boston comeback of some sort was almost inevitable. The manner of it was potentially devastating. I am honestly not sure that I could have faced writing about these two games - although that is not the reason I didn't. I was travelling back to Basingstoke on Friday, and out all day on Saturday and Sunday. I'm sure I will look back at these two games at some point, but for now lets just say that they sucked.

ALCS game 4 - Wow, just wow

2008-10-15T09:45:00.006+01:00

Tampa Bay Rays 13 - Boston Red Sox 4

I just don't know how we are doing this. I mean, I know this Rays team is good - very, very good - but still, this is the first ever postseason for most of them, and they're playing at Fenway against the been there, done that, got the t-shirt Red Sox. The defending World Champion Red Sox.

But man, are we playing some good baseball. And while the Sox are most definitely not out of it yet - their ALCS comebacks of recent years are still fresh in the memory - if we can carry on pitching, hitting and fielding like we have in the last few games, then there is no reason why the first pitch of the World Series couldn't be thrown at Tropicana Field. We need one win in the next three games to get there. That is a scary thought.

Now I am stupidly tired this morning (game finished at 4.18AM, I went to bed and set my alarm for 8AM...), but I don't care. Last night's game was totally worth it. Three hours and seven minutes of pure Rays-world joy.

It started in the top of the first. BJ Upton walked (and stole second), and Carlos Pena - who had homered in the ninth to round out game 3 - carried on where he had left off by drilling a Tim Wakefield floater the other way and into the Monster seats. That brought up the Rays' own monster, Evan Longoria, who promptly followed suit, relocating another pitch high above left field. The third consecutive game that Evan has homered in, and the fifth of his postseason. Setting a new record for a rookie. Have I mentioned before that Evan is quite good?

The Rays couldn't add any more in the first (although there was still time for Carl Crawford to double and steal third before Wakefield got out of it), but they didn't let their 2008 dominance of their (former!) nemesis end there. With 2 outs in the third, CC reached on an infield single, stole second, and then was able to jog home as Willy Aybar connected for his second homerun of the year off of Wakefield - again batting righthanded, and depositing the ball over the Monster and into the Boston night. That was all she wrote for Wakefield, and after allowing Dioner Navarro to single, his day was done - 2 2/3 innings, 3 HR, 5 runs.

Kevin Cash pulled a run back for Boston in the bottom of the inning with a solo homer, but the Rays just had to wait for the dynamic duo of Crawford and Aybar to come back to the plate to get that 5-run advantage back. That happened in the fifth, as Crawford drilled his second double of the night and was then singled home by Aybar.

One inning later, and the 5-run lead became a 10-run lead. Fernando Perez made the first and last outs of the inning, but everything in between turned to gold. Jason Bartlett tripled. Aki Iwamura walked. BJ Upton singled home Bartlett. Carlos Pena walked. Evan Longoria walked in Aki. Carl Crawford singled in Upton. Willy Aybar singled in Pena. And Dioner Navarro grounded, out scoring Longo. That's the way things have gone these first two games at Fenway. Blink and you risk missing a whole bunch of Rays runs. This team is (as are most) at its most dangerous when stringing good at-bats together. And boy have they done that in games 3 and 4.

The Rays scoring was completed in the eighth, by - guess who - Crawford and Aybar. After Pena walked to lead off the inning, CC tripled to right - his fifth hit of an extraordinary night. Considering that he missed the last month and a half on the regular season, and indeed prior to game 1 of the ALDS had not swung a bat in anger since early August, Carl has been nothing short of amazing. For the postseason, he is hitting .429 with 3 extra-base hits, 6 RBI and 5 steals. This is the Carl Crawford that is the envy of General Managers across the league. When CC is on, he makes things happen.

While CC's night may have been more running-intensive, Willy Aybar quietly put together a superb show of his own. He rounded out things with an RBI-single to score Crawford, taking his line for the night to 4-5, HR, 5 RBI. I think along with other Rays fans I can't say enough about Willy. I guess we were all quietly pleased when he got injured in early April, as it meant Evan arrived sooner than possibly expected, but since his return Aybar has been a key piece of this club. The super-sub extraordinaire. What a great (and unheralded) pick-up he was last winter. Just one in an ever-growing list by Andrew Friedman and the Rays' front office.

While the hitting spectacular was going on in the tops of the innings, in the bottoms Andy Sonnanstine was doing what he does best - winning. He pretty much coasted through the game. His final line was blotted by a couple of excuse-me runs late on when the game was already effectively over, but even so it is not to be sniffed at - 7 1/3 IP, 6 H, 4 R (3 ER), 1 BB, 2 K. And the big W. Trever Miller and Edwin Jackson got the final five outs, and that was that. I actually feel I should right more about Sonny, because he was excellent, but really there's not that much that you can say about him. He's just so understated, but so good with it. Through 6 innings (by which time the Rays had scored 11), he had given up just 2 hits, and had retired 12 straight. That's 12 straight Sox. Ok, so they're not hitting well at the moment, but that is impressive in any context.

Also impressive was the Rays defense. We actually committed three errors (the first of the entire postseason), but they were all excusable - Longoria was charged with two on a play he was trying to make whilst avoiding a flying piece of Jason Bay's bat, and BJ with one when he overran a ball late on. Upton was the star of the show in the field though, chasing down fly balls with ridiculous ease. You often hear commentators talking about his gliding stride, and sometimes it is hard to believe that he is moving fast. But watching him cover the ground in deep left-centre at Fenway, and you'd find it hard to believe that there is a better centrefielder anywhere in baseball. It was remarkable. And he topped it all off with a frankly un-human throw from against the wall in the triangle, all the way to Carlos Pena at first base as Jason Bay returned there following a deep fly out. It was amazing. Seriously, I have seen clean-up hitters hit line drives that aren't as straight, hard and true as that throw was.

So, that makes it 3 games to 1 in favour of Tampa Bay. One win needed with possibly three more to play. The feelings that I mentioned in anticipation of that first ever postseason game are back with avengance. Nervousness, impatience and excitement. I've got to believe that we can do it, that we can get to the World Series, but at the same time I know that the Red Sox have come back from here before. I know they could do it, I've just got to try and convince myself that we won't let them do it. It is not going to be easy.

Game 5 at Fenway is on Thursday night, and the Rays will be facing Dice-K again. A big improvement over game 1's hitting performance will be needed if we are to get a result. James Shields is scheduled to take the mound for Tampa Bay, but I have heard some reports that Joe Maddon may be tempted to go with Scott Kazmir instead. Kaz has a better track record than Shields at Fenway, and Shields would then be free to go in a potential game 6 at the Trop, where he frequently dominates. It'll be an interesting decision, but either way I know that they will be desperate to get the win. How sweet it would be to clinch the pennant at Fenway... But I'm not getting ahead of myself just yet.

Jonny Gomes rules

2008-10-14T19:26:00.003+01:00

Ok, so Jonny had a poor year at the plate. He got optioned down to Triple A in the summer, and didn't make much of an impact when he came back up in September.

But he has contributed as much to the Rays getting to where they are, 2 games to 1 up in the ALCS, as almost anybody. For what he has lacked with the bat, he has more than made up for with hustle, heart and determination. The whole feel-good factor began in Spring Training when Jonny sprinted half way across the field to stand up for his teammate, Aki Iwamura, when he was (almost brutally) taken out by the Yanks' Shelley Duncan. And he's been a big part of keeping it going ever since.

I've gone on plenty of times in the past about how Gomes is a great guy to have around the clubhouse, and I won't repeat that now. But I just wanted to highlight this story on ESPN, as another example of why he's a great player to have for the community as well. Jonny Gomes is one of the real good guys.

ALCS game 3 - You ain't never going to keep them down

2008-10-14T09:37:00.010+01:00

Tampa Bay Rays 9 - Boston Red Sox 1

I'm not even sure why I still get surprised at games like last night's. I mean, this is just what the 2008 Rays do. They take a situation where they're supposed to fold, supposed to be overwhelmed, and they come right out swinging their bats, making their pitches, and generally taking the game right to the opposition. And they keep winning. Its a crazy, crazy thing that these Rays have got going on.

With Jon Lester making the start for the Sox, the prospects for a Rays win weren't exactly promising. Not only had Lester not been beaten at Fenway since April, but he had never lost to the Rays (indeed, Boston had never lost a game to the Rays in which he pitched) and he was working on an impressive 20+ inning streak of postseason baseball without allowing an earned run.

But its the Rays. The 2008 Rays. So you can throw all that out the window.

It all started fairly innocuously. After a first inning that Lester sailed through 1-2-3, Evan Longoria led off the second with a walk. After CC struck out, Willy Aybar singled up the middle. Dioner Navarro stepped up, and watched as Jason Varitek failed to handle a fastball, allowing the runners to move up on the passed ball. Navvi then fought off a grounder to second, allowing Longoria, going on contact, to trot home without a throw. And just like that the Rays were on the board.

And an inning later, they were even more on the board. Jason Bartlett led off with a single (continuing his impressive hitting year against leftys), and Aki Iwamura followed with a double of the Green Monster. Runners on second and third, nobody out, BJ Upton comes to the plate. I think it would be fair to say that BJ has found his power swing. He connected in a big way, launching the ball clear over the Monster, over the seats, and into the car park across the road. Another postseason homerun - his fifth in seven games. When BJ is hitting well, he is as good as just about anyone.

Of course when you are looking for super-talented youngsters to compare Upton with, you should make sure you don't overlook his teammates. One of them in particular. Evan Longoria. And just to make sure that you don't, one out later Evan connected with a Jon Lester pitch of his own. It wasn't quite as mammoth a shot as Upton's, but it was still a no-doubter. Not only that, but it was perfectly placed, making a bee-line right into the hands of perhaps the only Rays fan sitting in the Monster seats. Ok, so he dropped it, but it was pretty good aim nonetheless. That makes it four playoff homers for Longo, tying Miguel Cabrera's rookie mark. Impressive.

Meanwhile, Matt Garza was quietly pitching beautifully for the Rays as he sailed through six scoreless innings. The biggest threat came in the second, when the Sox got runners on second and third with one out. Garza didn't get fazed, and came back, getting Varitek out on a perfectly placed called third strike, before retiring Cora on a fly out to Upton.

The score was still 5-0 Rays when Garza came out to start the seventh. Already at over 100 pitches, he allowed a walk and a single, finally leaving after 6+ innings, having given up 6 hits while striking out 5. JP Howell (Mr Clutch the Reliever) came in with the runners on first and third and nobody out. He gave up a sacrifice fly to right to Jacoby Ellsbury, but ended the threat right there, thanks to a beautiful double play ball against the dangerous Pedroia. Evan Longoria showed off just why he's going to win plenty of Gold Gloves in his career, making a running scoop and perfect throw to Aki at second, who then turned it as perfectly as ever.

Then the Rays, not content with what had become a four run lead, did what they do best. They came back again and kept on hitting. With Paul Byrd on in relief, Crawford and Aybar led off with back-to-back singles. Navvi followed with another grounder to second, but this time the throw came home and despite CC's best efforts Varitek held on to the ball and made the first out. Still, never mind, it merely set the stage for the feel-good moment of the entire postseason.

With two on and one out, up stepped Rocco Baldelli. A New Englander (he's from Rhode Island) and a Sox fan growing up, appearing in a playoff game at Fenway would have been huge enough. But having comeback from his myriad of injuries and illness, to even have a chance at being there is a testament to Rocco's unbelievable perserverence and dedication to playing the game. And he got his reward for all his hard-work in the biggest possible way. He turned on a pitch inside from Byrd and mashed it high above the Monster for a 3-run homer. Even Sox fans had to feel a little bit pleased for him. As for me, I couldn't be more delighted.

That made it 8-1, and in the top of the ninth Carlos Pena, probably feeling a little left out at all the homerun hitting, joined in the party himself. He went the other way, to deep left-centre, hitting his first longball of the postseason. After hitting 30-odd in the regular season, he must almost be wondering whats going on - he's trailing in the wake of Upton's 5 homers, despite the fact that BJ hit only 9 during the whole regular season. On the other hand, Pena put down a perfect bunt single in the fifth, and proceeded to steal second - his third swipe of the playoffs, putting him comfortably ahead of speedster BJ.

That blast rounded off the scoring for the Rays, while JP Howell coasted through the eighth and Edwin Jackson made his playoff debut with a scoreless ninth to wrap up the win, and edge the Rays ahead for the first time in the series, 2-1.

Game four is tonight, and has intrigue written all over it. Starting for the Rays will be Andy Sonnanstine, fresh off a quality effort in the ALDS clincher. He pitched fantastically against the Sox this year, so no doubt will be looking for similar results tonight. Going for Boston will be long-time Rays' nemesis Tim Wakefield. He's actually 0-2 against Tampa Bay this year, but still 19-5 for his career. I hope we can continue our recent success against him, but he's one of those guys (ie a knuckleballer!) who you just don't ever know what sort of form he's going to be in. Expect to see another funky lineup from Maddon, probably righty-heavy, and very possibly with our switch-hitters batting righty as well. Unusual maybe, but it worked last time out. Lets hope it does again.

ALCS game 2 - ...But they get up again

2008-10-13T10:31:00.003+01:00

Boston Red Sox 8 - Tampa Bay Rays 9 (11 innings)

The old football (soccer!) cliche says that it's a game of two halves. Judging by game 2, baseball may need to adopt it as well.

The game was almost ridiculous in its pattern. So much so that I don't really know where to start. I guess the best thing is to start at the beginning, but you have to understand that by the time the game finished, 5 hours and 27 minutes after Scott Kazmir threw the first pitch, I was already struggling to remember back to that first inning. A (sleep-deprived) day and a half later, and I'm still not that much clearer. But start at the beginning I shall.

Top of the First. 2-0 Red Sox.
Scotty K actually got off to an encouraging start. Unfortunately for him, the Red Sox had an at-bat with 2 outs. Actually they had several. And they score when there are two out. Kaz eventually got out of the inning with just 2 on the board, but after throwing 38 pitches.

Bottom of the First. 2-2.
Before the game, all the talk was about Evan Longoria's hitting slump. Evan turned 23 last week, but he has a maturity of someone who just turned 33. Pressure, what pressure? He promptly answers the nay-sayers by depositing a Josh Beckett offering over the fence in left for a two-run shot, his third of the postseason.

Inning Two. 2-2.
A scoreless inning!

Top of the Third. 3-2 Sox.
Dustin Pedroia belts a solo homerun off of Kaz.

Bottom of the Third. 4-3 Rays.
BJ Upton continues his power renaissance, connecting for his fourth homerun of the playoffs. Three batters later Carl Crawford raps a single to score Evan Longoria and give the Rays their first lead of the night.

Bottom of the Fourth. 5-3 Rays.
Cliff Floyd leads off the inning by mashing a ball off of the front of the batters eye in straight away centre.

Top of the Fifth. 6-5 Sox.
Dustin Pedroia connects off of Kaz for his second homer of the night. After retiring Ortiz, Kaz then gives up a third homerun, to Kevin Youkilis. End of the night for Kaz - his line of 4 1/3 innings, 6 hits, 5 ER, 3 BB and 2 Ks is not impressive. But its not the worst pitching line of the night. To relieve Kaz, Grant Balfour comes in. And promptly gives up just his second longball of the entire year, a solo effort for Jason Bay. He then walks Lowrie, necessitating the introduction of JP Howell, who finally gets the last 2 outs.

Bottom of the Fifth. 8-6 Rays.
Keep on keeping on. RBI single from Carlos Pena. RBI-double for Evan Longoria (his third extra-base hit of the night). Josh Beckett is pulled. He also went 4 1/3 innings, and would be charged with 8 runs on 9 hits with 5 K's. Lopez comes on in relief, and gives up another RBI-single to CC. Manny Delcarmen finishes off the inning.

Top of the Sixth. 8-7 Rays.
Uh-oh. Not safe yet. JP Howell gets into trouble, and in comes Chad Bradford. He promptly allows a RBI-double to Youkilis, but stops the damage right there.

Bottom of the Sixth/Inning Seven. 8-7 Rays.
No runs!

Top of the Eighth. 8-8.
Eights are wild. Bradford allows the lead-off hitter, Pedroia, to get on base. Trever Miller comes in and walks Ortiz. Enter Dan Wheeler, and with the runners having moved up, he sails a pitch way over Dioner Navarro's head, allowing the tying run to score. He finishes of the inning.

Inning Nine. 8-8.
A scoreless frame from Wheeler. Masterson gets two outs for the Sox before Papelbon comes in and sends it to extras.

Inning Ten. 8-8.
Wheeler moves into heroic territory, pitching his third inning, scoreless. Papelbon holds the Rays without scoring though.

Top of the Eleventh. 8-8.
Wheels amazingly comes out for a fourth inning's work. He gets one out, before handing over to David Price. Wheels final line - 3 1/3 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 Ks. His longest outing for something like 4 years. Price walks the first man he faces, but comes back to get the next two and holds the Sox without adding.

Bottom of the Eleventh. 9-8 Rays.
Wheels went 3 1/3, but Papelbon could only manage 1 1/3. So in comes Mike Timlin. Dioner Navarro draws the lead-off walk, and is replaced by pinch-runner Fernando Perez. Ben Zobrist follows, looking to bunt, and he draws a walk as well. Jason Bartlett grounds out to third, but the runners, both moving with the pitch, successfully move up. Aki Iwamura is intentionally walked to load the bases. Up steps BJ. Two strikes on him. A blooper down the line in right. JD Drew has a bead on it, and its not deep. He makes the catch and comes up throwing. Perez has tagged. The throw is up the third base line. Perez flys down towards home slides around Kevin Cash and slaps home plate. The marathon is over, and the good guys have won.

Unbelieveable.

One of, if not the best game I have ever watched. Just pure, unadulterated baseball entertainment. 15 runs in the first 5 1/2 innings. 2 runs in the final 5 1/2. And every single inning as enthralling as the last.

It was an absolutely massive win for the Rays. Go to Fenway at 0-2 down, and the series would have been all but over. Going there at 1-1, and everything is still to play for. We've got to win at least one game there. But we can do that. We CAN do that.

I can barely begin to mention everybody who came up big in game 2, but there is no doubt that the hero was Dan Wheeler. He could so easily have been the villain, allowing the Sox to tie the game on a wild pitch, but he didn't let it get to him. With just Price and Jackson left in the 'pen, he knuckled down and kept pitching. It was a truly amazing effort for any reliever, but for a guy who is pretty much a one-inning man normally, it was phenomenal. If we go on to win this series, there is no doubt that his effort will be looked at as one of the key turning points. Well done Wheels, I hope you enjoyed your off-day yesterday!

This evening, the Rays have their toughest opponent, in Jon Lester. He has dominated the Rays this year, so getting a result against him is going to be very unlikely. That being said, if we could it would be a huge boost to the confidence and belief of the Rays. We're sending Matt Garza to the hill. He faltered against the White Sox last time out, so will want to bounce back with a strong outing this time. Here's hoping he can.

ALCS game 1 - They get knocked down...

2008-10-13T09:54:00.005+01:00

Ok, some delayed blogging going on here, and for once its not because I didn't stay up to watch the games live, but rather because I did. I went to bed a 7AM on both Friday and Saturday night (should that be Saturday and Sunday morning?) and believe me the lack of sleep was not conductive to writing of any kind, let alone highly polished (hmmm...) baseball analysis. To be honest I'm still incredibly tired this morning, but I remain totally committed to not missing a single pitch of the Rays' postseason! Anyhow, here's my game 1 recap, game 2 will follow shortly:

Boston Red Sox 2 - Tampa Bay Rays 0

The story of Friday night's game one was simple. James Shields was outstanding. The Rays' hitters were not.

Ok, so they did have to deal with an in-form Daisuke Matsuzaka, but despite him holding Tampa Bay hitless through six innings, we still had plenty of chances. Indeed thanks to Shields' performace we had chances to win.

The first of those chances came in the first inning when Dice-K walked the bases full of Rays. Cliff Floyd couldn't come through in the clutch, and then Matsuzaka settled down. He eased through the next five innings (aided by some very un-selective Rays swinging), until Carl Crawford led off the seventh with a single. Floyd followed with a single of his own, and the Rays were threatening to tie the game up with runners on first and third and nobody out. No help. Pop fly, strikeout, groundout and the Red Sox were out of the inning.

The final chance came in the eighth, and rather summed up the Rays' day at the plate. Singles from Aki Iwamura and BJ Upton led off the inning, and finally chased Matsuzaka, with Terry Francona bringing in Okajima to face Carlos Pena. Pena took 3 straight balls, and then swung at the 3-0 pitch, getting it off the end of the bat and flying out tamely to right. Justin Masterson then came on to pitch to Evan Longoria and continued Longo's miserable run at the plate by getting him to ground into a threat- and effectively game-ending double play.

James Shields (7.1 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K) can feel rightly proud of his effort on the mound, but ultimately left with the loss. In total the Rays managed just 4 hits, while striking out 11 times. And just like that, their homefield advantage was gone - to get to the World Series they'd have to win at Fenway.

And they would absolutely HAVE to win game 2.

The Rays and the Red Sox...one more time

2008-10-10T09:46:00.005+01:00

The Rays and Red Sox have played a lot of games since 1998. The Red Sox have won most of them. There's been some important ones (mostly for the Sox). There's been some controversial ones. And there's been some fighting ones.

But there has never been one as big as tonight's game.

8.37 EST, Tropicana Field, St Petersburg. The Rays will start playing for a place in the World Series.

It is almost unbelieveable.

And it's fair to say that as excited as I was throughout the regular season, and for the ALDS, I am even more pumped right now. Gametime is 1.37 AM here in the UK, but you can bet your house that I will be staying up to watch it. James Shields against Daisuke Matsuzaka for the first step towards the American League pennant. How could I miss it?!

And it is only right that, after all the battles (with the bat and ball, and with the fist) this season, the Rays' route to the World Series should come down to a final matchup with Boston. It was the fight for the toughest division in baseball all season long, and it was hard-fought. Not to mention close. 8-1 to the Rays at the Trop, 7-2 to the Sox at Fenway. I think it is fair to say that the two teams are pretty evenly matched.

Actually, typing that last sentence still makes me laugh a little. I mean, if you look at the two rosters there's no question that in terms of name recognition, the experience, and perhaps even the individual talent, the edge goes to the Red Sox. Yet somehow the Rays have kept up with (and indeed ahead of) them all season long. It's almost beyond belief. And now we just need to continue defying belief four more times, and we'll be in the World Series.

The fact that we are four wins away from the World Series also almost defies my own belief, hence the fact that I have typed World Series so many times - if I say it often enough, I might actually start believing its true!

Rays' roster news is that Joe Maddon has decided to bring in an extra pitcher for the longer series. And, perhaps surprisingly, Edwin Jackson is the man. E-Jax was unlucky to miss out on the fourth starting spot for the postseason, and now will be in the 'pen for potential long relief situations. I'm happy he's going to get to be part of things, but I'm sure he will understand when I say I hope we don't see him pitch at all - as it will likely mean one of our starters has been knocked out early!

Making way for Jackson will be Eric Hinske, which must have been a terribly tough decision to make. Hinske has been a bit out of form recently, and didn't get any play in the Division Series, but he has been a key part for the club all season long. Unfortunately as things stand Gabe Gross is the preferred choice to start in right, and Fernando Perez and Willy Aybar offer more possibilities off the bench. Still, it's tough when someone who has been a big part of us getting here has to miss out. Also still out are Troy Percival and Shawn Riggans. Perci has been pitching well in instructional league, and would almost certainly be the one in line should anyone get injured. Meanwhile Riggans has recovered well from the surgery that ended his regular season, but just not quite quickly enough to make it for this series. If we get to play another one though...

Talking of which, I've been trying to work out what I think is going to happen in the series. You know, hoping to give you some kind of prediction. But while you can all guess what I hope will happen, the truth is I just don't know. I haven't got a clue. The Sox could put their experience to good use and overcome the Rays. The Rays might use their lack of fear and battle past the Sox. It might be one-sided. It might be nip-and-tuck. I literally have no idea. I'm massively excited. And incredibly nervous.

And I can't wait for it to get started.

ALDS game 4 - "He is a winner"

2008-10-07T09:53:00.004+01:00

Tampa Bay Rays 6 - Chicago White Sox 2

Andy Sonnanstine over Edwin Jackson?

I think it would be fair to say that there are not many managers in the big leagues that would make that call. Fortunately for the Rays, Joe Maddon is one of them.

So it was Sonny who went last night in Chicago for game 4, and by the time he left with two outs in the 6th, Joe Maddon was once again looking like the smartest man in baseball. Ok, so 5 2/3 innings isn't the longest outing of the season, and he did give up 2 homeruns. But the way he was pitching, it was almost as if those homers were peace offerings so the White Sox hitters didn't feel too bad about getting totally out-played by a man who doesn't trouble 90 on the radar gun.

Apart from those two longballs, all the offense that Chicago generated in those first 5 2/3 innings was a single and a walk, neither of which would damage the Rays in any way. Sonny was at his brilliant best, getting ahead of the hitter, painting the edges, daring them to put the ball in play. And they did. And the Rays defense ate it all up. Truth be told, there wasn't even that many difficult plays to be made - the highlight was a leaping catch at the wall from Gabe Gross to rob AJ Pierzynski in the first. Otherwise, it was soild, steady and surefooted. Indeed, had this not been a potential series-clincher, then it is very likely that Sonnanstine would have carried on after giving up a first-pitch homer to Jermaine Dye. He'd only thrown 75 pitches, and was still looking good.

But when you've got a bullpen like the Rays, why take the risk?

So in came JP Howell. And then, four outs later, came Grant Balfour. And six outs later the Rays were celebrating again. Over the series, the Rays 'pen pitched 11 2/3 innings and gave up 1 run. Just one.

Such quality pitching allowed the Rays to win a best-of-5 series against the hardest-hitting team in the AL while scoring a total of just 21 runs. Each of their three wins needed just 6.

Last night the mantra was score early and score often. Rays had a runner cross the plate in the first, third, fourth (2), fifth and seventh. Persistance pays off. Both times the Sox pulled a run back, the Rays came right back and cancelled it out in the top of the next frame. They never let the Sox feel like they were getting close. It was glorious to watch.

And it had gotten started in a very pleasing way indeed. BJ Upton, fresh off a homerun sunday, came right out swinging again last night, and connected with one out in the first for his second homerun in three at-bats. Two innings later he made it 3 from 4 as he belted another Gavin Floyd offering over the fence in straight away centre. BJ has been playing with a torn labrum in his left shoulder this year, which goes a long way towards explaining his power drop-off compared with last season - but he looks like he might be finding his stroke at just the right time. Which could be absolutely huge for the Rays.

After the Upton power outburst, we got back on with scoring in the conventional Rays way - get on, run the bases, clutch hits. An RBI-double from Cliff Floyd, an RBI-single from Dioner Navarro and a pair of RBIs from Carlos Pena, and the Rays were sitting pretty. Carlos had quite a day, going 3-4 with his 2RBI (one particularly sweet, having come after BJ was intentionally walked so that the Sox' lefty could get to Pena), as well as his first two-stolen base game for, well probably longer than he can remember. He also managed to get picked off once as well - its not often that the name Pena dominates the baserunning section of the boxscore! Fortunately some semblance of normality was also around, as Carl Crawford also swiped a pair of bags. CC hasn't missed a beat this series despite his hasty return from the DL. Its great to have him back.

But despite all the great contributions, and the headlines that BJ will undoubtedly get, in my mind game 4 belongs to Andy Sonnanstine. Kaz, Shields and Jackson have the stuff, Shields has the consistancy and control. But don't overlook Sonnanstine. He has something perhaps more important than stuff, consistancy or control. He has the knack. The knack of getting the W on the board. Joe Maddon made sure everyone knew it in his post-game interview - "This is typical. He's been a winner all his life... He is a winner. He is well thought-out. And again, you have a lot of faith in him. The guys love playing behind him."

Sonny is a winner.

And so are the Rays. A 97-game winner. And now, a postseason series winner. Their first, but hopefully not their last.

Next up are some more Sox. We know these Sox well. They are the Red Sox. Game one of the American League Championship Series is on Friday night. It's at Tropicana Field. And it's Boston against Tampa Bay. Who would have thought it?!

ALDS game 3 - Not over yet

2008-10-06T10:18:00.003+01:00

Tampa Bay Rays 3 - Chicago White Sox 5

The recipe was almost the same. An early deficit. A battling comeback. All that was missing was the happy ending.

Winning at the Trop against an experienced Chicago team is one thing. Doing so at a raucous US Cellular Field is quite another. Yet, that being said, the Rays made another good go of it last night in a rain-delayed, must-win game for the Sox.

We actually got on the board first thanks to an RBI-infield single from Aki Iwamura in the second. Perhaps a sign of things to come had already been shown at that stage however, as we left two men aboard in each of the first two innings against an impressive John Danks. We didn't take the chance to really get on top early and ultimately paid for it.

On the hill for the Rays, Matt Garza was mostly solid. He allowed the Sox to tie the game in the third, but generally had made a good start. Then came his bogey inning, the fourth, and a breakout for Chicago. Garza gave up a lead off double to Thome, and the Sox took advantage, eventually scoring three times in the frame to move into a lead that they wouldn't lose. They added another in the sixth to complete their scoring for the day.

Garza's final line (6IP, 7H, 5R, 4BB, 4Ks) wasn't his best, but was the sort of start that more often than not gives the hitters a chance. And, considering the power of the White Sox lineup, it can probably be counted as a successful start for a game in which he was lacking his best stuff.

The Rays' hitters though struggled against Danks. Nothing to show from the third, fourth, fifth or sixth.

But the battling remained. Rocco Baldelli led off the seventh with a walk. Bartlett and Iwamura couldn't get him in, but with 2 out BJ Upton stepped to the plate and crushed a prodigous homerun into the seats in left. 5-3, and the game was back on. Carlos Pena followed with a single, bringing the tying run to the plate in the shape of Evan Longoria. Ozzie Guillen went to the 'pen and brought in the veteran Dotel, who proved his worth ending the threat with a called third strike to Longo.

And that was that. Nothing much doing for the Rays in the eighth or ninth, and a first ever postseason loss to cut their series lead to 2-1. Considering the early pressure the Rays put on Danks, it was a disappointing showing in the end. Some impatient hitting, admittedly combined with some impressive pitching, meant that to be honest even after BJ's homerun you never really got that special Rays' comeback feeling.

Still, two more chances to wrap things up. The first of which is tonight in what is a MASSIVE game for Andy Sonnanstine. He has been great all year, and I'm a big fan, but this is going to test him like never before. While a loss isn't the end of the world, going back to the Trop for a winner-takes-all decider is a far from ideal position to be in. Add to that the homerun-hitting lineup to the power nature of the park, and its a huge challenge. Perhaps even moreso for a pitcher like Sonny who relies on making hitters put the ball in play. He's going to need to pitch just about his best game of the season, with more pressure than he's ever experienced.

It's a big ask.

Go on Sonny, we believe!!!

ALDS game 2 - Perseverance, thy name is Rays

2008-10-04T11:57:00.004+01:00

Chicago White Sox 2 - Tampa Bay Rays 6

Scott Kazmir was asked in the lead up to yesterday's game which Scott Kazmir would show up for game 2 of the American League Division Series.

"Hopefully the good Scott Kazmir"

Uh-huh. With the bases loaded and nobody out in the top of the first, the good Scott Kazmir was looking like a distant dream. (Just for the record, I don't agree with Harold Reynolds' assertion that Kaz hit leadoff man Orlando Cabrera on purpose in retaliation for Thursday's war of words. I think it was a pure lack of control early on.).

By the time Scotty K had gotten out of the first, he had thrown 37 pitches and faced 8 White Sox hitters. The good (nay, amazing) news was that he had limited them to just two runs, a fine effort given the start he made. Still, things didn't look too good. He struggled again through the second, but this time held the Sox scoreless. David Price and Chad Bradford had both already been up in the 'pen, but Scotty kept going.

A scoreless third. A scoreless fourth. A scoreless fifth. He eventually left having battled through 5 1/3 innings, allowing 8 hits and 2 walks, but crucially just those two early runs. Kaz may not be at his best (or indeed anywhere near it) this year, but he has got a lot of heart, and he really showed it yesterday.

And, by the time he left, thanks to the ever-ready-to-fight Rays hitters, he was in line for the W. Dioner Navarro had pulled one back with an RBI-single in the first, before Aki Iwamura came to the plate with a man on in the bottom of the fifth.

During the regular season Aki had hit 6 homeruns, all of them off of rightys. But yesterday he stayed with a pitch from the lefty Buehrle and drilled it into the seats in left-centre. 3-2 Rays, and I think judging from the reaction in the dugout it was a moment that the whole team enjoyed rather a lot!

From there on in, it was up to the 'pen to protect the lead, and protect they did. With a threat brewing in the sixth, Grant Balfour came in and extinguished it big time, as he has done so regularly. He came back out for the seventh, and gave up two singles before Joe Maddon made another call to the 'pen.

Enter Mr Clutch the Reliever. If Kaz had been hard-working, and Balfour explosive, then JP Howell was simply brilliant. As he has done so often, he stubbed out the threat with the minimum of effort, setting down Thome, Ramirez and Pierzynski with ease. He came back and pitched a scoreless eighth as well. JP Howell is simply awesome out of the 'pen.

And that performance gave the hitters the chance to add some insurance, which they did with style in the bottom of the eighth. BJ Upton opened up with a triple to centre. Carl Crawford follwed with an RBI-single, then stole second and moved up to third on a groundout as Rocco Baldelli stepped in. He duly followed with an RBI-single of his own, and proceeded to steal the show when Dioner Navarro stepped in - demonstrating the epitomy of 2008 Rays baseball. Navvy lifted a blooper into short right, and with two outs, Rocco took off. The ball fell between the three converging White Sox, but as it was picked up Rocco was just approaching third. He didn't stop though as he rounded the bag at full throttle and flew across the plate, scoring on what had become an RBI-double for Navarro that had travelled about 160 feet. Awesome hustle for Rocco, and a four run lead to take into the ninth.

Not that such a big margin was needed though, as Chad Bradford breezed through the heart of the Chicago order, with the help of a nicely turned double play and a called third strike to Jim Thome.

So, a 2-0 series lead heading up to Chicago for Sunday evening's game three. Its a great position to be in, but I'm under no illusions that its going to be easy - US Cellular Field is a tough place to play, and the Sox will be sending another lefty to the hill. We'll be countering with Matt Garza, who I'm sure will be extra pumped up. Let's hope he can use it to his advantage!

ALDS game 1 - Welcome to the postseason Mr Longoria

2008-10-03T09:23:00.003+01:00

Chicago White Sox 4 - Tampa Bay Rays 6

I'm willing to bet that there's not many people out there who had remembered that Gary Gaetti hit homeruns in each of his first two postseason at-bats.

Something tells me that you're going to remember that Evan did it.

Because this 22-year-old rookie is a bit special. I mean, he missed a whole month of the season through injury, yet still led all rookies in homeruns. He hit three longballs in one game, just a couple of weeks after his return from a fractured wrist. And now this.

First pitch - homerun. Third pitch - homerun. Then an RBI single, a walk and just for good measure a stolen base. Just your average sort of day when your name is Evan Longoria.

Needless to say that, despite the nerves, I enjoyed last night's first taste of Rays' playoff baseball. Taking the lead on Evan's first homer really settled things down, although they were unsettled again in the top of the next inning thanks to some patented White Sox offense. James Shields had started well, but worked into a little bit of trouble in the third and paid the price, giving up a 3-run homer to Dewayne Wise. Add to that the fact that Carlos Pena had been taken out of the game already due to some blurry vision (he's expected to be back and fine today), and the nerves were full on again.

But hey, this is the Rays. Battle, battle, and battle back some more. Bottom of the inning, Jason Bartlett singles. Aki Iwamura follows and drills a ball over Ken Griffey Jr's head for a RBI-triple. 3-2. Upton can't get him home, but Pena's replacement at first, Willy Aybar, can, with a sacrifice fly to left. 3-3. And next up? Well, its Evan of course. 4-3. And just like that, Shields is back on top and we're laughing.

The Rays tacked on a couple more in the fifth through RBI-singles from Longoria and Carl Crawford, while Shields breezed through until the seventh where he again hit trouble. He had loaded the bases with one out when the the call went to the 'pen for the Aussie. And a good call it was too. He struck out Juan Uribe, and then, after a bit of a shouting match, struck out Orlando Cabrera too. You've got to give credit to Cabrera, I don't think I'd want to get Grant Balfour mad (well madder...), but the Aussie had the last laugh.

Balfour's 2/3 of an inning were huge, but JP Howell's perfect 8th was just as important, striking out Anderson and Dye, before getting Thome out on a weak grounder. Howell doing what he has done best all season long.

That took things into the ninth, and Dan Wheeler. Wheels seems to have learnt the art of closing from Troy Percival, delighting in making things interesting. And he did that, battling a long at-bat with Paul Konerko, which saw the White Sox first baseman try to walk on ball three before eventually connecting for a crushed homerun down the leftfield line. Credit to Wheeler though, he didn't let it get to him, and came right back after the next hitter (Griffey!) and the next and the next, setting them down confidently and preserving the Ray's first ever playoff win. Oh yeah.

Tonight, Scott Kazmir faces off against Mark Buehrle in game two. Its going to be a massive test for Kaz - going up against the majors' biggest homerun team, having given up four longballs in two of his last three starts. Here's hoping that Scotty will thrive under the playoff spotlight and perform at his best. You know I'll be watching and cheering him on.

Today's the day

2008-10-02T10:53:00.007+01:00

Actually, scrub that and start again. Today is the Rays' day.

No matter which way you look at it, today is all about the Rays. The story is well known by now, but it still trumps all the others, at least in my (biased!) view. No offence to the other playoff contenders, who have all earned the right to take their shot at the ultimate goal, but the Rays are the story. Manny reinvigorating the Dodgers? Meh. Phillies' first playoff win in 15 years? Who cares. Brewers's first playoff appearance in 26 years? Nice, but still. Both Chicago teams in the post-season since, well since before Wrigley (and thats saying something!). Good, but not all that. The Angels and the Red Sox? Pfft, seen it all before.

But the Rays?

10 years of misery, and a break-out like never before. 9 last place finishes and one fourth place. A best of 70 wins, and an average of 97 losses. No fans, no wins, no hope. Right?

Nope.

The past few years, I've watched a couple of hundred or so Rays games on TV (well, the internet). And I've been to one Rays game live (a 4-3 defeat to Seattle at Safeco back in 2003, in case you haven't read my profile!). I've seen a good deal of pretty bad baseball. Sure, I've seen some excitement, some young talent and a few big wins. But mostly I've seen losing. Lots of losing. Lots and lots and lots of losing. With no end in sight.

At least I have the opportunity to turn my computer off and forget about things. If I don't want to know whats happening in the world of baseball, I simply don't go to my bookmarked baseball websites for a while, and I'm completely in the dark.

But the fans in Tampa and St Pete? They've had 10 years of losing. And 10 years of everybody, every newspaper, every magazine, every TV report reminding them of the losing. It doesn't worry me that attendances at the Trop are so low, it amazes me that they're still so high. I've sat through plenty of bad football (soccer) in my time, and I know that watching losing is not fun. So for the season-ticket holders who have sat through everything thats gone on at the Trop over the Ray's first decade have nothing but my respect.

And now they have their reward. For their patience, their belief and their support. As excited as I am about today, I can only imagine what it is like for the good people of Tampa and St Pete. This is their day. They've earned it.

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I haven't written anything since Monday, and for once its not because I've been too busy. Its because I literally don't know where to start. This week I must have read over 100 articles on the Rays combined between the St Pete Times, the Rays' site and ESPN. Not to mention the random ones that crop up in the various other baseball related sites I visit. This is how big this week is - the Rays have even had a mention on the BBC website. Wow.

And now, with 6 hours to go until James Shields makes a little bit of Rays' history, I still don't know where to start. The rotation is set. The lineup is set. The roster is (more-or-less) set. The White Sox are in town. Playoff baseball is about to hit St Pete.

It's a strange feeling that I have right now. I mean, excitement and anticipation are the overriding things, but thats not all there is to it. There's the hope - we could go all the way. There's the fear - what if we fade without a trace. And there's the confusion - what should I be expecting? Should I be reckoning on a month's worth of games, or will it be all over this weekend. I mean, I want us to win it all, I don't think there's any reason that we can't win it all - but at the same time I don't want to be disappointed if we fall at the first hurdle. This is a young team, who have already outperformed all expectations. There's no reason they can't continue to do that. But if they don't, then I don't want to criticise, I want to celebrate them getting even this far. Its not an easy balance to maintain.

So I've decided. When its all over, I'm going to look back on the season as one of triumph and success. But for now I'm treating it the only way that a playoff team's fan (and isn't that an unusually feeling) can. The only outcome is a World Series win. That's what I'm gunning for, because that's what the Rays are gunning for. We're in it to win it.

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And the quest starts with the ball in the hands of James Shields. Of the guys on the Rays rotation, he probably has about the fourth-best pure stuff. But he is the ace. He has earned that mantle. As much as I love Kaz, and as good as Garza is going to be, Shields is the right person to start this all off. Scotty K will get game 2, Matt Garza game 3, and, if we get that far, Andy Sonnanstine will start in game 4. While the first three were no-brainers for Joe Maddon, the last choice was anything but. Both Sonny and Edwin Jackson have been inconsistant at times this year, but for the most part excellent. Ultimately, I think Sonny is the right choice - but that doesn't make it any easier on E-Jax, especially because he won't be in the 'pen either. Missing out on the roster altogether after the huge contrubution he has given this year is a tough pill to swallow. But unfortunately Joe's decided to go with a 6-man bullpen, and Edwin is just a little too inconsistant in relief to be relied on. I feel bad for E-Jax, gutted even, but you never know - fate is a strange thing and he may yet have a role to play for the Rays this year.

Also missing out on a job in the 'pen are (and as I write this is still unconfirmed) Jason Hammel and Troy Percival. Perhaps neither decision is a surprise, but both are tough ones. Hammel could not make a claim to be the most talented pitcher the Rays have. But he has come up big on more than one occasion this year, while playing the crucial mop-up role out of the 'pen. And then there's Perci. I don't have anything that I can really add to the debate on Troy, other than to say that leaving him off (if indeed it is the case) must be about the most difficult decision that Joe Maddon has had to make all year. Perci was awesome in the first half. He was injured and ineffective in the second half. He's looked back to strength his last couple of appearances. But to back him would be, especially in a 6-man 'pen, a huge risk. For the first round at least maybe it was just too big a risk for Joe. Perci is the ultimate pro - he'll be disappointed, maybe even angry, but I'm sure that it'll make him work even harder, just in case he is needed later on.

The hitters missing out on the post-season are less of a surprise. Jonny Gomes, Justin Ruggiano, John Jaso, Dan Johnson. All had a part to play in us getting here, but none can have been expecting to make the final cut. Guys, thanks for your effort, and stay sharp just in case.

The biggest news among the hitters is, of course, the news on our starting leftfielder for game one. Almost defying the odds, it will be Carl Crawford. I cannot begin to tell you how happy that makes me. Not just because, even having a down year, CC is one of the best outfielders in baseball, but because if anybody deserves to be on the field for the Rays' first ever playoff game, it is him. He's been here all through the bad times, and now, just as much as the fans do, he deserves a share of the good. Plus I'm sure that there isn't a manager in baseball who would rather face a lineup with CC in it that one without.

The starting lineup today will be, for almost the first time I can remember, at full strength. Aki (2B) leading off, followed by BJ Upton (CF), Pena (1B), Longoria (3B), CC (LF), Cliff Floyd (DH), Dioner Navarro (C), Gabe Gross (RF) and Jason Bartlett (SS). Its fair to say that I'm pretty confident in that bunch of players right there.

The players on the roster who I haven't mentioned are: Ben Zobrist, Willy Aybar, Eric Hinske, Rocco Baldelli, Fernando Perez and Michel Hernandez (hitters); and Chad Bradford, Dan Wheeler, JP Howell, Grant Balfour, Trever Miller and David Price (pitchers). Yep, David Price. He has come. What role will he play in the post-season? Possibly a big one. I wouldn't have a problem giving him the ball in whatever situation, and I don't think Maddon will either. And in my opinion (one that I am sure is shared with everyone who has watched the Rays in September) keeping Perez on the roster could prove a master-stroke. His speed on the basepaths and in the field is scary, but he's shown a very welcome knack of timely hitting as well. Keep an eye on him.

Right, well thats a long and rambling post even by my standards, but like I said, I'm excited. So I think I can be excused.

I'm sure I will have more to say tomorrow morning, either applauding victory, or staying positive in defeat. In the meantime - James Shields, 2.30pm ET. Watch it happen. 9=8. And, I hope, 9=4.

The little team that could

2008-09-29T10:56:00.006+01:00

How else could the season end?

Its like the team squeezed down the essence of the year and filled it all into game 162, just to show the world, if they didn't know already, what these Rays are all about.

A come-from-behind, battling, never-give-up, blown save, extra innings, come-back-again, amazing defense, unlikely hero win. A story that has almost become the norm rather than the exception this season. Indeed, I can barely remember a single win out of the 97 (yes, ninety-seven) this year that hasn't either been come-from-behind, battling, or involved an unlikely hero. Its just the way things happen these days when you're watching the Rays.

Consider that the Rays, in a final warm-up before the playoffs (how great does that sound?!) used 8 pitchers and 14 position players.

Consider that Detroit took a 5-0 lead in the fourth.

Consider that the comeback started with Rocco Baldelli breaking up what was a four-inning perfect start from Zach Miner with his fourth homerun of the season, a 432-foot bomb.

Consider that it continued with platoonists such as Eric Hinske (a 2-run homer), Jonny Gomes (a 2-run double) and Ben Zobrist (an RBI-single) getting the key hits.

Consider that David Price, Dan Wheeler, Troy Percival and Trever Miller pitched a combined 4 2/3 innings out of the 'pen and gave up but a solitary hit.

Consider that Edwin Jackson made a relief appearance for the first time this year, blew a save, and was rewarded with a team-record tying 14th win.

Consider that Jason Hammel came in for the 11th to claim his second save of the year.

And consider that the winning homerun was hit by a shortstop who, in the first 280 at-bats of his career had connected for 3 longballs, but, in 193 trys this year has mashed 11 of them. Ben Zobrist has been a phenomenally important backup this year. We all expected him to be useful off the bench for his versatility, but I really don't think anyone expected him to become a threat with the bat.

But then none of this was really expected. How could a bullpen that, a year ago, put up numbers that were the worst the majors had seen in 50 years, become one of the league's best by adding an out-of-retirement, oft-injured closer, a (no-offence to Mr Miller) journeyman lefty, a failed, soft-throwing starter and an inconsistant 30 year-old Australian? That's not your typical recipe for success. And yet somehow, for these Rays, it worked.

The last few days have been great for me, reading article after gushing article on how amazing these Rays are, how they have come from nowhere, how this story is as unbelieveable as any baseball story has ever been. I think that to say the 2008 Rays have turned some heads would be the understatement of the century.

But what else can you say?

Perhaps the baseball world didn't believe it was possible. Perhaps us Rays fans didn't believe it was possible. But Joe Maddon believed. And he wasn't afraid to show it. He went public, and instilled that belief in the team. A team that has no super-stars (although a few with the potential to become super-stars) has outplayed the big boys. They've finished atop the East, ahead of the payroll-pacesetters in New York and Boston. They've done it with a payroll that is not only the second-lowest in baseball, it is less than half of the average payroll.

So yeah, this little team has turned a few heads.

Here's hoping we turn a few more this October.

Thanks Yanks

2008-09-27T11:56:00.003+01:00

Ok, so its not quite the way that we wanted to clinch it, but...

One is the magic-est number...

2008-09-25T08:55:00.003+01:00

Or perhaps even the magic-eAst number.

One win in Detroit (or a Red Sox loss) will do it. One single game between the Rays and the AL East crown. If that doesn't get you a little bit excited, well, I don't know what does.

A four game sweep of the Orioles, including the franchise's first ever sweep of a doubleheader (in fourteen attempts), means that with four games to go the Rays have a three game lead over Boston and the top is within touching distance. Today we have a tough 1.05 ET start time against the Tigers, and, if we can't pull out the win there then we have another shot at claiming the top spot tonight, if the Indians can beat Boston at Fenway.

But I'm pretty sure I know how the team would prefer to win it. For themselves, on the field in Detroit. With all their heroics so far this year, it would be the most fitting way.

How we came to be in this position today is a perfect dichotomy the Rays' season. Long odds, but a never-give-up attitude. Its amazing the results that it can achieve.

I was torn whether to stay up and watch last night's game. I really want to see us clinch the Division live, but I was shattered and having to be up for work at 7am does not make staying up through the night watching baseball the best of ideas in any case. Still, although the chance was an outside one, I thought I would at least see how things started out before I made my decision. After an inning and a half, at 12.40am, I went to bed. The Rays were 5-0 down in Baltimore and the Red Sox were 4-0 up at Fenway. Edwin Jackson had struggled massively in the first (again). The win-loss combination needed to cinch looked very unlikely.

As it turns out, I just about made the right decision. I'm tired enough this morning anyway, so who knows what I would have been like if I'd watched the whole game. Although, I missed out on something special. Another special Rays performance in a season filled with them.

Because, after Jackson gave up another run in the bottom of the second, the Rays bats got to work. 5 runs in the fourth. 2 more in the sixth. And a four-spot in the eighth. E-Jax, after giving up 6 consecutive hits to start the game, got the win. An 11-6 final, and one step closer. Meanwhile, the Red Sox just about held on to win 5-4, meaning I should (hopefully) be good from here on in. Today's game starts at 6pm UK time, so I will probably miss the first inning on my way home from work, but otherwise I'll be watching the Rays every step of the way. How could I not?!

It hardly needs saying, but the series against an O's team that looks like its started the off-season already went as well as could have been hoped for. Monday night David Price made his much heralded first MLB start, and far from being overawed, was simply outstanding. He left with a no-decision after 5 1/3, having given up a couple of runs on 4 hits with three K's. But that doesn't tell the whole story. He held Baltimore hitless through the first four, and looked every bit the big-leaguer. He is, I would think, an absolute lock for the rotation next year. As for this year, he'll pitch a couple of times in relief over the weekend, and how he does will likely determine whether he's on the roster for the ALDS.

Tuesday's double-header was a case of the expected. Certainly in game one. James Shields went his almost metronomic 7 innings, holding the O's to just 2 runs and striking out 8. A combination of Fernando Perez and Jason Bartlett did most of the offensive damage as a 5-2 final gave Shields his franchise record-tying 14th win of the year.

The nightcap wasn't nearly so comfortable, but was refreshingly familiar. Mitch Talbot made his first major league start and went 4 1/3, giving up 3 runs. Then the bullpen stepped in, and although they allowed a couple more O's to score, kept things close enough until the Rays hitters found their stroke. Which, in a bout of deja vu, they did in the eighth, scoring 6 times to equal the final 7-5 margin - the deciding runs coming on a 2-run Dioner Navarro single. Jeff Niemann got the win in relief, and pitching MVP JP Howell picked up his third save of the year.

And so that's where we are. Four games left. Magic number 1. And two games behind the Angels if we want guaranteed homefield throughout the playoffs. That'll be the tough one - but if you can be certain about one thing, its that these Rays aren't going to give up.

9=8

2008-09-21T11:18:00.004+01:00

"Its about 9 guys, playing hard for 9 innings, to take one of the 8 playoff spots."

So said Joe Maddon of his t-shirt design, back in Spring Training. And we laughed. Sure, we admired his ambition and his coinfidence, but frankly I think we'd have been happy with a season in which we didn't lose 90 games. A .500 season would have been awesome. And a winning season the stuff of dreams.

Joe Maddon is a smart man. He thinks before he speaks, and he doesn't go in for hyperbole. But he knows baseball.

And I will never doubt him again.

'Cos the Rays are going to the playoffs.

And the win that sealed it was a perfect example of the mantra that the Rays have lived by all season. It saw 5 pitchers limiting the Twins to two consolation runs late on. It saw 6 batters drive in runs. And, of course, it saw a myriad of sparkling defensive plays, from Evan Longoria, from Fernando Perez, from Rocco Baldelli, from Dioner Navarro and from Carlos Pena.

Before the game, the local chapter of the BBWAA announced their team award winners. Their selection of team MVP pretty much sums up the way the season has gone. It wasn't Pena with his 31 homeruns and 98 RBI. It wasn' Longoria with his 25 homers, 82 RBI and spectactular defense. It wasn't Navarro with his team-best .292 average and immense play behind the plate. It wasn't any of our starting pitchers, all with at least 11 wins.

No, it was a guy who has hit .280 with 1 homerun and 33 RBI. Jason Bartlett. A guy who, along with Matt Garza, we received in a trade last winter for Delmon Young. And you know what, without his defense, and without his spark, I don't think we'd be in this position right now. And I guess that makes a pretty good definition for the Most Valuable Player.

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The way this week started though, you wouldn't have been betting on the celebrations that the Trop saw last night. Monday's loss to Boston wasn't just ugly, it had the potential to be mentally destroying. When your ace takes the mound, in a huge game, and gets tagged for 6 hits, 4 homeruns and 9 runs in just 3 innings, you've got a long way to bounce back. By the time the 13-5 defeat was done with, Scott Kazmir's confidence was shattered, and the Rays were in a virtual tie for first place in the East for the first time since the All-Star break.

So how do you come back? You send your number 5 starter to battle with your rival's ace. As it turns out, its a masterplan. For the second time in a week, Andy Sonnanstine went toe-to-toe with Josh Beckett, allowing just a single unearned run in 6 innings. Balfour, Howell and Wheeler did their thing, kept it shutdown, and let the walk-off happen like it has so many times already this year. Tuesday night it was the turn of Dioner Navarro, his walk-off single (it would have been a ground-rule double had he not been mobbed on the basepaths) the margin in a 2-1 win.

So, Wednesday, and a massive game. Heading out, the Rays would either be tied with the Sox, or have a 2-game lead. And, perhaps more importantly, it would decide the season series - a Rays win would seal the matchup 10-8, giving them the edge if the AL East were to go to a tiebreaker. And the Rays would have to deal with their nemesis, Tim Wakefield.

Unfortunately for the Sox, they had to deal with Joe Maddon. After the success of the non-switch hitting switch hitters against Mike Mussina last weekend, Joe had Willy Aybar and Fernando Perez repeat the act against Wakefield. They responded by both hitting homeruns off the knuckleballer - according to Elias, the first pair of switch hitters to both hit homeruns from the wrong side (ie righty v righty) in the same game since division play started in 1969. Gabe Gross went deep as well, and the Rays coasted to a 10-3 win. Yeah.

After those two feel-good wins, Thursday was another loss that threatened to be disheartening. We knocked the Twins starter out in the first, putting up a 5-spot, but couldn't shake the pesky Minnesota hitters. Evan Longoria became just the second Ray (after Jonny Gomes) to hit three homeruns in a game, but it wasn't enough as closer de jour Dan Wheeler had a rare meltdown, allowing four runs as the Twins fought back to a 11-8 win.

Still, if at first you don't succeed, and all that. Friday night the Rays took until the second to knock the Twins starter out the game, but thanks to a great start from Edwin Jackson (7 IP, 7 hits, 5 Ks, 1 run), this time there were no late game fireworks. Evan Longoria added 3 RBI to his series output, while Carlos Pena had four of his own, three of which came on a history-making homerun - originally ruled a fan-interference double, it became the first ever call to be overturned by video replay. An 11-1 win, and a game away from history.

And, wouldn't you just know it, that it was Scott Kazmir, after getting shellacked in his last start, who came up big yesterday. 6 shutout innings, 5 hits and 5 strikeouts, and the Rays' winningest ever pitcher was rewarded with the W. The win that sends the Rays to the postseason for the first time ever.

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9=8.

Joe Maddon had it right all along.

Well, not quite. The nine innings and eight teams is right. But the number of players, well he was way off. This season has been the ultimate team effort. And its been even better to watch as a result of it. From the mohawk-fever thats sweeping the clubhouse, to the beards for Rocco earlier in the year, to the never-ending stream of shaving foam to the face victims, its been a joy. There was a great quote from Scott Kazmir in the St Pete Times yesterday - "We got Mohawks and everything. We might as well do dugout chants." And you know what, he's right. Rather than the highly-paid professional athletes that they are, the Rays have played more like a bunch of mates playing for some high school team, wanting to win not for themselves, but rather for their friends. Its a great attitude to have, and no small part of the Rays' success this year.

And its architect? Joe Maddon of course.

Bouncebackability

2008-09-18T21:57:00.001+01:00

The Rays have it.

A lot of it.

And I love it.

I'll do a full series recap over the weekend at some point, but for now all you need to know is we won.

Awesome.

Ugh (again)

2008-09-16T09:36:00.002+01:00

Yes, I did watch the game (well most of it).

And no, I don't want to talk about it.

The future arrives...but the present is disappointing

2008-09-15T09:44:00.004+01:00

First the good.

David Price.

Major league debut, your team's last ever game at Yankee Stadium, in the middle of a pennant race. Nervous?

Price certainly didn't look it as he came out of the 'pen to start the third inning against the Yankees. He retired the first big league hitter he saw, Xavier Nady, with his first pitch, and retired the next five straight before giving up a homerun to Derek Jeter. He didn't let that affect him though, and eventually left after throwing 5 1/3 innings, striking out four and allowing 3 hits.

Not perfect, but given the time and situation, just about as good a major league debut as you could hope for. I think David Price is going to do good things for us.

Still, overall the Rays' final trip to Yankee Stadium was a disappointment. Game one was a solid 7-1 win behind a great outing (8IP, 5hits, 6Ks, 0R) from James Shields. Evan Longoria returned to the lineup with 2 hits and 2RBI, while Justin Ruggiano took advantage of a rare start by going 3-4 with a pair of doubles. Joe Maddon's plan of stacking the lineup with rightys against Mussina (to the point of having switch-hitting Ben Zobrist and Fernando Perez bat right-handed) worked a treat, as he was knocked out after 5, and beaten by the Rays for the first time this year.

The evening game however was not quite so good. It started well, as Ben Zobrist hit his second grand slam in a couple of weeks to give us an early lead. Unfortunately he then turned from hero to villain late on, as his throwing error on what should have been a routine double play let the Yankees get back on terms, and go on to win 6-5.

Then there was yesterday, and as good as it was to see Price, there was a reason why he came into the game to start the third.

Edwin Jackson had, as we say in England, a 'mare. 2 innings (his shortest outing for over a year), 6 hits and 6 runs. A grand slam to Alex Rodriguez in the first and, after Fernando Perez had gotten the Rays back in the game with a three-run shot of his own (a first big league round-tripper for the increasingly impressive centrefielder), he surrendered a two-run blow to Jason Giambi. And that was pretty much it. We had a few chances to get back into the game, but just couldn't capitalise, and so now we head back to the Trop with just a single game lead over Boston.

Which should make the upcoming three game series with them pretty interesting... It kicks off tonight with a fascinating matchup between two aces who can't keep their pitch count down - Scott Kazmir and Daisuke Matsuzaka. I am already tired this morning due to listening to the Seahawks past midnight yesterday, and I'll have to be up early again tomorrow for work, but, never-the-less, I am extremely tempted to stay up and watch that one. If ever there was a time for Scotty K to come up big, this might just be it...

I like the Price...let's play two!

2008-09-13T16:28:00.006+01:00

Rainout last night. Day/night doubleheader today, with the first game starting in about an hour and a half. James Shields will be pitching game one, and Matt Garza in the nightcap. Thats a pretty good 1-2 punch right there.

But, if that is good, then what about the trio of arms that the Rays added to the bullpen last night.

Joining the team on Monday will be Mitch Talbot and Jeff Niemann. Not bad. I think there are many teams who would be happy enough to have that pair of arms in their 'pen.

But, and no disrepect at all as they are quality pitchers both, their recall is hugely outshadowed by the guy who has joined up with the teams ahead of today's contests in The Bronx.

He is here.

David Price has arrived.

He'll be available from the 'pen today, and with the doubleheader I would not be surprised to see him make his Major League debut. Exciting.

Also rejoining the Rays in New York is Jonny Gomes, and he's gone right into the lineup for game one against Mike Mussina. You know how big a fan of Jonny I am, and I would like nothing better than to see him play a big role for the team down the stretch.

Oh yeah, and theres the small matter of Evan Longoria being back in the lineup.

With a Rays-Yankees doubleheader and a Boston-Toronto twin bill, today is going to be a big day. I could not be more excited.

Joe Maddon's lineup for the opener (according to the St Pete Times) is stacked with righties to face Mussina - Bartlett (SS), Zobrist (2B), Pena (1B), Baldelli (DH), Longo (3B), Gomes (LF), Perez (CF), Hernandez (C) and Ruggiano (RF).

Lets go Rays!!!

Net lagged: The Rays effect

2008-09-12T19:16:00.004+01:00

You know the story. A nightmare start to the roadtrip. More injuries. A struggling offense.

And then the Rays effect takes over.

Due to one thing and another, I've just finished watching Wednesday night's game three of the Boston series. I watched games one and two on Wednesday and Thursday, hence the longer than usual net lag delay. But, in the end, it was worth the wait.

After arriving in Boston, things started with a scare as reliever Juan Salas had an epileptic seizure. He's fine, and back with the team, but its harldly a calming way to start a crucial series. Then the game came, Edwin Jackson gave up three runs in the first inning, and things looked grim. E-Jax knuckled down though, and went 6 more scoreless. Unfortunately, the hitters couldn't get anything going against Jon Lester, and a 3-0 loss was the result. Making things worse was BJ Upton leaving the game with a tight quad - he missed games 2 and 3, and its unclear when he'll be back in the lineup. With a bit of luck, it might be tonight. Also heading for injury central was Shawn Riggans, who has had to have an operation on his knee, possibly ending his season.

Game one over, and things were not looking good.

But thats where the Rays effect kicked in.

To cover the ever-increasing list of injuries, Dan Johnson and catcher Michael Hernandez were called up. Johnson would have made the game 2 start against Dice-K, but arrived in Boston just 20 minutes before gametime.

Still, things started well. Scotty K was pitching nicely, and the hitters knocked Matsuzaka out after just 5 innings. We took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth, where Dan Wheeler faced Jason Bay (1-18 off of Wheeler in his career) with a man on. Homerun Bay was the result, and a 4-3 Red Sox lead. It looked for certain as though we were going to lose top spot in the East.

But, the 2008 Rays bring a different hero every night. And Tuesday it was the turn of Dan Johnson. First Rays at-bat, facing Jonathan Papelbon, pinch hit homerun, tie game. That was followed by a double off the Monster from Fernando Perez, and an RBI-double by Dioner Navarro.

And that was it. Suddenly the Rays had won, and restored their lead to 1 1/2 games. You just can't keep this team down.

And so to last night's game. Andy Sonnanstine going toe-to-toe with Josh Beckett. And Sonny did his part superbly, 7 innings, 1 run, 4 hits, 7 strikeouts. His best outing for quite some time.

The game was tied at one when Sonny left, and there it stayed. Through the eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth. Dan Wheeler, Grant Balfour, Chad Bradford, JP Howell (2 innings) and Trever Miller. One by one they took their turn and sent the Red Sox back to the dug out.

And finally our hitters got the breakthrough. With 2 outs in the fourteenth, and Mike Timlin on the mound, Aki Iwamura lined a 3-0 pitch up the middle for a single. Rocco Baldelli followed with a single of his own. And then Carlos Pena ripped a ball to opposite field, over the Green Monster, a three-run homerun. 4-1 Rays.

Hey, but if you thought the fun was over, you'd be wrong. Because in came Perci for the save opportunity. The previous night he had battled for the save, giving up just a walk. Wednesday, he had nothing. A hit, 2 walks and nobody out was the line when Joe Maddon came to get him with the bases loaded. A stiff back was apparently to blame, but I will repeat myself from last time, and say I just don't trust him out there anymore.

Still, its the Rays, so time for another hero. Enter stage left Jason Hammel. Hammel has not been pitching well of late. He had never recorded a save before.

He has now. A sacrifice fly scored one run, but a strikeout and a shallow fly followed, and the Rays had sealed a 4-2 win, a 2 1/2 game lead in the East, and our first series win at Fenway since 1999.

What a series. The belief is back. The Rays Rotating Hero policy (tm) is back. And we're off to New York tonight. Let's go Rays.

Incidentally, I see that from tonight MLB.tv will be letting you choose between the home and away TV feeds. I cannot tell you how pleased I am (assuming it works properly!) that I'm going to be able to watch the rest of the season with Dewayne Staats, Joe Magrane and Todd Kalas. Awesome.

Ugh.

2008-09-08T10:01:00.003+01:00

What a miserable sporting weekend.

Six major events/sports that I followed, and a positive outcome in two of them. Andy Murray beat Rafael Nadal to make the US Open final, and the Alabama Crimson Tide beat Tulane, despite a pretty unimpressive display.

But the Seattle Seahawks opened with a miserable loss to Buffalo. Lewis Hamilton won the Belgian F1 Grand Prix, only to be demoted to third because of a steward's decision that can only be described as abysmal. And while the English football team did record a win in their opening World Cup 2010 qualifier, they managed just a 2-0 margin against Andorra, a country with a population (about 70,000) that is barely two-thirds as big as Basingstoke. Impressed I was not.

And then there were the Rays.

Ouch.

Last week they lost 2 out of 3 to the Yankees (the one win coming behind an excellent outing from Scott Kazmir). This weekend they got swept in Toronto. And heading to Fenway, where we've lost 6 out of 6 this season so far, we're just 1 1/2 games ahead of the Red Sox.

Now I know that sometimes you're going to lose ballgames. But the manner of defeat, particularly games 2 and 3 against the Blue Jays, has been particularly disheartening.

Yesterday, the hitters couldn't manage to scrape together a single run in support of an(other) excellent outing from Matt Garza, who himself gave up just one score over 7 innings. A 1-0 shutout (against an admittedly hot Jays team), is never a nice way to lose a game.

But even that is a fair way short of the crippling blow that Saturday's loss has the potential to be. Shutout through eight, we trailed 3-0. James Shields had given up a run in the first, second and fourth, before allowing just a single hit over the next four innings. We'd threatened several times, notably against reliever Scott Downs in the eighth, but had come up with nothing.

But then there was that wonderful Rays fighting spirit. With a man on, Rocco Baldelli steps in to pinch hit against closer BJ Ryan, and drills a ball over the fence in left. Willy Aybar walked, and was replaced at first by Fernando Perez. Perez (who has looked impressive so far) stole second, and motored round to score and tie the game on an error by Jays' second baseman Joe Inglett.

Dan Wheeler pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth (with a huge thank you to a stunning piece of defense from Jason Bartlett), and the game headed to extras. 10th inning scoreless. 11th inning scoreless. 12th inning scoreless.

Fernando Perez got on base, showing off his speed to beat out a potential double play ball. He moved up on a John Jaso ground out, and raced home on a Dioner Navarro single to give the Rays the lead for the first time at 4-3. And it stayed at that score going into the bottom half, with Troy Percival coming out of the 'pen.

6 batters later and it was all over. A walk-off Grand Slam by Greg Zaun. A pretty devastating loss.

Now, I don't want to have a go at Troy Percival for making a mistake, for having a bad outing. It's only his fourth blown save of the season, and the first game that he's pitched in that the Rays have lost. For the most part when he's come out of the 'pen with the game on the line, he's got the job done. But since about mid-season, every time he pitches you feel like it's a bit of an adventure. He'll probably get the three outs, but you're almost certain that someone's going to get on base. Probably more than one person. And you feel like there's a pretty decent chance that at least one run is going to score.

Whether or not a team should have one designated 'closer' is a debate for another day. But looking at the Rays' 'pen right now, if someone told me that we had a one-run lead, and needed to get the last three outs, Perci would not be top of the list. Not by a long way. Don't get me wrong, I know he has the ability to do it. But I just don't trust him to do it anymore when the heat is on.

I'd turn to Grant Balfour. I'd turn to Dan Wheeler. I'd turn to JP Howell. Hey, right now I'd feel happier with Chad Bradford or Trever Miller out there.

I'm sure Maddon will stick with Perci. But he must realise the effect that seeing Perci head for the mound has on us Rays fans, and presumably the team. We've got 21 games left, and we cannot afford to blow a lead late on in any of them. Can we trust Perci under that pressue? I just can't anymore.

Sorry.

A sweep return

2008-09-01T12:27:00.003+01:00

Doesn't time fly?! So RAP was a bit AWOL through most of August for one reason or another, not least of which the two week holiday that I've just taken. Having been to the States in February it wasn't anything exciting - rather just a fortnight back at home in Basingstoke, escaping work, seeing friends and family, all that sort of thing.

And while it was a much-needed and enjoyable break, baseball-wise, it was highly frustrating. Because while we do have broadband at my mum's house, it has been pretty rubbish. So for the last two weeks I have been able to keep up to date with everything thats been happening in Rays-world, but haven't actually been able to see any of it. Hence, no writing.

But after getting the train back up to Edinburgh yesterday (6 hours, but cheaper than flying), I arrived home just in time to watch the Rays completely blitz the Orioles for their third consecutive double-digit score, and ninth series sweep of the season. The Yankees are heading to the Trop tomorrow, and I shall get back to proper blogging then (well Wednesday or Thursday, depending on when I watch the game). But for now, for me as much as for anyone else reading, here's a lightning recap of all the action since my last post...

12/8/08 - TB 1 - OAK 2
With Evan Longoria now on the DL, the Rays lose a tight one, unable to capitalise on solid pitching from Kaz, JP Howell and Grant Balfour.

13/8/08 - TB 3 - OAK 2
A twelfth win of the year for Andy Sonnanstine, backed by homeruns from Carlos Pena (his 22nd) and Eric Hinske (17).

14/8/08 - TB 7 - OAK 6 (12)
Runs-a-plenty in the last game I watched before heading south. Cliff Floyd went 1-2 with 4 walks, 4 runs and plenty of hustling around the basepaths. Troy Percival sprained his knee and headed to the DL, Grant Balfour couldn't manage to close the game out, but a twelfth inning homer by Pena sealed the series win.

15/8/08 - TB 7 - TEX 0
Matt Garza threw a brilliant 2-hitter, as Pena, Hinske, Willy Aybar and Gabe Gross all went deep to support him. It wasn't all plain sailing though, as BJ Upton was very publically benched in the 6th for a lack of hustle.

16/8/08 - TB 0 - TEX 3
The shutout tables were turned as the Upton-less Rays managed only three hits off of Texas starter Matt Harrison.

17/8/08 - TB 7 - TEX 4
BJ returned with 3 hits, a homer, 2 runs and 3 RBI to help Scott Kazmir to his 9th win of the year. Carlos Pena belted his 25th homer of the season, but the big talking point is Joe Maddon's decision to intentionally walk Josh Hamilton with the bases loaded in the ninth. Its just the fifth bases-loaded IBB in MLB history, but Joe is vindicated as Dan Wheeler strikes the next batter out to preserve the win.

18/8/08 - LAA 4 - TB 6
A thirteenth W for Sonny, helped by homers from Hinske and Cliff Floyd. The Angels try and mount a comeback, but Balfour, Bradford, Miller, Hammel and Wheeler secure things in relief.

19/8/08 - LAA 2 - TB 4
James Shields gave up just 2 runs in 8 innings of work, and was rewarded with win number 11 thanks to Willy Aybar's 2-out, 2-run single in the eighth.

20/8/08 - LAA 5 - TB 4
No sweep, but another series win, against the AL West pacesetters. An RBI-double by Carlos Pena tied things up late, but the Angels battled for the winning run in the ninth.

22/8/08 - TB 9 - CWS 4
Edwin Jackson became the latest Ray to celebrate win number 10, thanks to some persistant hitting. Carlos Pena hit his team-leading 26th homer, Ben Zobrist went deep as part of a 3-RBI day, and Rocco Baldelli belted his first homer since May 3, 2007.

23/8/08 - TB 5 - CWS 3
Scotty K put up a strong showing early, but left with a 6-inning no-decision as the Rays waited until a 4-run eighth to claim the lead. Jason Bartlett continued his hot August with a 3-4 day, while Aki Iwamura and Carlos Pena drove in 2 runs a piece.

24/8/08 - TB 5 - CWS 6 (10)
Rocco went deep in the top of the first, but the White Sox wouldn't go away, and eventually came through thanks in part to a questionable interference call in the bottom of the 10th.

26/8/08 - TOR 6 - TB 2
The Rays stranded 11 baserunners as Roy Halladay finally managed to record a W against Tampa Bay at the fourth attempt.

27/8/08 - TOR 0 - TB 1
Matt Garza shut out the Jays on 6 hits over 7 2/3 innings, and Grant Balfour and Dan Wheeler did the rest. Carlos Pena's 27th homerun of the season was the only score.

28/8/08 - TOR 2 - TB 3
Edwin Jackson allowed only 1 run in seven innings work, while Cliff Floyd and Willy Aybar both homered to secure a 9th consecutive series win.

29/8/08 - BAL 3 - TB 14
The Rays set the Trop alight as they broke out the big bats against the Orioles and secured win number 82, and the first ever winning season in style. Cliff Floyd had a 3-hit, 5-RBI night, but the star of the show was Ben Zobrist who connected for his first ever MLB Grand Slam in the 4th. Gabe Gross and Shawn Riggans also went deep, and Scott Kazmir became the fifth Rays starter to hit the 10 win mark.

30/8/08 - BAL 9 - TB 10
Saturdays game is one that I intend to watch this evening, largely because of the way it ended. Runs, lead changes and hits galore, the win was finally sealed in the bottom of the 9th in walk-off style - the 10th of the year. And it was made even sweeter because the player who laced the game-winning double down the left field line was Rocco Baldelli.

31/8/08 - BAL 4 - TB 10
And so to yesterday's game, which made the long trip back up here seem worthwhile. James Shields gave up just one run in seven innings work, Rocco carried on where he had left off on Saturday, by drilling two more doubles down the line as part of a 3-3 day. Shawn Riggans also hit a pair of two-baggers, but the star was Jason Bartlett who capped a 4-4 day with his first homerun in a Rays uniform.

And so thats it. Up to date. Roster expansion call-ups have started, and for the first time ever, the Rays are making moves with the postseason in mind. The injured Jae-kyuk Ryu was called up and placed on the DL, a small move that could mean big things if we do indeed make it to October baseball. With Ryu and Chad Orvella on the DL, it means that we have two roster spots available to players who weren't in the majors before the August 31st deadline. And that means the possibility that David Price could be here when things are on the line. An exciting prospect indeed.

Catcher John Jaso and outfielder Fernando Perez were also called up, and Troy Percival activated, while Juan Salas was optioned so that Perez could be added before the deadline. Salas should be back on Tuesday.

A 21-7 record in August, with CC, Perci and Longoria all out of action was absolutely fantastic, and I really hope that we can carry the momentum down the stretch run. Longoria should be back soon, but as has been the case all year, when one player is out, you can be sure that another will step in and come up big. Jason Bartlett has been red hot all month, while Ben Zobrist has proven himself to be the utility player that every team longs for. I couldn't be happier about how either of them have done. Then there's Willy Aybar who has filled in admirably for Evan at third, and Cliff Floyd, Eric Hinske and Pena who have taken up the power-hitting and run-producing slack with Evan and CC out. And theres Rocco of course. I reckon a championship ring for him would be a feel-good story that would match even a Cubs pennant!

And lets not forget Joe Maddon. I hope the players don't falter, because Joe has been on top of his game every single step all season. When I saw that he had walked Hamilton with the bases loaded, it actually didn't surprise me. Conventional wisdom isn't what has gotten us this far, and I'm sure that isn't going to change now.

Yankees on Tuesday. The Red Sox next week. The big games are coming up. And I can't wait.

Banged up, but not giving up

2008-08-11T13:31:00.005+01:00

What a week.

I literally don't know where to start.

I mean, if something could happen it has happened. Comebacks, injuries, improbable heroes, trades, demotions - you name it and the Rays have experienced it since I last wrote a proper entry a week ago. Unbelieveable.

And, on top of it all, we've somehow managed to increase our lead at the top of the AL East to 4 1/2 games over the Red Sox and 8 1/2 on the Yankees. And we did that by recording our franchise-record 71st win of the season. But more on that in a bit. Probably.

Ok, lets rewind to the start of it all, back at the Trop against Cleveland. Last week I had been pondering Jonny Gomes, and he was given one final shot against Cliff Lee, went 0-4, and was sent down to Durham afterwards (evidently he did have an option remaining). With Aybar making the start at short (his first ever appearance there) in place of Jason Bartlett, who if you remember was hit on the finger during that crazy 10-inning win over the Tigers last Sunday, we lost our fifth-straight to the Indians, 5-2. Incidentally, injuries and the like meant that backup catcher Shaun Riggans, a day removed from his own scary HBP-moment, played the ninth inning in leftfield.

Then the fun really started. With Bartlett injured, but not too badly, we couldn't activate Rocco in place of Jonny Gomes as was, presumably, the plan. Instead, sailing back (again) to the Trop in a time of need came Ben Zobrist. If there was an MV-yo-yo-P award, then Ben would surely win it. Anyway, a sound, if not spectacular start from Edwin Jackson, and homeruns from Evan Longoria, Cliff Floyd and Dioner Navarro led us to a 8-4 victory. Our first against Cleveland since (it felt like) about 1998.

Not that the game passed without incident. Oh no. Late on, BJ Upton drew some plaudits for a superb chase-and-catch to stop an Indians threat. He then followed that up by not hustling out of the box on a grounder. Considering Joe Maddon's calling the whole team out a couple of weeks ago for a lack of hustle, it probably wasn't the smartest move.

Maddon took it very seriously, and come Wednesday, BJ could be found riding the bench. Aybar was back at short again, and Zobrist was making his first-ever big league start in centrefield. Meanwhile, Carl Crawford was sitting out for the third-consecutive day with the hamstring strain that has been bothering him for most of the season following long homestands. So, with a lefty on the hill, Jason Bartlett found himself as one of the less-likely DHs you will find.

Clearly, the groundwork was in place for some magic.

We actually took a 3-1 lead out of the first, thanks to a 2-run homer from Dioner Navarro (his second round-tripper in consecutive games, having not hit one previously since early June). But, with Scott Kazmir again shaky on the hill, we found ourselves going into the bottom of the ninth down by a score of 7-4.

Then the fireworks began.

Bartlett led off with a double (his second of the game). Eric Hinske followed with a double of his own, scoring JB. 7-5 Indians, nobody out. Step-forward Gabe Gross. Already boasting a franchise-record tying 3 walkoff hits this year, Gabe has, as you may have noticed from my post below, now been officially renamed Mr 9th Inning. He is possibly the clutchiest person I have ever seen. Every hit is a big one.

And on Wednesday night, his hit was the biggest of all. A huge (and I mean HUGE) homerun, off the back wall of the Trop over the bleachers in rightfield, a 2-run shot, tie game, nobody out. Mr 9th Inning delivers yet again.

The Indians changed tack, and brought on a new pitcher. Didn't make a difference. Massive hustle on an infield single for Aki Iwamura. A walk from Ben Zobrist. And then Carlos Pena. First pitch, swing, over the fence in centrefield, 3-run homerun, ballgame over, 10-7 Rays. Wow. Just wow. Never has a 2-1 series win over a cellar-dwelling AL Central team tasted any sweeter.

After that, the Rays headed out on the longest road-trip of the year, across the country to Seattle. CC and BJ were back in the lineup, but Bartlett was not. Still, Andy Sonnanstine made an outstanding start, but again got no support from the hitters (who were up against the equally good Felix Hernandez). 1-1 game going into the bottom of the ninth, and the Rays were handed a tough walkoff loss on a Raul Ibanez homer. Ouch.

There was, though, a bigger ouch. Evan Longoria got hit by a pitch on the hand in the top of the ninth, and subsequently didn't play on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. That's a big loss.

Ok, so if you haven't lost track yet, that's Bartlett and Longo out, BJ and CC in, Aybar now at third, and James Shields on the hill. And, while it wasn't Shields' best start of the year, it was plenty good enough to earn his 10th win of the year. Carlos Pena's 21st homer of the season was the hitting highlight, but the key to the 5-3 win was a four-run third, in which 2 runners scored on a throwing error by the M's shortstop. Following Shields, Grant Balfour and Troy Percival were excellent in 2 1/3 innings of combined relief.

In between St Petersburg and Seattle, the front office had made a move for an extra reliever, getting submarine-throwing righty Chad Bradford from the Orioles in exchange for a player to be named later. With his groundball-centric style, he should fit right in. To make way for Bradford, Al Reyes was designated for assignment. Considering his inconsistant form this year, it certainly couldn't be considered a surprise, but I for one would like to offer my wholehearted thanks to Al, particularly for the wonderful effort he put in last year in being pretty much the lone brightspark in one of baseball's all-time worst bullpen. It was a cracking contribution, and we won't forget it!

Anyway, Bradford arrived in time for Saturday's game, and, following a handful of runs, a shaky start from Matt Garza, and a second consecutive poor appearance from the usually reliable Dan Wheeler, he came on to make his Rays debut in a tie game in the ninth. He got through that, and through one out in the tenth, before the Mariners loaded the bases with Adrian Beltre at the plate. Groundball pitcher, despatate to get a groundball and, hopefully, the inning-ending double play, so what does the manager do? Well, Joe Maddon is nothing if not inventive. He calls for BJ. To play at second base. The unusual 5-infielder setup works to perfection as Beltre battles Bradford before sending a sharply hit grounder down the line at third to Willy Aybar, who flawlessly begins the threat-killing 5-2-3 double play.

That gave the Rays a chance in the eleventh, and they took it as Dioner Navarro came up with the clutch sacrifice fly, allowing Perci to once again shut things down for the save, and the Rays franchise-record equalling win number 70, 8-7.

But, again, it came at a price. Carl Crawford injured his finger on a check swing in the 10th. And it could be bad. He's getting it assessed back in Tampa today, but he went straight on the DL, and initial reports from the Mariners' team doctor says that he'll be out for 6-8 weeks, and might even need season-ending surgery. I hardly need to tell you that that is one HUGE loss.

CC's injury meant that we needed another outfielder for yesterday's game. Fortunately, we had one with us on the road trip. Yes, he's back. For the first time since May 2007, number 5, Rocco Baldelli was in the lineup yesterday, playing right and batting clean-up. Obviously he, and indeed everyone in Rays-world would have preferred his call-up not to come because of an injury to CC. But, and I think I can speak for just about everyone associated with the Rays, seeing Rocco back on the field is just fantastic. Don't get me wrong, he's probably never going to be able to be the all-star everyday outfielder that we all used to hope, but just to make it back to the big leagues is testament to the guy's character and perseverence. And I can think of nothing better than for him to play a part in helping us get to the post-season.

Anyway, for anyone who has lost count (and I would include myself in that number), we were playing yesterday with no Barltett, Crawford or Longoria. Baldelli is time-limited when playing the field, and Navvy was having the day game after the night game off. And we were against a knuckleballer. Not the most ideal ingredients for success.

Or so you might think. Because Edwin Jackson pitched superbly (7 IP, 7 hits, 1 run), and the batters scored in every inning except the first an eighth on their way to a comprehensive 11-3 victory - that very special win number 71.

Willy Aybar hit two homeruns, good for 4 RBI, Shaun Riggans had a three-run shot, Cliff Floyd and Eric Hinske both had 3-hit days, and Rocco came through with an RBI-single of his own, going 1-4 at the plate and making a great sliding catch in rightfield before leaving in the middle of the sixth.

And that's it. The last week in Rays-world. We're off today (thankfully!) and should be closer to full strength tomorrow, with both Bartlett and Longoria expected to be back. In the meantime we are going to have a very important decision to make. Clearly with Rocco not being able to play full-time, we are going to need an extra outfielder. But who, and to replace whom? The options to go down are Ben Zobrist and Willy Aybar (though I believe Aybar would have to be waived, and consequently almost certainly lost). The options to be the extra outfielder are Zobrist, Justin Ruggiano, Jonny Gomes or a new man through a waiver-trade. My ideal scenario would be to keep Zobrist and call up Justin Ruggiano. He can play all across the outfield, and showed some good flashes with the bat earlier in the year. That option though, would mean almost certainly losing Willy Aybar, which I would be loathe to do, and in fact he has proved himself to be such a good bench player that I just cannot see it happening. Which means that if Ruggiano (or indeed Gomes or a new player) is to come up, then Zobrist will be going back down. I've been singing Zobrist's praises all year - he is so versatile in the field, and while perhaps not the most dangerous in the world with the bat, he can certainly contribute. Maybe the management will decide that he can do enough to be the extra outfielder (as well as the utility infielder that we are already used to seeing). Only time will tell. Its going to be a tough call - but then Friedman, Maddon et al have been making them all year. And making them well.

Long may it continue.

Name change

2008-08-07T14:19:00.002+01:00

Public Service Advisory:

Gabe Gross will henceforth be known as Mr 9th Inning.

That is all.

Actually, I will have more to say on the many interesting stories coming out of the Indians series, but I just don't have the time right now. So you'll have to wait.

Go Rays!

Tigers swept, now questions to answer

2008-08-04T16:06:00.005+01:00

Detroit Tigers 5 - Tampa Bay Rays 6 (10 innings)

There are certainly easier ways to a sweep.

Not letting a (admittedly impressive) rookie one-hit you into the seventh inning for one. Not having your closer blow a save with his first pitch, and then give up the go-ahead run to the first batter in extra-innings for another. And not having your shortstop get hurt in trying to put together a second comeback after the first two have occurred.

But who wants the easy way, right?

2-0 down, and nothing to show apart from an Evan Longoria infield hit is where the Rays found themselves at the seventh-inning stretch yesterday. But, then the fight kicked in. A run was pulled back in the seventh. But then Grant Balfour gave up a hit (surprising enough) that went over the fence (shocking - his first homerun given up all year), and it was a 2-run lead again.

No worries. Kyle Farnsworth on to pitch for the Tigers, and Eric Hinske takes him deep, 3-2. An out later, and its BJ Upton batting with a man on. He takes a pitch and drives it over the fence in deep left-centre, his first homerun for over a month, 4-3 Rays lead. Sweep on.

Not so fast though. Troy Percival comes in, and on his first pitch gives up a game-tying homer. He's still 24-27 in save opportunities this year, but has become rather prone to the longball. Still, he gets through the rest of the ninth. The Rays can't score in the bottom, however. Perci comes back for the tenth, and its deja vu all over again, as he gives up a second lead-off homerun. The Rays must come from behind again.

So they did. Willy Aybar draws a lead-off walk. Then came a nasty, and potentially costly sequence of events. Jason Bartlett tries to bunt Aybat over, but gets hit on the finger. He had to leave the game, and although x-rays have showed that there is no break, its certainly a big worry. Our run of form around the All-Star break showed just how big a loss he is when injured. Shawn Riggans took over the at-bat for JB (as the last position player on the bench), and first pitch gets drilled in the chest by a fastball from Rodney. Ouch. He went down, and things looked really nasty. But catchers are tough, and he eventually made his way down to first. And next batter, he made it to second, as Aki bunted the runners over. Upton walked to load the bases, and Carl Crawford shot a single through the infield to tie the game. Evan couldn't get the run home, but Carlos Pena worked Rodney to a full count, before taking ball four to walk in the winning run.

An important win, with both the Red Sox and Yankees also victorious, but one that was a lot tougher than it ought to have been. I don't lay the blame for that totally on Perci, but his recent trend of giving up homeruns is definitely worrying. And blowing saves has consequences - not always losing games, but with Bartlett getting hurt in extras, the knock-on effect is potentially huge. Evan Longoria will play shortstop tonight, and I guess possibly tomorrow as well, but hopefully Bartlett won't miss any more than that. Fingers very seriously crossed.

One interesting titbit from the game - Trever Miller came on to get the last two outs in the tenth, and so was the pitcher of record. The win was his first w/l column number in 121 appearances - a MLB-record span of games without a decision. Congrats on a long awaited W Trever.

Tonight, Matt Garza starts against the Indians, and is up against Cliff Lee. That is going to be one tough game for the Rays. But, with all due respect to everyone else involved, the biggest matter of interest right now for many Rays fans is whether #5, Rocco Baldelli will be in the lineup. We do need a right-handed bat... Truth be told, I'm not sure whether he's going to be activated or not. But having him in the lineup would be a huge boost for the team.

If he is activated, then of course someone will have to make way for him. And it is pretty certain that that someone will be Jonny Gomes. I'm not sure if Jonny has any minor league options left, or if he will have to be waived, but either way no-one will be more disappointed than me to see him depart. He is such a likeable player - a true feel good story in every sense, combined with hustle and the epitomy of team-spirit. His presence will definitely be missed in the clubhouse - and around the city I think as well. It can't be a coincidence that the Rays annually run a 'Take Jonny to School' competition for local kids. But he just hasn't done it with the bat this year, and I fear that watching a called third strike as a ninth-inning pinch-hitter last night will be his last action as a Ray.

I hope it isn't, a clubhouse can never have enough Jonny Gomes.

The rookie marches on

2008-08-03T11:54:00.004+01:00

Detroit Tigers 2 - Tampa Bay Rays 5
Detroit Tigers 3 - Tampa Bay Rays 9

So, the Tigers have had to wait until August to get a firsthand look at Evan Longoria. Two games into the series, and I think that it is fair to say that they now believe the hype. He followed up a homerun on Friday night with a 3-5, 3 RBI effort last night, including his team-high 21st homerun of the season, a number that ties Jonny Gomes' team rookie record. He obviously continued his sharp play in the field as well, and swiped his seventh base of the season to boot. If you haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet, then seriously, whats stopping you?!

That steal came on the back-end of a double steal, led by Carl Crawford - his first stolen base for 18 games. But while he hasn't been swiping much of late, CC has found his bat stroke a bit more, not to mention his wheels out of the batters box. He tripled on friday night, to make it 5 three-baggers in 6 games, and move his AL-high mark to 10. I've said it before, but there is no play in baseball that is more fun to watch than CC flying around the bases on his way to a triple.

Truth be told, its been a bit of a funny series so far. We've looked reasonably comfortable in winning the first two, thanks largely to some nice, timely hitting. Having said that, the number of runs that we've scored is somewhat down to some slightly wild Detroit pitching. Indeed, Ivan Rodriguez apparently couldn't have picked a better time to get traded, judging by the tough time that Brandon Inge has had behind the plate. So far, we've scored twice on wild pitches, and once on a passed ball - and even with those stats, I'd rate Inge as their best player so far. Without his excellent effort behind the plate, we could easily have scored 4 or 5 more over the two games without ever swinging the bat.

Kenny Rogers yesterday was the picture of wildness. He struck out 8, but threw 109 pitches in just 3 1/3 innings, giving up 6 hits, 4 walks and 7 runs.

It was a performance, actually, that somewhat mirrored Scott Kazmir's start on Friday. He lasted just 4 2/3 innings, thanks largely to 6 walks - four of which came in the first inning, letting the Tigers on the board early without the benefit of a hit. He did settle down, and struck out five, only allowing 3 hits, but his pitch count was already out of control by that point. He was though picked up superbly by the bullpen - Grant Balfour, JP Howell, Dan Wheeler and Troy Percival allowing just one hit between them over the last 4 1/3.

Yesterday's start from Andy Sonnanstine was much better. He's struggled a little bit of late (and not been helped by a lack of run support) but was solid yesterday. He scattered 7 hits over 6 innings, but allowed just two runs, and struck out 6, thanks mainly to an absolutely awesome curveball that he had working. I think it is the best I have ever seen him throw the breaking stuff - he was making the Detroit hitters look simply awful much of the time - Matt Joyce almost swung himself off his feet trying to make contact, while veteran Edgar Renteria took such a wild swing that his bat ended up being fielded at short.

The well deserved W moves Sonny's record on the year to 11-6, and was preserved by Al Reyes and Jason Hammel. Reyes was very shaky indeed, giving up a run on three hits in one inning, but Hammel, making a somewhat rare appearance, was excellent, giving up a solitary single in his two innings.

As of right now, the Rays are 21 games over .500 at 65-44, and are sat 3 games ahead of Boston and 5.5 ahead of New York. James Shields is on the hill this afternoon trying to wrap up a sweep of the Tigers.

The Rocco question

2008-07-30T10:55:00.005+01:00

Hmmm, its almost a whole week since my last post, and for once its not because I've been terribly busy. Rather, its because of the particularly unispiring run of performances that have been put in. A four-game series split on the road in Kansas City, and the first two in Toronto also shared.

Its all been the same old story to be honest. Solid pitching, dazzling defense, and no hitting worth speaking off. Actually, a couple of bits, such as a couple of homers from Carlos Pena, and a 2-triple game from Carl Crawford (who added another last night), were pleasant moments, but by and large its been a struggle. The highlight of the trip so far has without question been in the field - Jason Bartlett returned and showed right away just what we have been missing, making difficult plays seem routine and impossible plays look comfortable. I honestly don't think that there is a better defensive infield in the majors than Longoria, Bartlett, Iwamura and Pena. They are outstanding.

Also outstanding are James Shields and Matt Garza. (I mean, Kaz is to, but his start in KC got abbreviated due to rain). Shields pitched excellently, but was outduelled by AJ Burnett on Monday night. Then last night, Garza went up against Roy Halliday for the second time in just over a week, and once again came out on top of the Cy Young-winner. The Rays managed only 3 runs on 6 hits, but Garza was so lights out it was plenty. He went the distance, for his first career complete game shutout, giving up only 5 hits while striking out 5.

So thats the whirlwind week-in-review, now onto the big story. The trading deadline. A day and a half to go, and as yet nothing for the Rays. Possible targets are moving left, right and centre. Nady and Marte to the Yanks. Teixeira to the Angels. Actually, I never understood that rumour to be honest. Apart from the fact that he hits leftys well, we really don't need a first baseman. Anyhow...

So, who's left? Brian Fuentes. Huston Street. Will Ohman. They're the names that are being mentioned the most. Bullpen help would be welcomed. But, from what I've read the price is quite high at the moment - everybody needs reliable arms in the 'pen after all! With plenty of arms in the minors (admittedly mainly young starting pitchers), it will be interesting to see what moves are made.

Since last week, and specifically since Nady was traded, most of the Rays-talk has moved away from a right-handed bat to play rightfield. Ok, there is still some chatter (Jason Bay still, and Randy Winn are among the names being thrown about), and I wouldn't be totally shocked if we were to make a move for an outfielder, but for the most part it looks as though we are looking at who we already have.

Justin Ruggiano was up with the team a couple of times earlier in the year, and acquitted himself very well indeed. He is an option. And of course there are still those of us who believe(/hope?) that Jonny Gomes can find his swing and contribute.

But there is another guy, a guy that during Spring Training many Rays fans resigned themselves never to seeing play at the Trop again. That man is Rocco Baldelli.

I pretty much haven't mentioned Rocco since the spring. I've seen him struggle with fitness in the past, and I've proclaimed his return. This time I don't want to get over-excited, I don't want to tempt fate. But, it has to be said, the signs are promising. We finally know what the problem is. Its not going to go away, but there are ways to works around it. Is he going to be the everyday star centrefielder that everybody saw back when he first arrived in the Bay? No. Can he be the right-handed DH, occasional rightfielder, pinch-hitter and defensive replacement? If the answer to that is indeed yes, then without making a trade at all we may be able to add the best available player around.

Down at Double-A he's currently hitting .333 with 3 homeruns and 8 RBI in 11 games. He's DH-ing. He's pinch-hitting. He's playing some late-inning outfield. On friday he's slated to play 7 innings in right. If he comes through that, then it could be next stop Tropicana Field.

I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much. I want Rocco to make it back to the bigs more for himself than anything else. If he can overcome everything that he's faced, and play regularly and contribute once again at the major league level, then that will be some achievement.

But it sure would be nice to have his bat right now.

The irony is not lost

2008-07-24T10:53:00.006+01:00

There's no doubt about it, I'm afraid. The Rays are struggling right now. We are right in the middle of a serious mid-season malaise.

The main reason behind it is obvious for all to see. We can't hit. Our bats are asleep. The biggest culprits (if thats the right word) are Carl Crawford, BJ Upton and Carlos Pena, but with the exception of perhaps Evan Longoria (who homered in three straight games over the weekend), no-one has exactly been shining recently.

So don't think that the irony of optioning Ben Zobrist back to Durham has been lost. I'm a big fan of Zobrist, and while he's never going to be a star, his contributions over the last couple of weeks have been important - as demonstrated again last night as he homered to put the Rays ahead, and then added an RBI-single that provided what turned out to be the winning run. Of course having provided that rare burst of Rays-offense, he was then asked to pack up his things and head back to Triple-A. Thanks Ben, I'm sure we will see you back in St Pete before too long.

While it is a shame to see Zobrist leaving, it does mean that Jason Bartlett is back, and not a moment too soon. I had been commenting on the 'spark-plug' qualities that Bartlett brings just before he got injured, and the lack of that has been all-too evindent over our recent struggles. I am certain that it is no coincidence that our season-high losing streak happened when we were without Bartlett. He may not exactly be a huge hitting threat, but on the basepaths, and in the field he has been the absolute stand-out of the season so far.

The encouraging sign though, through the course of this slump, is that we have actually managed to grind out the wins. Despite harldy being able to hit anything, we have won four of six, and both series since the All-Star break, and are still a half-game ahead of the Red Sox.

After winning the first two against Toronto, we lost the finale against the first of four consecutive left-handeders who would start against us. We have struggled hugely against the southpaws, so it was nice that we managed to win the opener against Oakland on Monday. That W came almost entirely courtesy of Scott Kazmir, who was outstanding, throwing 7 innings of 2-hit shutout ball. If he can carry on with that form for the rest of the year, then we will be laughing.

We then put together a very meek performance with the bat on Tuesday, only getting one run (on a sacrifice fly), and going down heavily. Andy Sonnanstine pitched fairly well, but things got a little bit away from him in one inning, and then the bullpen allowed the score to become a little more lopsided late on.

The wrap-up for the homestand yesterday saw James Shields at his best. He actually gave up back-to-back homeruns in the second, but got right back on it from there on in, pitching into the ninth for his ninth win of the year. As well as the contribution from Zobrist, Jonny Gomes got the important hit, belting a two-run shot off one of the catwalks to tie the game. Jonny clearly enjoyed the run of leftys that we faced - getting a few consecutive starts is massive for his confidence, and he showed why - going 3-8 with three walks and the aforementioned homer. He's still only hitting .197 on the year (though with eight homeruns and a .310 OBP), which is below what the team (and Jonny himself, I'm sure) would expect. With the trade deadline approaching, the two big possibilities for deals appear to be getting bullpen help, and a right-handed bat to play rightfield. I think that everybody around the Rays would love that right-handed bat to be Jonny's, but he might just be running out of time to show that he can contribute successfully in a part-time role. I really hope not, because he is a great player to have around, but I guess when you're in a tight race, you need contributions from everyone on the field, as well as off of it.

Personally, and despite the overwhelming success of our 'pen so far this year, I feel that an extra arm could be vital down the stretch run. We've got Perci back now (he got the save last night), and frankly I'm fairly happy having him in the closer role. And JP Howell, Dan Wheeler and Grant Balfour are not really showing any signs of slowing down. But beyond that, with Al Reyes, Gary Glover (on the DL at the moment), Jason Hammel, and, most concerningly Trever Miller, things don't appear quite so sure-footed as earlier in the year. Miller in particular has struggled massively since the break - in three appearances he has recorded only one out, and walked six. I'm sure he'll get it back, but its worrying none-the-less. I'm also fine with Hammel in the long-relief role, but I'm not totally convinced whether he could cope well if he had to be moved up into more pressurised situations.

Then there are Reyes and Glover. Workhorses both, and experienced with it, but Reyes is, I fear, past his best, while Glover's best isn't that high anyway. Don't get me wrong, its not like I go and hide behind the sofa when they come in to pitch, but there definitely exists the possibility of an upgrade.

And I think that an uprgrade there would, over the rest of the season, pay the most dividends. The St Pete Times makes a telling point today in discussing our problems against leftys - its all very well looking for a platoon rightfielder (Jason Bay, Xavier Nady and Casey Blake are the most oft-mentioned names), but in addition to the limited number of times that we will face leftys over the rest of the season, they point out that Carl Crawford, BJ Upton and Carlos Pena are hitting just .233, .262 and .204 respectively off left-handed pitching. Even with the best right-handed bat available, if those numbers aren't improved then we're going to continue to struggle.

An extra arm, on the other hand, would not only take some of the pressure away from Perci, JP, Wheeler and Balfour, but could be a consistant difference maker late on in tight games. And I think that in the last two months of the season there are going to be a lot more tight games than there are games against left-handers.

Anyway, its going to be an interesting week for Andrew Friedman. And I for one am looking forward to seeing what he will make of it.

Not the answer you might expect

2008-07-20T11:14:00.004+01:00

The question? You have two pitching duels, AJ Burnett against James Shields, and Roy Halladay against Matt Garza. Who is going to come out on top?

I'm betting most people would pick the Jays' hurlers to get the better of things nine times out of ten. Well, not this week. This week, two out of two have gone to the Rays.

Toronto Blue Jays 1 - Tampa Bay Rays 2

Friday night, it was James Shields on the hill, looking to end our 7-game losing skid, and get the second half off to a good start. And boy did he ever do it. He allowed a third inning homer to Adam Lind, but that was it, going seven innings while giving up only four hits and that solitary run. Having thrown 105 pitches, those seven were his lot, and as he sat down he was facing the possibility of a super-hard luck loss.

But, fear not, because as was the story so often in the first half, an unlikely hero with the bat picked up a starter's great effort. In the bottom of the seventh, Eric Hinske worked a one-out walk to bring Ben Zobrist to the plate. Now, much as we have missed Jason Bartlett (and we have missed him a lot), Zobrist has done a solid job filling in for him. And he continued on with that solid job, taking the first pitch from Burnett and depositing it over the fence in rightfield for his fourth homer of the season.

JP Howell and Grant Balfour got the final six outs without allowing a hit, and just like that the streak was over and the Rays were back on top of the East.

Toronto Blue Jays 4 - Tampa Bay Rays 6

And if the performance that had moved us there was good, the one that stretched the lead to 1 1/2 games was simply awesome.

I think most people are agreed that Roy Halladay is a very impressive pitcher. Well yesterday he was simply outpitched by Matt Garza.

Garza was completely dominant, pitching 7 2/3 innings, striking out 6 and giving up only 2 singles. Toronto simply didn't have a chance.

Not that the Rays had much to show off of Halladay. Until the sixth inning, that is, when we pieced together one of the more unusual rallies that you will see - but then thats what you need to do sometimes against a top class pitcher. The inning started with Friday's hero Ben Zobrist giving a perfect demonstration of the classic Baltimore Chop, as he made contact and cut the ball almost straight into the dirt in front of home plate, from where it leapt over the dispairing jump of Scott Rolen at third. Aki Iwamura followed with as perfect a bunt as you will ever see, not only moving Zobrist up to second, but beating out the throw as well.

Next up was Carl Crawford, who made a terrible attempt to bunt, before eventually sending a slow dribbler along the first base line. He was easily going to beat out any effort to field it, so Roy Halladay watched as it trickled along the line, and, when he thought it had momentarily drifted into foul territory, he picked it up, only for the umpire to rule it fair. He was not happy. Now, I have two points here - 1) even I know that balls hit along the lines at the Trop tend to roll fair; and 2) Halladay may have been almost 4000 miles closer to the ball than me, but it looked as though it was just touching the line when he grabbed it. It was a tough call to be sure, but the umps had already made several great close calls during the came, so I am (obviously) more than happy to back them on this.

So, that was three hits that had travelled about 150 feet combined, as Carlos Pena stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and nobody out. And he continued the scrappiness by blooping a single barely over the head of the Toronto second baseman, scoring Zobrist to put the Rays on the board. Eric Hinske tried to add some more, but struck out swinging.

Step forward Evan Longoria. As if he needed to do anything more to impress, well, everybody really. What followed was a great battling at bat in which he worked the count full, fouled two balls painfully off of his ankle, and finally belted the 10th pitch he saw over the fence in left-centre for his first career grand slam. Off of Roy Halladay. That is the sort of spectacular thing that has just become par for the course watching Evan. I think one of the Toronto commentators summed it up perfectly a little later in the inning when he said, somewhat unconnected to what the rest of the conversation was about, "Evan Longoria is special". I couldn't have put it better myself.

That inning chased Halladay from the game, and in the eighth, Cliff Floyd added a sixth run for the Rays with a homer off the first pitch from Brandon League to straight-away centre. It should have been a pretty meaningless run, but come the top of the ninth, it looked pretty vital. Trever Miller came out and, unusually for him, gave up hits to two straight leftys. That brought in Al Reyes, fresh of the DL, he managed to get an out, but gave up a couple of hits himself and generally looked pretty ineffective. What should have been a coast to victory was suddenly getting tense. Step in Dan Wheeler. He actually allowed a hit, and Reyes' two runners to score, but came back to get the last two outs and preserve Garza's well deserved win.

This afternoon, Edwin Jackson is on the hill as the Rays look for the sweep. He'll be up against John Parrish.

All-Stars? Really?

2008-07-10T15:28:00.003+01:00

I should probably make it clear right away that I'm not a huge fan of the All-Star game. I like the homerun derby, and the general concept of celebrating the best players each year.

But I don't like the fact that the result of the game decides home field advantage for the World Series. Probably not alone there.

And, unfortunately, I think that while the concept is good, the practicality of celebrating the year's best players is where the whole thing falls down. Let me explain.

Ok, giving the fans a say as to who they want to see play is a good idea. To a point. But the simple truth is always going to be that more fans=more votes. This year is a case in point. I'm trying not to be overtly Rays-orientated here, but they are who I know best, and so its easier for me to draw an example from them. Terry Francona said, on the Rays having only two representatives (and I paraphrase from memory), "at some point if the Rays want more representatives, then their fans are going to have to go out an vote."

Its reasonably logical, I suppose. But how many fans do the Rays have? Even including displaced fans (such as your author) and part-time fans and well-wishers, would we ever be able to outvote even that small percentage of Yankee fans who regularly attend 2 or more games a year at the Stadium? I think not. So already that plan has fallen by the wayside.

So what next? Ok, so we need the neutrals, and fans from National League teams to give our guys the vote. There's plenty of them, after all. It is possible that, with a good season, and lots of media attention, that a Ray could pick up enough votes from them to have a serious shot at making the team.

But here's the kicker. You can vote 25 times. Why? Why, oh why, oh why? I challenge anybody to come up with an election where you are allowed to vote for the person you want up to 25 times. Lets face it, its a system that could totally revolutionise democracy.

And it renders the neutral vote more or less useless. Why do I say that? Ok, I'm a Red Sox fan and I love David Ortiz. A big stretch of the imagination, I know. I want him on the All-Star team. What am I going to do? Yep, I'm going to go an vote 25 times. Big Papi 25-Everyone else 0. But what if I'm one of those neutrals. I'm thinking that Cliff Floyd (for example) is more deserving. So I vote for him. But do I care enough to go and vote for him 25 times? No. So its Big Papi 25 - Everyone else 1. Ladies and Gentlemen, democracy in action.

All of that is even before we get to who everyone is voting for. I could live with everyone having 25 votes if someone could guarantee that it was the best players who were being voted for, and not the most popular. But just look at the lineups. Someone please make the argument to me that Derek Jeter, Manny Ramirez, Ichiro or Ortiz have been the best at their positions so far this season? Someone tell me how Joe Mauer only squeaked home barely ahead of Jason Varitek? Carlos Pena came in the top five for first basemen. Not even I would have voted for him based on his first half (if I had voted). I literally do not understand the point of the All-Star game if it is not the players who are playing best that are selected. Especially not when the result of the game actually counts for something.

Of course, I don't really have an alternative suggestion. The other possibly acceptable one is for the players to choose. But look at their votes this year for the reserves. They voted on Scott Kazmir, who while I think he's great, missed the first month of the season, had 6 awesome starts in a row, but otherwise has actually been some distance off of his best form. And while the fans did eventually manage not to pick Jason Varitek, the players went right ahead and gave him the nod. Yep, the same Varitek who is hitting .220 on the year, and a bruising .133 over the last 30 days. The NL pitchers must be quaking in their boots.

Its a bit sad then, that for all this I am still ecstatic that Dioner Navarro got the nod. He truly deserves to be an All-Star this year. Don't get me wrong, I'm pleased for Kaz as well, but I could think of at least 2 or 3 other Rays pitchers who I think deserve it more than him this year. Sorry Kaz.

And I am certain that Evan Longoria is worthy of winning the final vote. He is an immense talent, and deserves the recognition that being an All-Star brings. And I'm enjoying the campaigns that are going on for the various players. Well, some of them. I like the fan-orientated, fun ones. I liked Giambi-tache night yesterday.

But I read this article on MLB.com and it actually made me feel a little ill at the whole All-Star experience. The final vote could be, should be - in fact, probably was meant to be - a way to get the fans really involved in the week, a chance for lovers of baseball to give a reward to a player who would otherwise have just missed out. I could cheer for that. Anyone could.

But sometimes the MLB, and MLBAdvancedMedia are just in their own little worlds. I quote from the article directly -

"...take the Giants as just one example. Their front-office people have been voting non-stop for Rowand online. Employees have been encouraged to vote as often as possible and have their families vote on their behalf. There are contests among employees to see who votes the most. Winners of those contests receive "cash prizes" and "memorabilia." Staci Slaughter, the club's senior vice president of communications, said the first time they counted how many times the employees had voted, some had already registered 10,000 votes."

How is that giving the fans a chance to reward someone who they think deserves it? If I sat at home and voted non-stop for the entire time that I wasn't working this week, could I vote 10,000 times? No. Nobody could. So my vote doesn't count. Your vote doesn't count. But hey, it is a nice job if you can get it, being paid to vote for someone. I believe that, in some democracies, it is considered illegal, but in the MLB it's positively encouraged.

I hope Evan wins. But I can't support a game that is created through this farce. And I can't believe that the MLB's own website is actually praising what I can only describe as vote-rigging.

What a joke.

And Sonny makes 10

2008-07-06T11:28:00.003+01:00

Kansas City Royals 0 - Tampa Bay Rays 3

As it turns out, Zack Grienke is a pretty good pitcher indeed. Not quite good enough to stop the rolling Rays, however.

From a offensive show friday night, we moved to a pitching spectacular last night, with probably the rotation's biggest surprise this year, Andy Sonnanstine, on the hill. I don't think Sonny would be offended if I were to say that he was the least of the Rays' five, in terms of pure natural ability. But he does have something really very special. A knack of getting the job done. At 4.31, his ERA is the highest of our rotation (rather impressively so, considering the relative respectability of the number), yet he has now become just the third Ray ever to win 10 games before the All-Star break. Somehow, he manages to give up his runs in games when we score plenty, and in games when we don't, he shuts the opposition down.

It was a case of the latter yesterday that brought him number 10. Painting the corners, pitching to contact, and trusting the defense (and rightly so!), Sonny went 7 strong innings, giving up just 5 hits while holding the Royals scoreless. JP Howell came in for the eighth, and after giving up a lead-off walk, struck out the side. I can't begin to tell you how much I hope that JP gets the call for the All-Star game. He is easily the most deserving on the club, and while I think that Navvy is the more likely to make it, nobody should underestimate just how valuable Howell has been this season. Top class.

Grant Balfour came in the pitch the ninth, taking his turn in the current closer-by-committee bullpen. And he carried on his excellent form, picking up his 3rd save with two K's and a soft liner to Upton in center.

That sealed our 8th shutout victory of the season (3 complete games, 5 combined), which was safe thanks to some hustle, patience and clutch hitting in the second. Cliff Floyd led off the frame by chopping a ball towards short. He took off down the line, and made it to first safely for his fourth infield hit of the year. He was followed by a single to right by Dioner Navarro, before Hinske and Zobrist were retired without advancing either runner. Step forward Aki Iwamura, who battled Grienke before stroking a double that scored Cliff and Navvy.

With Sonny on form, that was enough, but in the seventh Ben Zobrist added an insurance score, belting a homerun just over the fence in left - his third consecutive start with a longball. After Reid Brignac's encouraging debut on Friday, the short-term shortstop-by-committee looks to be coping pretty well, and its very encouraging to see the power that Zobrist has been developing recently. He belted the homer right-handed, having drilled a triple left-handed a couple of innings before, an effort that only just fell short of making a splash landing in the Rays tank.

With Boston losing, the win puts us 4 games clear now at the top of the East, and this afternoon James Shields will go to the hill looking to continue our 6 game win streak.

"That all men are created equal..."

2008-07-05T10:57:00.004+01:00

Well I hope that everybody on the other side of the pond had a very enjoyable Independence Day. Its not exactly something that is celebrated over here (I can't imagine why!!!), but I enjoy it, as it always gives me a good reason to re-read the Declaration of Independence, which in my mind is one of the finest written pieces of political text - of any text, in fact - ever produced.

Kansas City Royals 2 - Tampa Bay Rays 11

Still, whatever the Declaration says, it's demonstrated time and time again that, as far as baseball is concerned, all men are not created equal. In fact, some are just so unequal that it is almost ridiculous. Take Evan Longoria, for example. Last night he went 3-5 with a double, meaning that over the last 13 days, he has batted .438 with 4 homeruns and 15 RBI. That's almost not fair to other teams. Or take Carlos Pena, who has not been, it is fair to say, at his best this year. Well, he went 2-4 with a sacrifice fly and 5 RBI, 3 of which came on a homerun that can only be described as prodigious, striking half way up the batters eye restaurant in straight away centre.

Then there was CC, who went 3-5 with another stolen base; Dioner Navarro who went 2-4 raising his average back up to .315, and practically daring everyone not to pick him for the all-star game.

And there was Reid Brignac, just 22, who was called up (along with Ben Zobrist) after Jason Bartlett was placed on the DL with a sprained knee, sustained while stealing third in the series finale against Boston. It probably says something about how well Bartlett has played that we felt we had to bring up two shortstops to replace him, but... Brignac though, making his major league debut, didn't let the pressure get to him. He went 0-3 at the plate, with a walk and a run scored, but any doubts about whether he would be able to cut it were dispelled in the top of the first when he made another in what has been a long line of top quality Rays defensive plays this year. Taking a shovelled feed from Aki, he grabbed, spun 360-degrees, and fired a perfect throw down to first to complete the double play. Score one more for the farm system.

Far from a 4th July firework display, last night was much more about consistency and taking the opportunities that were presented. 11 runs on 12 hits is a pretty nice return, but with the exception of Pena's blast, it was more solid than spectacular. Still, after the intensity of the Red Sox series, it was encouraging to see that there was no let up as the Royals came to town. Lets hope it stays that way over the weekend.

Edwin Jackson on the hill had one of his better outings on the year, giving up just 2 runs on 4 hits over 8 excellent innings. He only struck out two, but seemed to have the confidence in his stuff to pitch to contact - a confidence that, along with his control, is all too often lacking. But it allowed him to easily go deeper into the game, something that can only be a good thing. Lets hope he can keep it that way next time out.

Tonight, Andy Sonnanstine takes the ball, looking to become just the third Ray ever to rack up 10 wins before the All-Star break. It won't be easy, as he's up against Zack Greinke, who, by the numbers at least, would appear to be one of Kansas City's better hurlers.

So much more than just another Sox sweep

2008-07-03T11:00:00.008+01:00

You know something? You just can't not watch this team. You can't stop, you can't look away, not even for one second.

Because every pitch, every swing of the bat, every bit of glovework could be the one. It could win the game. Even a game that looked out of reach. And maybe even a series against the World Champions.

At 3AM last night (UK time, obviously!), the Rays were 4-1 down. Kaz had lasted only 5 innings with an elevated pitch count, and through 6 innings the hitters had picked up only 3 hits between them. I had to be up for work at 8. I was only watching live at all because well, lets face it, Kaz v Dice-K, Rays going for the sweep, how can you not watch live? And as Jonny Gomes struck out, leaving a man aboard to end the 6th, going to bed looked a pretty good option.

However, before I get to my good decision, and those last 3 innings, lets have a quick recap of games 1 and 2.

Boston Red Sox 4 - Tampa Bay Rays 5

A solid start from James Shields (6 1/3 IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, 5 Ks) was backed up nicely by some timely hitting - a BJ Upton homerun on the first pitch of the game was complimented by a two-run shot from Gabe Gross in the fourth. RBIs from Carlos Pena, and a hustling Jonny moved the lead to 5-2 heading for the ninth. Then things got interesting. In came Troy Percival. And back came the Sox. Three hits, including a double off one of the catwalks in right, and things were looking shaky. One run scored, and then another on a sacrifice fly to right. As the throw came back to the infield, Perci ran to back up third. Or rather, he limped to back up third. He did not look good at all. Out came trainer Ron Porterfield and Joe Maddon.

The discussion was, shall we say, lively - Perci understandably didn't want to come out, but Joe was looking at the bigger picture, stuck to his guns, and called for Mr Clutch the Reliever - aka JP Howell. Quite a situation for the erstwhile inconsistant starter - one run game, a man on, two out and Julio Lugo at the plate. But fear not. JP did what JP has been doing best all season long. He made the big pitch at the big moment, and got the soft liner to short to end the game and earn his second save of the year.

Boston Red Sox 1 - Tampa Bay Rays 3

Game 1, I had watched knowing the score already. Game 2, I watched yesterday evening, with no clue what had happened. Its more exciting that way - though knowing that the outcome has already been decided doesn't make it any less nerve-wracking!

And when the Rays face Tim Wakefield, it is doubly so. Well, the 1998-2007 versions of the Rays at least. For Tampa Bay v2008 are something else. They've got the battle. And the hustle. And the will to win. A run on a wild-pitch got us on the board. And when the Sox tied it in the 4th, we got right back on it again, with the first of two super-clutch RBI-singles from Dioner Navarro, who must be in with a real shout of making the All-Star team.

Pitching wise, we got 7 outstanding innings from Matt Garza, who allowed just one unearned run on 5 hits, and moved his record to 7-4. JP Howell got a couple of outs in the eighth, and Grant Balfour got the final four to record his second save of the year - including 3 strikeouts in the ninth.

The big play though was, as has been the case so many times already this year, made down at the hot corner with the Rays on defense. Alex Cora came up with 2 outs in the seventh, and slapped an offering from Garza hard down the third base line. Surefire double, and a major threat, right? Not so fast. Are you forgetting that Evan Longoria is the guy with the glove down there? Not me. He dived full-stretch to somehow make the stop on the line, got to his knees, and threw a one-hopper across the diamond for Carlos Pena to expertly dig out and stop the potential threat in its tracks. If it hasn't already, then the Evan for a Gold Glove campaign starts here.

All of which brings us back to last night's game, which when we left it was unpromisingly poised at 4-1 Sox heading for the top of the seventh. It wouldn't finish that way though. Oh no...

Boston Red Sox 6 - Tampa Bay Rays 7

Let's be honest. On the face of it my decision not to go to bed at that point was an odd one. Work in the morning, already looking at less that 5 hours sleep, and no sign of any comeback.

But this is the 2008 Rays, remember. The never-give-up Rays. The best-in-baseball Rays. How sweet that sounds.

Gary Glover held the Sox scoreless in the top of the seventh, just as Trever Miller had done in the sixth. Manny Delcarmen comes in to pitch for Boston, and leading off for the Rays is Jason Bartlett. Jason came over from the Twins in the Delmon Young trade in the winter. And while Garza was the prized piece of the trade from the Rays perspective, Bartlett has shown himself to be far, far more than just a make-weight. He has become a key contributer with his magnificent range at short, and a pesky hitter who, in his own way, has been just as big a sparkplug for our offense as anyone else in the lineup. And you will find no better demonstration of that than last night.

Facing the new pitcher, Bartlett raps a double down the rightfield line. That was all the Trop (the filled-to-capacity-with-more-Rays-than-Red-Sox-fans Trop) needed to come to life. But not satisfied, Bartlett did that little bit more. Aki up, JB takes off for third. He makes it safely - his 8th swipe of third base (18th total) this year. He has got it down to a tee. I can give no greater praise than that which Joe Magrane and Dewayne Staats heaped on him at the time - "If you were holding a seminar on how to steal third, you would want him as the keynote speaker". Coming from a couple of guys who watch BJ Upton and Carl Crawford run the bases everyday, that is a compliment indeed.

And oh, what a stolen base can do for an offense! With Bartlett just 90 feet away, Aki grounds one to first. JB motors home, while Aki takes off down the line, flying past the slow-to-break Delcarmen, and beating out the infield single. Game on.

Next up CC, and he knocks a single to right-centre. Runners on first and third, no outs, game over for Delcarmen. Calling Craig Hansen, come and take your shot. BJ Upton up next, and he draws the walk. Bases loaded, nobody out, Carlos Pena stepping in. Balls one, two, three and four followed. Aki strolls home. 4-3 game, bases still loaded, no one out, Evan Longoria at the plate. As if there was any doubt he would deliver. Having already knocked a run home in the first, Evan waited for a pitch he liked, and then laced it into right centre. CC scores, BJ scores, Carlos to third, a stand-up 2-RBI double for the boy wonder. His 49th and 50th RBI of the year - just the third rookie in the last 50 years to have 15 homers, 50 RBI and 20 doubles before the all-star break. And he didn't get called up until a couple of weeks into the season. If it hasn't already, then the Evan for Rookie of the Year campaign starts here.

5-4, and the new pitcher is David Aardsma. He finally gets Boston an out - Willy Aybar - but then walks Dioner Navarro. Step forward Javier Lopez, the fourth BoSox pitcher of the frame. He strikes out pinch-hitter Gabe Gross. So its bases loaded, 2 outs, and a 1-run Rays lead. Guess who's back at the plate. Jason Bartlett. Swing. Massive hit. 2-run single, 7-4 Rays lead. Believe MLB, believe in the Rays.

Still things aren't over, not against Boston, and not with the Rays depleted bullpen. Glover gets two outs in the eighth, but gives up a run. 7-5 Rays. In comes Dan Wheeler who along with JP Howell has been the relief star all season long. He gets the 24th out. The Rays can't add anything in the bottom of the frame, so its Wheeler back to the hill, the 25th, 26th and 27th outs all down to him, with a 2-run lead to work with. Manny reaches on an error to lead it off. Mike Lowell singles, moving Manny to third. Danger signs are looming large.

But this is the 2008 Rays, right? Someone will come up big, won't they?

Too right they will.

Kevin Youkilis launches a shot, deep to straight-away centre. Upton is running back, still running back, looking over the shoulder, and making the unbelieveable basket catch. Manny scores, but thats a big, big, big out. And its still a Rays lead. Up comes Jason Varitek, mired in a huge slump and 0-3 so far on the evening. Terry Francona is so desparate to help him, he puts on the hit and run. Only one problem. Varitek can't hit. But Navvy can certainly throw, coming up with as perfect a toss to second as you could wish for, nailing Lowell by a good five feet or more. Nobody on, two out, 7-6 Rays. Wheels deals, Varitek looks, strike three called, see you later Boston, thanks for playing.

52-32

3 1/2 games ahead of Boston.

20 games over .500 for the first time ever.

The best record in the whole of Major League Baseball.

All-in-all, a pretty successful series.

And, just in case you haven't noticed it yet, a pretty good team...

Number 50

2008-07-01T09:52:00.003+01:00

Over a week since I last posted anything, but things at work have now pretty much moved into laid-back summer mode, so hopefully I shall be getting back to something like normal here. In the meantime, lets try to get up to date with all things in Rays-world.

I shall start very briefly with yesterday's game, which I haven't watched yet. In fact, I had intended to avoid the score until I sit down and watch it this evening, but the problem with being the story in baseball is that it is now all do easy to accidentally see a headline giving away what happened... So all I shall say for now is that win number 50 is in the bag, and the Rays are happy atop the AL East. And indeed the whole of Major League Baseball. Its a nice place to be.

And the way we've gotten there? That's been pretty nice as well. I've managed to catch a fair bit of the action - squeezed in between various other things, not always neccessarily in the right order - and it has been largely encouraging.

Actually, the first series since my last post did not really turn out that way. After sweeping the Cubs, the Astros came to town and took two of three - a real anticlimax after a fantastic series with Chicago. The highlight was Saturday's game, partly because of another Gabe Gross walk-off hit, but mostly for the awesome St Pete Pelicans throwback unis that the Rays were wearing. Very smart indeed!

Still, the Rays have overcome one setback after another this year, and so headed on over to Miami with the disappointment put to one side - and left three days later with it completely forgotten, thanks to a comprehensive sweep. Standout in that series was unquestionably Matt Garza's stunning one hitter - unfortunately the one hit he did give up was a seventh-inning solo homerun, denying him a shutout, but it was a real display of what Garza is capable of. Top class.

Then it was off to Pittsburgh, and two more wins (out of three) to round out the first half of the season. There, James Shields became the first Rays pitcher for quite a long time (I would imagine!) to get a chance to pinch-hit. He was also the only Rays hurler to pick up an RBI during interleague, though the best batting effort was again from Andy Sonnanstine, who went 2-5 with a couple of walks. Meanwhile in the Pittsburgh series, Jonny Gomes had his (and probably the team's) best at-bat of the season so far, fouling off pitch after pitch with a full count, before finally drilling the 15th pitch over the fence for his 6th homer of the season. Its when he has at-bats like this that you get all the more frustrated at his mammoth fresh air swings. He's got such great power that he really needs to realise that he can get results without screwing himself into the ground through over-swinging.

And though, Jonny, Garza, Gross et al all had their moments, it was without doubt Evan Longoria who was the key factor in the Rays move back to the top. What a week he has had. Homeruns, hits, runs batted in, a stolen base, great defence - seriously, with the skills that he has demonstrated I don't think there is anything left that he can do to surprise me. What a star he is going to be. Over the last week, he's taken the team lead in homeruns (15) and RBI (47), and raised his batting average to .267. Oh yeah, and he's become the first Rays rookie (and second Ray of the year, following Shields) to win the AL Player of the Week award. All-star, Gold Glove, Rookie of the Year to follow, perhaps?!

Anyway, as things stand, the Rays are 50-32, a game and a half clear of Boston at the top of the East, and sitting pretty with the best record in the bigs. Our 49 first half wins are the most ever by a team who finished with the worst record in the previous season. We've got a winning record at home, against the National League, against the AL East, against the AL Central, against the AL West, in extra-inning games and in 1-run games. The only split we don't have a winning record in is road games - where we're 19-19. And just if you were wondering, our magic number is 78.

Garza on the hill against Rays' nemesis Tim Wakefield tonight. I hope to manage to avoid the score until tomorrow evening, wish me luck...

Cubbies Sweep!!

2008-06-20T17:09:00.003+01:00

How 'bout dem Rays?!!

I've just finished watching last night's finale, and don't really have time to write anything substantial now, but I just had to jot down how impressive a series that was. As I've said before this year, its not just the winning, but rather its the way we're doing it. Last night Shields made an excellent start, but ran into trouble in the seventh, giving up three runs and being chased from the game.

Up until that point our hitters had been quiet, and had just a solitary run - and in years gone by a rough inning for our starter would all too often signal the end of the game as a competition.

Not this year. Bottom of the seventh, two walks, two hit by pitches, and Carl Crawford facing a lefty with the bases loaded an nobody out. Second pitch, swing, Grand Slam!!! That was followed by a BJ Upton triple, a double and steal of third from Eric Hinske and an Evan Longoria sacrifice fly. 7 runs, 8=3, game and series over.

A sweep of baseball's best team. I think it is time to take these Rays seriously.

Astros in town tonight, Matt Garza on the hill. Lets go Rays!!!

Net lag: Gold Gloves all round

2008-06-19T08:36:00.004+01:00

Chicago Cubs 2 - Tampa Bay Rays 3

Wow.

What a play that was.

So, last night I just about managed to watch the whole of Tuesday night's series opener against the Cubs, and boy am I glad I did. It was a truly fantastic game of baseball that had just about everything. I mean, the first eight innings were entertaining enough, but the top of the ninth... Wow, just wow.

Scott Kazmir got the start, and was pitching pretty well - he didn't allow a hit through the first four innings, but was throwing a lot of pitches. By the time he came out for the fifth, the Rays were 1-0 up thanks to a Cliff Floyd homerun. Unfortunately, Kaz couldn't get out of the inning, allowing three hits and a run, and leaving with two outs and the bases loaded, having thrown 110 pitches on the night.

Thats ok, here come the cavalry. Grant Balfour, who has been solid since getting called up, came in and successfully stranded the Cubbie runners. Then he pitched a perfect 6th, and was put in line for his first W of the season when Evan Longoria snapped an 0-14 skid in the bottom of the frame with a mammoth homerun that hit the side of the Rays tank in centre field. An RBI-single from Eric Hinske in the seventh moved things to 3-1 Rays, and it was up to the bullpen to come through. And it was the three relievers who have been there when it matters all season long who took the responsibility. JP Howell pitched a scoreless 7th. Dan Wheeler pitched a perfect eighth. And Troy Percival came in for the save opportunity.

And that is when things got really interesting. The first hitter (Soto, I think) hit a drive deep to left, over the head of defensive-replacement Justin Ruggiano. And while Rays-world may be spoiled by usually having CC in left, Ruggiano again proved just how much he is willing to give for the team. Over the weekend, I commented on a play where he ran head-long into the low wall in left chasing a foul ball. Well this time, he ran head-first into the left-field wall, making an awesome over-the-shoulder grab to rob the Cubs of extra bases. It was a fantastic play, worthy of the number 1 spot on any best plays list. Normally. Tuesday night, it wasn't even close to being the best play of the half-inning.

Perci was clearly not at his best. DeRosa singled, and Fukudome followed with a pinch-hit double. Runners on second and third, one out. Hoffpauir up to pinch-hit. Perci throws one in the dirt, Dioner Navarro doesn't have a chance. One run scores, Fukudome moves to third, 3-2 game, still only one out.

Perci fights back. He strikes out Hoffpauir. Jim Edmonds comes to the plate to pinch-hit. Perci lets another one get away from him, to the backstop - but this time the bounce goes straight to Navvy, and with Perci getting in position to block the plate himself, Fukudome stays put. But its not over yet, Edmonds draws the walk.

First and third, 3-2 game, 2 outs in the ninth. Reed Johnson at the plate. The Rays coaches notice Evan Longoria playing a bit too deep at third. They try to tell him to move in, but over the atmosphere (yep, you read that right!) at the Trop, they can't get his attention. Johnson has noticed it too, and, first pitch, he bunts it towards third. Fukudome is coming home.

I have lost count of the number of times so far that I have praised Evan's defense. It is truly remarkable. Indeed, he had already flashed the leather with some style several times earlier in Tuesday's game. But this was something special. Perci wasn't going to be able to get to the ball and make a play. Evan comes flying in from third, scoops, barehand and on the run, and rifles a one-hop throw to first. I defy anyone, anywhere in the majors to make a better play on a bunt like that. It was awesome.

But it wasn't complete yet. It was a tricky hop for any first baseman, but for one who only made his first ever major league start there a couple of weeks earlier, it was just plain nasty. But Willy Aybar belied his lack of experience and made a superb play to hold on and get the out.

What a game. Simply amazing.

And I'm telling you right now - if Evan Longoria doesn't end his career with a trophy-room full of Gold Gloves, then the award should be scrapped. He is just about the best defensive third baseman I have seen.

I shall probably be watching last night's game later this evening, but, after Tuesday's barnstormer, I fear it will be unable to live up to expectations. Still, fingers crossed that we did well...

2 of 3 from the Fish; next up - Sweet Lou

2008-06-16T09:49:00.003+01:00

Blitz recap from the weekend (and last week actually), before I get on with what I'm supposed to be doing... I am going to be super busy at work for the next couple of weeks (boo!), but then super un-busy for the following two months (yay!), so blogging might be a stop-start affair until then.

Right, here we go. The Angels series (and road-trip) ended with a hard-luck loss after another outstanding start from Scott Kazmir. Then it was back to the Trop for a three-game weekend series with the Marlins. Andy Sonnanstine started Friday, pitched fairly well and got the win. Matt Garza started Saturday night, pitched outstandingly and got the win. Edwin Jackson started Sunday night, pitched not great and was tagged with the loss. And Troy Percival made his return from the DL with a scoreless inning on Friday and a another to pick up the save on Saturday.

That was the story of the pitching.

At the plate, Jason Bartlett was the star of the weekend, going 5-9 with a handfull of RBIs and a couple of stolen bases. Jonny Gomes marked his return from suspension by hitting the first pitch he saw for a homerun and then, in true Jonny style, striking out his next three times up.

On the basepaths, we ran amok, with BJ Upton (2), Willy Aybar, Aki Iwamura, Justin Ruggiano (his first ever) and, magnificently, Cliff Floyd joining Bartlett in swiping bags over the series. Floyd's was particularly sweet, not just because he can hardly run, and not just because he was (apparently) wearing a pair of Carl Crawford's shoes, but because he drew a wild throw from the catcher, allowing him to make it all the way to third. Beautiful. Actually, speaking of which, I also caught some of the Cincinnati-Boston game on Saturday where Brandon Phillips was thrown out trying to steal two bases on one pitch. It was beautiful - although it would have been even better if he had made it!

In the field we were, save for one flyball that Upton and Gross left for each other, brilliant. I've been saying ever since he arrived, but Evan Longoria is just a joy to behold playing at third. Some of the plays he made are simply outstanding - on Saturday he made possibly his best yet, diving across the foul line behind the bag to grab a hard-hit grounder, and making the long throw across the diamond from his knees in time to make the out. Class. In fact, even when we weren't getting outs we were playing sparkling defense - two cases in point from Saturday, in the first inning Justin Ruggiano, making the start in left, chased down a fly ball that was twisting foul, and chased it hard. All the way to the low wall where the party area is at the Trop. And he didn't stop there either, barrelling over the wall and into the fans in an awesome effort to make the play. The second was later in the game, when Dioner Navarro somehow managed to stay with a towering pop that had bounced around in the catwalks high up in the roof to make the catch. Of course, as the ball had hit the catwalk in foul territory it was already dead, but it was a quality catch none-the-less.

Day off today, but tomorrow the Chicago Cubs will be making their first-ever visit to the Trop, meaning the return of Sweet Lou Piniella. If that wasn't enough anyway to make it a series worth watching, its going to be a real test of our potential play-off hopes, to see if we can match it with the best team in baseball. Scott Kazmir is on the mound first up, so we shall be giving them the best we have to offer. Should be a fun series.

Net lag: Monday Night Rays go back-to-back-to-back

2008-06-11T08:51:00.003+01:00

Tampa Bay Rays 13 - Los Angeles Angels 4
Tampa Bay Rays 1 - Los Angeles Angels 6

I hope that no-one will mind that I am only mentioning last night's defeat to the Angels in passing - I didn't watch it live (with a 3am start time, I think I am excused that), and I won't have the chance to watch it tonight. But its another road loss for James Shields, and it sounds like a tough one, where he was making his pitches, but just got beat by good hitting a couple of times. Thems the breaks.

Monday night's game, on the other hand, I did watch, and so saw all the breaks going the Rays way. Actually thats underselling things a little, because against the in-form Joe Saunders our hitters really found their swing.

It all started in the second inning, when Evan Longoria led off with another mammoth homer to left field. He was followed to the plate by the hot-hitting Willy Aybar, who I must admit has surprised me since he rejoined the team. He followed Evan exactly, belting another ball clear over the head of the leftfielder, and into the bullpen. Step forward Dioner Navarro. Navvy works a 3-2 count and, on the pay-off pitch connects just like Evan and Willy have done before, over the fence in left, back-to-back-to-back homeruns for the first time in franchise history.

Still, things are often interesting with Edwin Jackson on the hill, and indeed by the time the fourth was over, the Angels had moved into a 4-3 lead.

Still, not to worry. From there on in, it was all about the Rays hitters. 5 runs in the top of the fifth. 2 in the seventh. 1 in the eighth. And, just for good measure, 2 more in the ninth. The charge was well and truly led by Navvy, who with a 2-run double, an RBI-single, and another double continued his mighty form at the plate. That 4-5, 4RBI, 3-run day was almost matched by Evan though, who added another homerun in the ninth (his tenth of the season), as well as an RBI-double, to go 3-4 with 3RBI and 4 runs scored.

Indeed, nobody wanted to be left out, with all nine starters getting at least one hit, for a team-total of 18. Everybody except Aki Iwamura and Justin Ruggiano picked up an RBI - and Ruggiano, making the start in centre to give BJ Upton a rest at DH, made up for that by collecting 2 outfield assists. We turned three double plays, CC stole two bases, Edwin settled down and pitched a scoreless fifth, sixth and seventh, and all was right in Rays-world.

The loss last night though meant that we missed out on the opportunity to move back level with the Sox atop the East, and guaranteed a losing road-trip. Still, if we can win tonight's finale, we will have won 2 of the 3 series, which wouldn't be too bad at all. Trying to make it happen on the hill will be Scotty Kazmir, and he's going up against John Lackey, in what should be a cracking pitching matchup.

Getting heated in Texas

2008-06-09T09:55:00.003+01:00

Tampa Bay Rays 3 - Texas Rangers 6

So, no sweep of the Rangers, and I think that this game will have to go down as one of those days. I guess that as a team, things are going to go wrong over the course of the season, and its just as well to get them all out of the way in one game. Well, we did that yesterday, and still were within shouting distance right up until the final out.

Actually, it was shouting that seemed to be a major problem all over the field last night. There was BJ Upton running into Gabe Gross while the latter was camped under a lazy fly ball - with both seemingly oblivious to each other's calls for the ball. There was CC backing off from another lazy fly that Jason Bartlett was going for - but, called for or not, ultimately couldn't catch up to. There was Eric Hinske objecting rather too much to a called third strike in the sixth, and getting ejected. (In Eric's defense, the pitch tracker showed that the ball was way outside).

And then there was Matt Garza. He was having one of those days. Things were going wrong in the field behind him, and he didn't seem to be agreeing too much with Dioner Navarro's pitch-calling. Things came to a head in the fourth when Garza let forth a tirade into his glove during a trip to the mound from Navvy, prompting a swift visit from pitching coach Jim Hickey. He calmed things down the best he could, and Garza got the next two batters to end the inning (though not before sailing a pitch out all the way to the backstop). He obviously wasn't happy though, and as he got to the dugout, he got back into it with Navvy, prompting a bit of a shoving match that had to be separated by other players and coaches in the tunnel. Unsurprisingly, Jason Hammel came out to pitch the fifth.

Still, it wasn't all doom and gloom. BJ Upton hit his fifth homer of the season, and Evan Longoria continued his incredible defensive display at third, making a full-stretch diving grab in foul territory to end the first that will be right up there among the best plays of the year.

And even with the loss, its still another series win, and we head to Anaheim now with a chance (all beit a small one) of a winning road trip. Which would be some achievement. Edwin Jackson is on the hill tonight, looking to bounce back from a rough start last time out in Boston.

Don't mess with us

2008-06-07T13:10:00.011+01:00

Due to various things going on (the most significant being my return to footballing action after a couple of years of not playing - a decision that my leg muscles are still not convinced was a good one) I got to watch exactly five innings of the Rays-Red Sox series. And, considering it resulted in a second Fenway-sweep of the year, thats not a bad things.

But one of the five innings was inning two of game three, perhaps the most significant of the series. I had seen, of course, the highlights of the controversy in game two. Now, maybe I'm biased, but Coco Crisp's slide on Aki was completely unjustified. It was out of order.

Just in case you haven't seen it, let me recap. Crisp had stolen second earlier in the game, a play on which, in receiving the throw, shortstop Jason Bartlett had blocked the bag with his knee. Maybe it was intentional, but Bartlett doesn't strike me as that sort of player, it looked to me more as though he was just getting in position to catch a slightly off-line throw. Whatever. Crisp jammed his thumb sliding in, and did not take it well.

So, fast-forward a couple of innings, and Crisp is stealing again. This time, Aki is covering the bag, and the throw has Crisp out comfortably. But he slides through, taking out Aki with a raised forearm, the sort of slide that would be over-the-top if he was trying to break up a double play. Understandably, the Rays were far from impressed, and Joe Maddon let everyone know when he went out to the mound later, getting in a shouting match with Crisp in the Boston dugout.

Now, game three, and everyone knows whats coming. Even Crisp. At some point, a pitch is coming inside. (This is a part of baseball, by the way, that I find rather childish, and that it is accepted by all does not reflect well on the sport as a whole). Anyway, Crisp comes up in the second inning, and the pitch from James Shields does indeed hit him. Now Shields, even the NESN commentators (who managed to completely overlook the Sox players misdemeaners) acknowledged, did it the right way - he kept it low, well away from Crisp's head. It was intentional, but meant to send a message, and not to injure.

So that should have been the end of it, warnings all round, controversy over, on with the game.

But Crisp, showing himself to be a petulant child, decided that while it was ok for him to take out our (innocent) second baseman, no-one is allowed to come after him in return. He took a couple of steps up the line, and then charged at Shields.

I imagine you've all seen what followed - Shields took a swing and missed, Crisp connected, before being taken down by Dioner Navarro. Then came the cavalry, led by, who else, Jonny Gomes. As he demonstrated in the Shelley Duncan incident in Spring Training, Jonny is not one for letting his teammates get targeted. He led the charge, and along with Aki and Carl Crawford got some shots in on Crisp. Elsewhere, evidently, Edwin Jackson and a couple of Sox got into things, while the Boston third base coach slammed Shields to the ground (an action for which he has escaped punishment).

Now, I'm not one for encouraging fighting, but I for one could not be happier with the way the Rays reacted. It sent a clear message - mess with us, and we will stand up for ourselves, and stand up for each other.

I hope Crisp is pleased with himself though. He turned a minor incident (if you can even call it an incident) into a full blown fight and 8 suspensions. That his is the longest, at 7 games, hardly makes up for that. I would be entirely happy if I never have to speak of him again.

The suspended Rays are - Shields (6 games), Gomes and Jackson (5 games), CC (4 gamess) and Aki (3 games).

That all rather overshadowed the baseball, which as I said I saw little of, so can't really comment on where the Rays came up short. But it is a disappointment - we're going to have to win at Fenway eventually, and with them missing Big Papi, this was a prime opportunity.

Still, on with the action, and while I have been typing this, I have been watching the first game (from last night) of our weekend series in Arlington:

Tampa Bay Rays 12 - Texas Rangers 4

And Scott Kazmir clearly picked up in June where he left off in May. He went 8 excellent innings, giving up 6 hits and 2 runs, striking out 6 and looking really on top of his game. He is just a joy to watch. Al Reyes came in to pitch the ninth, and gave up a couple of runs - but by then our hitters had put the game out of reach.

It was a story of timely offense early on, giving Kaz plenty of room to work with. A massive homerun from Evan Longoria tied the game up in the fifth, before BJ Upton also sent one over the fence an inning later to put the Rays ahead for the first time. The lead was extended when Cliff Floyd scored on a wild pitch, and then further by an Eric Hinske sacrifice fly, and another big homerun, this time a two-run shot from Dioner Navarro.

Things were really blown open though in the ninth, when an RBI-triple from CC, a Texas error, a two-run homer from Hinske and a two-run single from Jason Bartlett added six more runs to give the score a far more lopsided final than might really have been warranted.

Still, it was a great way to bounce back from the Boston series, against a tough Texas team. I really don't think I can overstate how good the Rays' team spirit is.

Elsewhere this week, you will have course seen the Rays took high-school shortstop Tim Beckham with the number one overall pick in the draft - and then followed a few rounds later by taking his older brother as well. As always, its a bit of a lottery, but the scouts seem to be very excited about Beckham, so I shall be following his progress with interest.

Tonight, the Rays send Andy Sonnanstine to the hill for game two against the Rangers. I doubt I shall get a chance to see any of it, and I'm not too sure about tomorrow's game either, as I am playing in my work's football tournament - wisely or not. Hopefully I will both manage to last the whole tournament without collapsing, and get home in time to watch some baseball as well. Wish me luck!

Casey's first at-bat

2008-06-03T13:04:00.003+01:00

Oh Wikipedia, what wonderous nuggets of information you bring!

Yep, sitting there on the front page, "On this day..." informs me that it was 120 years ago on June 3rd 1888 that that brilliant poem, Casey at the Bat was first published, in the San Francisco Examiner.

I think thats worth a link to the Baseball Almanac's page on the poem, which has a recording of De Wolf Hopper's famous delivery - well worth a listen if you've never heard it before (though presumably as baseball fans, anyone reading this will have!).

I was going to copy my favourite stanza here, but reading it again, I just can't decide which one I like best. So I shall go for the first one, and invite everyone back to Mudville to watch Casey's big moment...

The Outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day:
The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

Quick links - Mr May

2008-06-03T09:46:00.002+01:00

Well done to Scott Kazmir who was yesterday named the AL Pitcher of the Month for May. Its the first monthly award that a Ray has ever won, and it was hugely deserved, as Kaz went 5-1 with a 1.22 ERA and 38 strikeouts.

Kazmir named AL Pitcher of the Month

Meanwhile, down on the farm in Vero Beach, David Price is continuing the torrid start to his professional career. For the third consecutive start he didn't allow a run, and has now pitched 18 scoreless pro innings, giving up only 8 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 19.

Price extends scoreless streak to 18 frames

Finally, here's a story that I read a couple of days ago that just underlines why Jonny Gomes is such a fan favourite. He must be so frustrated at his lack of playing time this year, and the struggles at the plate that it has caused, but he never loses sight of the bigger picture. Good for you Jonny.

Gomes gives young fan special day

Keep on walking off...

2008-06-02T09:45:00.003+01:00

Chicago White Sox 3 - Tampa Bay Rays 4 (10 innings)

At the moment, its really fun to be a Rays fan. Really, really fun. And its not just because of the winning either. I mean sure, thats a very nice bonus after 10 years of losing, but it is just a bonus. Because this team is just flat out great to watch.

Its a very strange combination that we've got going at the moment. Its part never-say-die battling, and part super-clutchness. I can't think of any other way to explain it.

We're 57 games into the season now, and still our offense isn't working at its best. Carl Crawford is hitting comfortably below .300. Carlos Pena hasn't seen .250 yet. And our tendency for leaving men on base is alarming.

But when the game is close, when its on the line late, time after time after time we are coming up with the big hits. Yesterday it was the turn of Gabe Gross. He was making a rare start against a lefty, partly, according to Joe Maddon, because of his defense, but in my eyes solely because CC was getting a day off. Well, he made the most of his opportunity. The Rays had gotten on the board in the fourth, thanks to a triple by BJ Upton and a single from Pena. But, come the bottom of the fifth, we were trailing 3-1.

Jonny Gomes leads off with a bloop single into right. Shawn Riggans follows with a double. Up steps Gross, 1-9 on the year against leftys. He slaps the ball into the gap, and motors round for a 2-RBI triple, tie game.

Fast-forward to the bottom of the tenth, game still tied at 3, and the Rays haven't had a hit since that triple. It is Gross who is leading off, facing another lefty, Matt Thornton. Fastball, fastball, 0-2. But he stays with it, gets a curveball next up and connects, sending the ball over the fence in right, another walk-off, another win.

Of course, if not for great, and at times battling pitching, our hitters wouldn't keep getting these opportunities for glory. And it was no different yesterday. Andy Sonnanstine was still a bit out of form. But he went 5 2/3 innings, and while he gave up 10 hits, he kept working and only allowed 3 to score. Then he handed over to the bullpen.

And this season, for the first time ever, that isn't something that Rays fans dread. Grant Balfour pitched 1 1/3 scoreless, with 3 K's. Al Reyes pitched a scoreless eighth. And then came JP Howell, erstwhile inconsistant starter, in his new role as Mr Clutch the Reliever. He gave up a lead-off single in the ninth, but it didn't affect him one bit, as he got the next three, including a strikeout of Nick Swisher to end the frame. And when the hitters couldn't get it done in the bottom of the ninth, he came back and pitched a perfect 10th, earning himself a well-deserved W. It makes his record 4-0, and in 20 appearances out of the pen (37 1/3 innings) he has worked to a 3.38 ERA, giving up only 27 hits, while striking out 33. It is fair to say that he has taken to his new role well.

A seventh-straight series win keeps us a game clear of the Red Sox in the east, at an AL-best 35-22. We're off tonight (while the Sox take on Baltimore) before heading to Fenway for what could be a big series. Last time there, we were swept comprehensively, which in many ways fired us up for what has come since. I cannot wait for it to get started on Tuesday night (well, Wednesday evening when I watch game 1). Matt Garza will be on the hill to kick things off.

Maybe hits are overrated anyway...

2008-06-01T11:00:00.004+01:00

Chicago White Sox 0 - Tampa Bay Rays 2

Our series of ever-decreasing hits continued last night, as we racked up only five against the Sox and Javier Vasquez. To be fair, Chicago only managed four themselves, and our five looked as though they would be plenty, thanks to having number 19 on the mound.

Scott Kazmir continued his fantastic start to the season, throwing 7 innings, allowing only 3 hits and striking out six. With the win, he becomes the first Ray to win five in a month, and moves his record on the season to 5-1 with a 1.22 ERA. In fact, excluding his first, shaky start off the DL, he has pitched to a ridiculous 0.55 ERA. And you know the scary thing? He's still not quite at his best - yesterday he was plagued by foul balls, ramping up his pitch count prematurely. When he really gets his slider going, he's...well, I can't wait.

The last six outs to complete the shutout of Chicago came courtesy of five pitchers in the temporary closer-by-committee. Actually, I somewhat suspect that Joe Maddon would have preferred to use fewer, but both Al Reyes and Dan Wheeler were a little shaky, getting one out, but allowing baserunners. Trever Miller and Grant Balfour (making his first appearance since being recalled, and earning his first save) got the final two outs, following Wheeler in the ninth, but the key effort was from JP Howell in the eighth. He came in with a runner on second, and struck out Jim Thome and Carlos Quentin to end the threat.

Thanks to the great effort by the pitchers, the two runs that our hitters put on the board were more than enough. The first scored on a groundout from BJ Upton in the third, and the second on Cliff Floyd's second homer in as many games in the fourth.

That moves us 12-over, at 34-22, still a game ahead of the Red Sox. Tonight, Andy Sonnanstine is on the hill against Mark Buerhle. Sonny needs to put in a good display after two consecutive weak outings - with so many pitchers on good form, and more waiting in the wins, the pressure is on in every start. Its a great situaion to be in!

Notta lotta hits

2008-05-31T11:44:00.002+01:00

Chicago White Sox 5 - Tampa Bay Rays 1
Chicago White Sox 1 - Tampa Bay Rays 2

7 hits on Thursday and 6 hits yesterday isn't much to show from the first two games against the White Sox, but fortunately, thanks to some battling performances, and the first run scored against the Chicago bullpen in 30 or so innings we did at least manage to win one of the two games.

The White Sox, like they were when we faced them earlier in the season, are a tough opponent. Possibly the toughest we've come up against so far. John Danks pitched a great game on Thursday, with only an RBI-single from Carl Crawford blotting his copybook. Even four stolen bases (three by Jason Bartlett couldn't get the offense going). Edwin Jackson pitched ok - he kept the team in the game for six innings, but certainly wasn't at his best.

It was a similar story last night as well, with James Shields on the hill. Definitely not at his best, Shields did what he has done all year - battled hard, and refused to get bullied. It says volumes that despite needing double plays to get out of big jams in the second and third, he kept fighting, and only gave up a solitary run, a long ball to Alexei Ramirez in the fifth. The double plays were just another demonstration of our great defense, and it when you play great defense, you start getting the breaks in the field as well. Take an AJ Pierzynski pop-up in the fifth. Aki, Bartlett and BJ Upton all drifted towards it, but all of them just stood and watched as it dropped between them. Fortunately, Evan Longoria was awake enough to move across the cover second, so when BJ saw Pierzynski heading that way, he could just pick the ball up and toss it to Evan to get the out.

After Shields left the game, Al Reyes, JP Howell and Dan Wheeler followed with a scoreless inning each, sending the game into the bottom of the ninth tied at 1. Scott Linebrink came in to pitch for the Sox, facing Cliff Floyd leading off for the Rays. He never got to face another hitter, as Floyd deposited the second pitch over the fence in left-centre, for a walk-off homerun, the Rays fifth walk-off win of the year.

It moves us back to 11 games over .500, at 33-22, and keeps the gap over the Red Sox in the East at 1 game. Tonight, looking to keep up the pressure is Scott Kazmir, who faces Javier Vazquez in what I think should be a pretty exciting matchup.

Net lag: Another series win

2008-05-30T09:08:00.005+01:00

Texas Rangers 12 - Tampa Bay 6
Texas Rangers 3 - Tampa Bay 5

Just a quick note on games 2 and 3 of the Rangers series, as I was rather doing other things while I had the two games on, and while Tuesday's loss was very disappointing, Wednesday's was extrememly encouraging.

On Tuesday, Andy Sonnanstine made his second poor start in a row, giving up 7 runs, although only a couple of them were earned, after a rare error by Evan Longoria (on an admittedly tough play). The roll of the ball was off for Evan all night in fact, as a couple of times he let the ball go, almost certain it was going foul, only to see it straighten up and hit the bag at third. Homeruns from Eric Hinske and Cliff Floyd gave the Rays a chance, but the game was put out of reach by - who else - Josh Hamilton, hitting a grand slam. He didn't have an outstanding series by any means, but I'm sure that that hit meant a lot to him. And as someone who has followed his struggles and his comeback, I'm pleased for him.

I was more pleased, however, about Wednesday's performance. Matt Garza was on the hill, and pretty much unstoppable in what must be his best outing for the Rays yet. He was perfect through the first three innings, gave up a couple of runs in the fourth, but then bounced back to stop the Rangers from there on in. He threw 8 innings and allowed just 4 hits while striking out a season-high ten.

The key inning for the Rays was a four-run fifth, in which two of our runs scored on bases-loaded walks. We drew 9 walks in total during the game, matching our season high. With a three-run lead, Troy Percival came in for the ninth, but with two outs felt the same tightness he experienced last week in Oakland, and left the game. Dan Wheeler came in, and after allowing one of the inherited runners to score, got the final out and the save thanks to a fantastic diving catch from BJ Upton.

The win kept us top of the pile in the East, but the bad news is that while scans have shown nothing serious, Perci has been placed on the DL. Its a pretty big blow, not just for his work on the mound (which has been excellent) but also because of his leadership. He should be back as soon as the 15 days are up however. To take his roster spot, the Rays have reinstated Willy Aybar from the DL. Its going to be interesting to see how he fits back in. To be honest I don't think he's needed, while he is solid enough, I don't want him taking playing time away from Evan at third, and as a utility backup Ben Zobrist is a better option, for while Aybar has more pop, Zobrist can play everywhere (he made the start in right on Wednesday) including shortstop. Its going to be interesting to see whether we keep the extra position player, or if another move is going to be made soon to fill Perci's spot in the 'pen.

Last night we started a four-game set with the White Sox, with Edwin Jackson on the hill. News on that will, I'm sure, follow soon!

Net lag: K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-Kazmir

2008-05-28T08:37:00.003+01:00

Texas Rangers 3 - Tampa Bay Rays 7

Well, its Wednesday morning, which must mean that its about time to talk about Monday night's game.

Which, I think it would be fair to say, I enjoyed a lot. And that is in no small part down to Mr Scott Kazmir. I said a week or so ago that, despite racking up three straight wins he still wasn't at his best. Well, last night he was.

His fastball was not only up to speed, but had some unbelieveable late movement. And his slider was simply devastating. The Rangers had no answers. He struck out 7 of the first 9 hitters he faced, and 10 overall in a 7-inning outing of brilliance. He gave up only three hits, and one run in the sixth, the only inning in which Texas threatened him even marginally. The run actually scored on what became a sacrifice fly thanks to (yet another) superb running catch by Carl Crawford, saving a sure-fire extra-base hit. The win makes Kaz's record 4-1 on the season now, with a 1.50ERA.

After Al Reyes pitched the eighth, Gary Glover came in for the ninth and had his second successive implosion, allowing two runs and only getting a single out - necessitating Trever Miller to come in and finish the job. Which he did nicely.

It was a cracking day for our batters as well - every starter picked up at least one hit, with Carlos Pena and Dioner Navarro leading the way with 3-4 days. Pena thought that one of his was a homerun, but after selling it to the umpire, he was ordered back to second with a ground-rule double when the final resting place of the ball was discovered - atop the B-ring catwalk. It was only the second ball ever to not come down from there, following a Jose Canseco shot back in 1999.

The only real downside at the plate was the fact that we left 15 men on base - but we did at least get 7 home, the key effort being Eric Hinske's ninth homer of the season, a 3-run blast in the 5th. That stretched the lead at that point to 5, and with Kazmir throwing bullets, it always looked like it would be enough.

The win meant the Rays held (temporarily at least) the best record in all of baseball at 31-20 - the first team in modern MLB history (since 1900) to have the best record through Memorial Day having had the worst record the previous season. Impressive. Trying to improve that record even further last night was Andy Sonnanstine, and more on that will follow tomorrow...

O's sweep!

2008-05-26T12:28:00.004+01:00

Baltimore Orioles 4 - Tampa Bay Rays 5

That, was a better win. Ok, so we allowed Baltimore to score the same number of runs as on Saturday, and we scored fewer ourselves, but believe me it was a better win.

Take James Shields. Like Edwin Jackson the night before, he wasn't at his best. But unlike Jackson, Shields didn't let it affect him. He battled superbly, showing exactly the kind of determination that you want to see from a top-of-the-rotation pitcher. He ended with a no-decision, but make no mistake, if it wasn't for him knuckling down and working through the innings, we wouldn't have been in the position to win. He gave up four runs, including a(nother) homerun to Aubrey Huff in the 6th that looked as though it could be his undoing. Rather, he fought on, pitched two more scoreless innings and kept the Rays in the game.

And when the Rays are in the game, they are dangerous. We'd gotten on the board with a four run third, the highlight being Carlos Pena's team-leading 10th homer, and had had an all-around solid, if not spectacular day at the plate - often threatening, but being held at bay by some nice pitching from the O's. You can't say that we weren't doing everything we could to make things happen though - 3 stolen bases, an outfield assist from Gabe Gross, and a sweet pick-off at first base by James Shields just a few of the little things that can add up big when the game gets serious in the ninth.

And it was very serious with a tie game and Ray-killer Huff leading off for the Orioles. Trever Miller came in to pitch to him, and did exactly what a lefty-specialist is meant to do, exactly what he has been doing all season - he got the out. Troy Percival then came in and got outs 26 and 27.

Move forward to the bottom of the ninth, 1 out, and the O's bring in George Sherrill to face Carlos Pena. Tough lefty-lefty matchup for Carlos, but he sticks with it and works the walk. Up comes Evan Longoria, fresh of his 2-homer, 6-RBI day on Saturday. He sees a pitch he likes and laces it into right-centre. Pena takes off like a rocket, and as Longoria hustles into second Pena crosses the plate, moving faster than possibly he's ever moved before. Walk-off win for the Rays, our fourth series sweep of the season, 10 games over .500 at 30-20 and sole possession of first place in the AL East again.

Nice.

The Texas Rangers are in town from tonight, meaning the Trop debut of former top-pick Josh Hamilton. After all the problems that he has had to overcome, I'm really pleased that he's finally demonstrating the potential that the Rays saw all those years ago - although I'm sure you'll understand it when I say that I hope he doesn't demonstrate it too well this week. Scott Kazmir gets the start tonight, and he'll be up against Sidney Ponson.

The sports fan's mentality

2008-05-25T11:53:00.003+01:00

Why is it that. despite an excellent win last night over the Orioles, its still the negatives that are annoying me more than the positives are pleasing me? Now, I know from experience at football that I am a far more positive person than most sports fans, but even I am frustrated at many of the little things from last night.

Baltimore Orioles 4 - Tampa Bay Rays 11

Now don't get me wrong, the hitting was great. Absolutely brilliant. Carl Crawford went 2-4 with 3 runs scored. BJ Upton went 4-4 with 2 doubles, a walk, 2 RBI and 3 runs. Evan Longoria went 2-4, hitting a 3-run homerun in the first, a 2-run homerun in the second, and later adding a sacrifice fly to round off an outstanding 6 RBI day. And Carlos Pena went 3-3 with a walk, 3 RBI and 2 runs. But it is with Carlos that my frustration starts. His first three at-bats resulted in a double, a triple and a single. He walked his fourth time up, and was due up third in the eighth, needing a homer to complete what would have been a first-ever Rays cycle.

But he never got the chance. Why? Because for some reason Joe Maddon brought in Gabe Gross as a defensive replacement in right, moving Hinske into first base. Now, even if it was a relatively close game, and all other things were equal, that is still a move that I would be unhappy about. But when you consider that it was a blowout, that Carlos was swinging so well and has had such a difficult start to the year, and that Carlos is the best defensive first baseman on the club, maybe in the league, and it is a move that defies belief. Maybe Joe didn't realise that he had the shot at the cycle. That is the only acceptable reason that I can think off for lifting him, but I don't for a second think that it was the case.

It wasn't the only Joe decision that confused me yesterday. While I was pleased that he gave Edwin Jackson the chance of the win (leaving him in through five sometimes tortuous innings), how he used the pitchers after that was confusing to say the least. JP Howell came in and very quickly worked through the sixth and seventh. Great. Its a blowout, he's a former starter and can easily stretch his arm out a little, lets save the bullpen and have him finish the game off. But no, Maddon brought in Gary Glover to pitch the eighth. Glover, who I do like as a pitcher, had a 'mare, getting only two outs, while giving up a hit, two walks and a run. That meant Al Reyes was brought in to get the final four outs (which he did very well). As it was, there was no real harm done - except that rather than using one pitcher, and having a completely fresh 'pen for whatever the next game may bring, we have three pitchers who have put in some hard work in a blowout. To me, that's not sensible managing of the bullpen.

Of course, it would have been nice if E-Jax had pitched some of those innings. He had one of his days yesterday, where he just couldn't throw it over the plate. He needed a beautiful double play turned by Pena to get out of the first, and perhaps the biggest surprise of his outing is that he only walked 5. The Baltimore hitters certainly helped him out by swinging at some stuff that was way out of the strikezone. I hope the irony is not lost that his first win in a month came on what was just about his worst performance of the season.

Anyway, a win's a win, and the reason I'm frustrated is that so often this year Joe and the players have been getting the little things right. Maddon is a great manager, though unorthadox at times, and despite the frustration that he brings at times, I'm certainly happy to have him in the big chair. This evening he sends James Shields to the hill, as we look to get the sweep of the Orioles. We're up against Daniel Cabrera, who we are pretty rubbish against, so it could be a challenge.

Baserunning: Learn with Hinske

2008-05-24T11:17:00.003+01:00

Baltimore Orioles 0 - Tampa Bay Rays 2

Solid win for the Rays last night, thanks largely to, of course, some very solid pitching indeed. Matt Garza continued his sparkling record against the Orioles, pitching 7 1/3 innings, allowing only four hits, no runs, and striking out four. He worked out of a couple of jams as well, and was generally pretty excellent. Trever Miller came on in relief in a vital situation in the eighth, and with the help of a controversial call, didn't disappoint. With a runner on, Aubrey Huff was the first batter that Miller had to face. Huff, who should quite frankly be banned or something for the disgraceful way that he has assaulted Rays pitching since leaving Tampa Bay a couple of years ago, had already had a triple in the game, and looked to have added at least a double to that as he laced a pitch down the first base line, only to see it called foul by the first base umpire.

He was not happy! None of the angles they replayed it from on TV really showed whether it was the right call or not, but I will say this - Huff looked pretty convinced he was right. Miller kept his head in the game though, and came back to coerce Huff to hit into the inning-ending double play. Troy Percival then came in to pitch a perfect ninth, collecting his 14th save of the season.

For the O's, Jeremy Guthrie matched Garza out for out until the fifth inning. There, Eric Hinske got on board with a fading line-drive into left-centre with one out, and then proceeded to give a class on how baserunning doesn't have to be perfect in order to get results. With Jason Bartlett at the plate, Hinske took off on what the O's commentators said was a hit-and-run play, although judging by Bartlett's complete lack of any interest in making contact, I seriously doubt that. He had a pretty good jump actually, but then stopped about two-thirds of the way to second as Hernandez's throw came across the infield. It short-hopped Brian Roberts, who hadn't noticed that Hinske was now hung-up, and so Eric simply trotted on into second for the stolen base.

Bartlett eventually walked, bringing up Aki Iwamura. Aki had one of those days where he made great contact every time up, but it just kept going to where the fielders could get it. This time was no exception, as he lined a ball deep to centre, only to see Adam Jones somehow make a play on it. Hinske had taken off with the ball, and so when Jones did spear it, he had to rush back into second. Why he wasn't tagging, I have no idea. The ball was so far back that had it got past Jones he would still have easily scored from second, and otherwise would have had plenty of time to move up to third.

Still, luck was with Eric it seemed, as Carl Crawford stepped in and rapped a hit through the right of the infield, sending Hinske scampering around to score - thanks to a beautiful slide behind catcher Hernandez.

That run looked to be enough, but the Rays added a welcome insurance score in the eighth - in equally unorthadox fashion. With one out, Chad Bradford came in to pitch for Baltimore, and promptly walked BJ Upton. That saw the O's bench coach (their manager had been ejected for arguing the Huff call) bring in closer George Sherrill. And, before he had even thrown a pitch, Sherrill had made a mistake. He threw an attempted pickoff to first, but did so seemingly without warning to first baseman Millar, and so wildly that he couldn't have got it even if he did know it was coming. Upton moved over to third, and Carlos Pena hit the second ball he saw into deep left-centre. It looked like a sure-fire double, maybe even a triple, but somehow Luke Scott caught up and made an incredible play to rob Pena of a hit. Upton scored, but it could easily have been more. Considering the amazing outfield the Rays have, I think it says something about Luke Scott, Adam Jones and Nick Markakis that they each made a play last night that I would rate as good as, if not better than anything I have seen so far this season. They were outstanding.

The win moves us to 28-20, a game and a half back of Boston in the East. Edwin Jackson goes for the Rays tonight, as we look to carry on our hot home-form. He'll be up against former Ray Steve Trachsel.

Two games, and another game

2008-05-22T08:42:00.002+01:00

Tampa Bay Rays 3 - Oakland Athletics 2
Tampa Bay Rays 1 - Oakland Athletics 9

Last night I managed to watch two baseball games, without seeing the end of either. Or, for that matter, really paying much attention to what was going on. Because, you see, I was watching the Champions League Final, and a belting good game of football it was as well.

Still, I saw enough of the baseball to know that on Tuesday Scott Kazmir made an excellent start (7IP, 4H, 1R, 8Ks and the win), and that yesterday Andy Sonnanstine did not. In fact, pretty much the only highlight yesterday for the Rays was an eighth inning homer from Jonny Gomes.

That means there was no sweep of the A's to take back to St Pete, but still a 27-20 record and second place in the East is a pretty good place to be. The Orioles are coming to town over the weekend, after an off-day today, and Matt Garza will be getting the ball first up, looking for his third win of the year.

Net lag: Lucky 13

2008-05-21T08:44:00.003+01:00

Tampa Bay Rays 7 - Oakland Athletics 6 (13 innings)

Watching Monday night's game yesterday, I was struck by just one single thought as the game neared its finish - "please, not another walk-off!" And, after falling to two consecutive walk-off defeats in St Louis, the bullpen was indeed back on form yesterday, denying Oakland 5 opportunities to wrap up the game with a single swing.

The early going made it look very unlikely that the 'pen would ever get the chance to save the game, as James Shields came out very shakily, allowing homeruns in the first and second inning to give the A's an early 3-0 lead. But, the battling batters fought back for him, starting in the fifth, when Eric Hinske belted a two-run homer. An inning later and the Rays had the lead, thanks to an RBI-double from Evan Longoria, and a run-scoring groundout from Cliff Floyd, only for Shields to surrender another homerun (Frank Thomas' second of the night) to tie the game again.

Still the batters swung though, and in the seventh Aki Iwamura doubled home Jason Bartlett to put the Rays back on top. Shields got through the seventh, and through 2 outs in the eighth, before Oakland once again tied the game up, and finished his afternoon. 7 2/3 innings, 8 hits, 5 runs and 4 strikeouts isn't Shields best outing ever, but considering how the afternoon started, its pretty decent.

So, 5-5 game, bottom of the eighth, enter the bullpen. First up, and Gary Glover gets the final out of the eighth. JP Howell pitches a scoreless ninth. Extra innings. Jason Hammel comes in, making his first appearance for 11 days. He got off to a shaky start, allowing a couple of walks, but then really knuckled down, with three excellent scoreless innings.

Still 5-5, top of the thirteenth, Pena is aboard, Longoria steps in and blasts a shot to deep left-centre, his fifth homer of the year, 7-5 Rays. Longoria had an excellent day, going 3-6 with 3 RBI, as well as a stolen base. Troy Percival came in for the save, which, after letting one run score on a triple that only barely stayed in the park, he collected - his 12th of 2008.

After the tough series in St Louis, a game like this is exactly what we needed - a battling win that included a solid start, excellent relief pitching, and clutch hitting. It was even more important with Boston winning their fourth straight - and I should like to offer my belated congratulations to Jon Lester for his no-hitter. I don't think there is anybody, not even Royals fans, that would begrudge him for it, not after all that he has been through in the last year or so.

Last night, we sent Scott Kazmir to the hill, so I hope that went well. All will be revealed (to me) tonight and then (to you) tomorrow. Unless of course you know already...

Our own worst enemies

2008-05-19T14:56:00.003+01:00

Just a quick note today on our two games with the Cards over the weekend, both of which I half-watched while doing other things.

Tampa Bay Rays 8 - St Louis Cardinals 9 (10 innings)
Tampa Bay Rays 4 - St Louis Cardinals 5

And, while St Louis played very well in both games, I think it would be fair to say that we played a very large part in our own downfall. On Saturday, we lost despite collecting a season-high 18 hits, in large part due to some catastrophic baserunning. We managed to make five outs on the basepaths, but even so managed to come back from four runs behind to tie the game up and send it to extra innings, only for Dan Wheeler to surrender a walk-off homerun for the bullpen's first loss in a month.

That became two in two days yesterday, following a solid, if not outstanding start from Edwin Jackson. E-Jax went only 5 1/3, but only had his scoreless streak ended after he had been removed from the game. The reason for his removal mirrored the downfall that was to follow for the Rays - after not walking a batter through the first four innings, he then walked 4 in the next 1 1/3 (he also racked up 7 strikeouts). Even after JP Howell allowed an E-Jax runner to score, and despite Wheeler giving up his second homerun in as many days (and as many pitches!) to Ryan Ludwick, we still should have been on for the win, thanks to a season-high 7 doubles and a Carl Crawford homerun.

Unfortunately however, our pitchers lost the strike zone completely - in all, 6 pitchers combined to give up 10 walks from the fifth inning onward - and it came back to bite us as the 10th one came round to net St Louis a second consecutive walk-off win in the 9th.

It was a good weekend at the plate for the Rays, making the pitching and baserunning struggles particularly frustrating - hopefully we can put it all together in Oakland starting tonight (James Shields on the mound). Particularly enjoying St Louis were our two shortstops - Jason Bartlett went 4-5 on Saturday, and Ben Zobrist got on the board for the year with a 2-4 day with a pair of doubles on Sunday.

"He was Mr Everything tonight"

2008-05-17T14:18:00.005+01:00

So said Joe Maddon. "It was the Sonny show. Thats all it was."

I don't think he could have summed up last night's game any better.

Tampa Bay Rays 3 - St Louis Cardinals 1

Because Andy Sonnanstine was completely outstanding last night. And not only when on the mound.

That's where I'll start though, and 8 innings pitched, allowing 8 hits, no walks, striking out 4, and giving up just a single run, on a homer for Chris Duncan in the eighth, is a very impressive outing by anyone's standards. Add to that the fact that he stopped Albert Pujols streak of 42 consecutive games getting on base, and its clear to see how good he was. His control was absolutely top quality - 76 out of his 98 pitches were strikes.

Then, there was the fielding. Not so much here admittedly, but he did make one excellent play moving off the mound to his left, saving an almost certain base hit.

I mentioned yesterday how he had done at the plate in interleague last year. Well, he didn't disappoint last night. He singled in his first time up, moved to second on a wild pitch (showing he can run the bases too, with a nice slide) and came round to score. He singled his second time up as well, and on his third trip to the plate put down a perfect 2-strike bunt. In fact, so good was he yesterday, that I would imagine he will be disappointed to have struck out on his fourth trip to the plate.

And, while Sonnanstine virtually did everything needed to win the game on his own, he did get plenty of help from his teammates - both in the field and at the plate, as well as from Troy Percival who pitched a perfect ninth for his 11th save of the year.

A 12-hit day marks one of the better recent offensive efforts, but unusually we didn't do such a great job of stringing them together. The exception was the third, where following Sonny's lead-off single, Aki Iwamura, Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena all followed suit, the latter two picking up RBIs. The Rays added a third run in the fourth, Dioner Navarro walking and, following Sonny's second single, coming round to score on another single from Aki. Aki went 3-5, and joining him and Sonnanstine with multi-hit days were Jason Bartlett and Evan Longoria - both of whom flashed some nice leather on the left hand side of the infield.

With Boston being rained out, that win moves us a game and a half clear at the top of the AL East, and 8 games above .500 at 25-17. Trying to improve that record further for the Rays this afternoon will be Matt Garza, fresh off his best start so far for Tampa Bay.

Getting used to the view

2008-05-16T09:11:00.003+01:00

New York Yankees 2 - Tampa Bay Rays 1
New York Yankees 2 - Tampa Bay Rays 5

So it wasn't quite a sweep of the Yankees this week, but despite losing on Wednesday, last night's win makes it three straight days that the Rays have been looking down on the rest of the AL East. And you know what, I like the view.

So, it might not last. Who cares when you're playing such good baseball. And I'll tell you something for nothing - if the Rays actually start hitting, then we are going to be unstoppable.

Take Wednesday's game. One solitary run, on a seeing-eye single from Navvy (who's hitting .387 right now), but that was almost enough to beat the Yankees. Now how often can the Rays have said that over the years? Of course it helps to have James Shields on the hill. Unfortunately he couldn't manage a third-consecutive Trop shutout, but 9 times out of 10, 7 1/3 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs allowed and 6 strikeouts is going to get you the W. As it is, Shields slips to 4-3, albeit with a solid 3.05 ERA. Compare that with Wednesday's winning pitcher, Mike Mussina, who is 6-3 with a 3.99 ERA, and sometimes you feel there's no justice. Not that Mussina didn't deserve the win. He was outstanding.

Having watched that game as a warm-up, I moved on to yesterday's main event, Scotty K's third start of the season. And he started paying the team back for his new contract right away with a solid outing. Kaz still isn't quite at his sharpest, which, judging by the results yesterday, is very exciting indeed. He went 6 innings, gave up just 3 hits and no runs, striking out 3, and despite clearly not having his best stuff, really didn't give the Yankees much of a chance.

Following Kaz, Gary Glover was responsible for a rare bullpen-blip, giving up 2 runs in 2/3 of an inning - but the threat was soon shut down, by Trever Miller, Dan Wheeler (of course) and a tenth save of the season from Troy Percival.

The Rays themselves only managed 5 hits, but pieced at-bats together to tally five runs to earn the win. Aki Iwamura led off the game with a homerun, and later doubled and scored on a CC sacrifice-fly. He was joined having a two-hit day by Shawn Riggans, who was, thanks to Dioner Navarro's hot-hitting, making his first start behind the plate in over a week. He didn't waste any time either, lacing the first pitch he saw for a single, and then belting the second way over the fence in left for a two-run homer. Cliff Floyd went hitless for the first time since coming off the DL, and Ben Zobrist made his first appearance of the season, getting the start at short.

All of which gives us an AL-best 24-17 record going into interleague play tonight. To start, the Rays will be making their first ever visit to the new Busch Stadium to take on the Cardinals. Andy Sonnanstine is starting tonight, and, I have to say that as much as I would be looking forward to watching him, and the game in general, the real excitement is definitely getting to see the pitchers hit. Sonnanstine has a lot to live up to, having gone 2-5 last season to lead the Rays' pitchers at the plate.

Best. News. Ever. Plus, Net lag: of Perci and E-Jax

2008-05-15T08:40:00.005+01:00

The first thing I do every morning when I get in to work is, as I'm sure is the case with most people, check my e-mails. And then delete most of them. Including the one from the Rays saying 'Postgame alert for the Tampa Bay Rays'. I mean, I don't want to know what happened in last nights game until I watch it!

But this morning there was a second e-mail from the Rays. And its subject made me very happy indeed.

'Rays sign Kazmir to four-year deal'

Oh yes.

Honestly, regardless of what the score in last nights game actually was, I don't think I could be much happier about baseball-related things this morning. Because no-matter how good we are getting, the gaping hole in the long-term plan was the signing of Scotty K. We'd locked up James Shields, CC, Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena et al. But our crown jewel, the pitcher that every team would like to have, the pitcher that the Mets traded away for Victor Zambrano (what?! Thats always worth a mention!!) had not been signed up.

Well, not any more. A deal worth up to $39.5 million will keep Kaz in Rays blue until 2011 guaranteed, with a team option for 2012. And just think what our rotation could be like then. Kaz, James Shields, Matt Garza, David Price, Mitch Talbot, Jeff Niemann, Andy Sonnanstine, Edwin Jackson... Look out baseball.

Which brings me nicely on to:

New York Yankees 1 - Tampa Bay Rays 2

And I'm afraid there is not much I can say about the game. Not because it was boring or anything, but rather because, for some reason, it still hasn't been archived on MLB.tv. No idea why. Last night's game is up already - I checked - but Tuesday's still isn't. Oh well, thems the breaks.

Still, I don't need to watch to know what happened - Edwin Jackson was outstanding, again, allowing just 5 hits and no runs while striking out 5 in 7 innings work. But, once more the Rays gave him minimal run support - this time just a solitary score in the fourth. And, once more, Troy Percival blew the save - two consecutive E-Jax starts, two consecutive Perci blown saves. Tough break, especially considering how lights out Perci has been the rest of the time. Jackson has now thrown 15 scoreless innings without getting a decision. Lets just hope that doesn't frustrate him.

But, as you will know by know from reading this blog, the Rays are nothing this year if not battlers. Two scoreless innings from JP Howell followed, and, as Mariano Riveira, unscored-upon in 2008, started his second inning of work, Cliff Floyd steps in. He belts a single. Jonny Gomes pinch-runs, and swipes second base (his third steal in 2 games). And Gabe Gross laces a single, sending Jonny hustling round to home - another walk-off, another win.

And first place all on our own in the AL East.

Last night, James Shields made the start, and I intend to watch that (or as much as I can) after work tonight, and before the series finale starts at 4.10 EST (9.10 BST). I assume that Kaz is on the hill tonight. Shields and Kaz back-to-back? What a treat for me. I think I could get used to it...

Net lag: Five straight

2008-05-14T08:53:00.003+01:00

You'll be pleased (or somewhat indifferent, as the case may be) to know that my cold is now pretty much gone, and so last night (Tuesday) I could enjoy watching Monday night's series opener with the Yankees at the Trop.

New York Yankees 1 - Tampa Bay Rays 7

And enjoy it I certainly did! Matt Garza was on the mound for the Rays, and had his best outing in blue so far - going seven strong innings without giving up a run. He gave up only five hits, striking out three, and was well deserving of his second win of the season.

The win looked secure fairly early, thanks chiefly to a demonstration of hustle from Jonny Gomes. He singled in his first at-bat in the second inning, before stealing second base and scoring on a Dioner Navarro single to put the Rays on the board first. Next time around in the fourth, he furthered his challenge to Joe Maddon for more playing time, hitting an RBI-single, moving to second on a bunt, stealing third, and then scoring on a 2-RBI triple from Jason Bartlett. Bartlett then scored himself on a single from Aki Iwamura, who, with a 2-5 day, pushed his hit streak to 10. A couple of insurance runs came in the fifth and seventh, and by the time that Gary Glover, back off the DL, gave up a run to New York in the eighth, the Rays were already out of sight.

The win moves the Rays winning streak to 5, and their home winning streak to 10 - and at 22-16 we are six games above .500 for the first time ever.

That is to say, of course, that we were six games above .500 for the first time ever after Monday's game. We are either 5 or 7 games above now... all this delayed-action blogging gets confusing! I was hit by a bolt of inspiration while walking to work this morning, and thought that its kind of like the internet equivalent of jet lag - because of being 5 hours ahead of EST over here, I can't watch the action until about 18 hours later... net lag! Genius. Or not...

Anyhow, tonight Tuesday night's game beckons, and another chance for Edwin Jackson (if I remember correctly) to show what he can do.

Two from the Jays, and an Angels sweep

2008-05-12T09:53:00.005+01:00

What is it, a week since I last wrote something? Well, while I basically haven't seen the Rays play in that time, we have, I think it is fair to say, had a good week.

It started with the Rays taking two of three up in Toronto, the third game a 13-inning spectacular that, despite Troy Percival blowing his first save of the season, saw the players keep on battling, finally being rewarded with the win thanks largely to a grand-slam from Dioner Navarro (who is still swinging a hot bat).

Then the AL West-leading Angels came to the Trop. And, well, they're not leading it now they've left. Here's the game highlights, in reverse order.

Game three last night saw Andy Sonnanstine struggle a bit on the hill, allowing 5 runs on 8 hits in 5 innings. But our hitters seem to appreciate that the pitchers have been keeping them in the game when the bats have been cold so far this year, and saw yesterday as an excellent opportunity to pay them back. Cliff Floyd, back off the DL, went 2-4 with 2RBI, and Aki Iwamura, Carl Crawford and BJ Upton all rapped out 3 hits a piece. CC was the star of the show, stealing 2 bases and belting a sixth-inning 3-run homerun to put the Rays on top for good. JP Howell pitched 3 innings of scoreless relief to get the win, and Perci picked up his 9th save of the season to seal an 8-5 win.

Game two on Saturday was more in keeping with most of our wins of late - great pitching complimented with just enough offense to get us over the line. And the guy throwing strikes for the the good guys was Scott Kazmir, which just makes things even sweeter. Kaz put his shaky season debut behind him, and threw 6 strong shutout innings, giving up only 3 hits while striking out 6. He was backed up with some outstanding relief from Trever Miller, Troy Percival and, in particular, Dan Wheeler, who really continues to impress. All the runs that the pitchers needed came on an Evan Longoria groundout in the first and a Carlos Pena sacrifice fly in the eighth.

Now game one, and this is the game that I intend to watch this evening. Because if James Shields' previous start at the Trop was outstanding, then this one was simply phenomenal. Shields took just 92 pitches to throw his second consecutive complete-game shutout at home. Having allowed 2 hits last time round, this time he gave up but a solitary single in the third. Only one other batter reached base, a hit-by-pitch in the fourth, but he was then wiped out on a double-play, meaning Shields faced only 28 batters in his gem, one over the minimum. He racked up eight strikeouts, and moves his record to 4-2 on the year.

He was made to sweat on the win though, and was getting ready to pitch the tenth when Evan Longoria came to the plate with a man on in the ninth. Jon Garland had pitched 8 shutout innings for Anaheim, but reliever Speir threw a pitch that Longoria liked the look of, and one-swing later it was game-over. Evan's first walk-off homerun. I saw a great stat in (I think) the St Pete Times - apparently it was just the 4th time in MLB history that a pitcher has got the win thanks to a walk-off homerun in the ninth after allowing no more than one hit. And he deserved it.

All that takes us 2 1/2 games clear of Baltimore and New York in second place in the East, and at 21-16 just a game and a half back of Boston. We are 5 games over .500 for the first time ever. And I know its still early, but it sure is fun to be winning!

The test though comes to town tonight in the shape of the Yankees. Matt Garza gets the nod for the Rays, and he will go up against Andy Pettitte. I probably won't watch the game until tomorrow, because while I would like to stay up, I am feeling pretty dreadful with a good ol' case of man-flu, and I don't think a late night would help that much!

Some people believe football is a matter of life and death...

2008-05-06T12:23:00.004+01:00

So goes the famous old quote from Bill Shankly, "...I'm very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that."

Well, while I might not go so far as the Liverpool legend, football (yes, yes, soccer) is a very important thing indeed. And it is the reason why, after work on Friday, I took a seven hour train ride from Edinburgh back home to Basingstoke. Sunday, you see, was a big day for Southampton - the team that I have supported, and, up until my move north, been a virtual ever-present at home matches since the age of 6. It was the last match of the season, and the Saints, as Southampton are known, needed to win and hope that other results went their way in order to avoid being relegated to the third level of English football for the first time since 1960. Such importance, I felt, warranted a second trip home in a week (I am already flying down this coming weekend for my grandfather's 70th birthday).

Anyway, 90 minutes of tension, agony and, ultimately ecstasy started at 2pm on Sunday, during which I shouted so much that not only did I get a sore throat, but I also gave myself a headache. But a 3-2 win was enough to keep the Saints in the Championship, and it was all worth it. A 20,000-fan pitch invasion followed as celebration, and my ridiculous 14-hour round trip was not it vain.

I tell you this not because I think that a Southampton match will be of a great deal of interest to anyone reading a Tampa Bay Rays blog, but more as an explanation of why I didn't see any of the Rays series with the Red Sox over the weekend. Well, actually thats not entirely true, as I did half-watch some highlights from game 3 when I got back last night.

It doesn't seem like I missed an awful lot, three distinctly underwhelming performances, and three defeats. Still Scott Kazmir made his long-awaited return, and while he only lasted 4 innings and got tagged with the loss, it sure is nice to have him back on the mound again.

The Rays have now headed off to Canada for three against the Jays, and then return home for 3 against, I think, the Angels. I have another travel-filled week ahead, so I doubt I will be able to watch more than one of the six, and I doubt that will be live. Still, normal service will be resumed just as soon as I am sure what is normal anyway.

The plot thickens...

2008-05-02T09:00:00.006+01:00

Tampa Bay Rays 4 - Baltimore Orioles 7
Tampa Bay Rays 8 - Baltimore Orioles 1
Tampa Bay Rays 4 - Baltimore Orioles 2

The fun in Rays-world continues! Three games at Camdem Yards, 2 wins, and suddenly its May 2 and the Rays are sitting in first place in the AL East (on percentage points) at 16-12. How 'bout that?!

I watched games one and two of the series, but missed the finale yesterday afternoon - but all-in-all I liked what I saw. Just like I have done pretty much all season.

Tuesday night things didn't get off to the best of starts, as the O's got to Jason Hammel early and pushed themselves into the lead. JP Howell initially did very well in relief, but he and Scott Dohmann then gave up a couple of runs a piece, giving Baltimore a nice cushion for when the Rays finally found their bats. That happened in the seventh, with a four-run outbreak - the big blow (literally) being a BJ Upton two-run homerun. Unfortunately the O's bullpen then did what is was supposed to, and shut the game down from there on in.

Wednesday was a different story. Andy Sonnanstine was excellent, and the bats were working all game long. Well actually it was as much our batters' eyes, as we drew 7 walks - a very high total for the Rays! We already had the lead when the big seventh inning came around this time, and the five runs we added there were merely the icing on the cake. It was Eric Hinske's turn to get the important hit, as he blasted a fourth-inning two-run homer (his 6th of the year) way over the wall in right that put the Rays on top. Dioner Navarro kept up his good form, going 2-5 with 2 RBI, which leaves his average for the year at an even .400. That is, of course, somewhat artificially high because of the time that he spent on the DL, but regardless his early hitting is very welcome - and a far cry from his struggles in the first half last year.

Yesterday's game was a bit closer, as Matt Garza made his best start so far to get his first win (and, in fact, first decision) of the year. Dan Wheeler and Troy Percival were excellent as ever in relief. With the bat, Jonny Gomes pitched in with his third homer of the season, while the decisive runs came in the seventh on a two-run single from Carl Crawford.

Right, so that brings us up to date with the action, but not on the big decision that is coming the Rays' way this weekend. Who should stay and who should go?

Here is the Rays' pitching staff as is currently stands: Rotation - James Shields, Matt Garza, Andy Sonnanstine, Edwin Jackson and Jason Hammel; Bullpen - Kurt Birkins, Scott Dohmann, Gary Glover, JP Howell, Trever Miller Troy Percival and Dan Wheeler. And between them they are doing a mighty fine job.

But, coming back this weekend are Al Reyes and, the man himself, Scott Kazmir.

Of one move we are fairly certain, and that is that it will be Birkins who is bumped from the 'pen to make room for Reyes. Who goes to make room for Kaz however is far from clear. So here is my run-down of who's done what so far, and who I think deserves to stay:

James Shields - 3-1, 2.54 ERA, 2-hit shutout of the Sox and AL Player of the Week? No-brainer. He stays.

Matt Garza - Injured early, and has struggled a bit. But last two starts have been much better, and his upside is very high. He has options remaining, so could be sent down with no risk, but I can't see that particular move. He stays.

Andy Sonnanstine - Probably has the least impressive stuff of the whole rotation, but he knows how to make the most of what he does have. The first ever Ray to win four games in April, if it wasn't for a single start against the Yankees his ERA would be even better than its current (and still fairly respectable) 4.42. Also has options, which could potentially be the deciding factor. But on performance alone, he stays.

Edwin Jackson - 3 excellent starts and 2 horrible starts. That could sum up E-Jax's whole career up to this point. 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA is pretty decent, and there is no doubting his explosive talent. There is doubt, however, over his control. No options, he would be lost if he was sent down, and we've seen before that he is not well suited to the 'pen. He's worth the risk, he stays.

Jason Hammel - Possibly the most frustrating of the five. I want to like him, but compared to who he's up against he just doesn't have the same upside. He doesn't have the stuff of Jackson or Garza, and he doesn't have the control and pitching know-how of Sonnanstine. 2-2 with a 4.88 ERA is ok for a number five guy, but he's up against two guys who are pitching better and are better pitchers. Like Jackson he is out of options and probably would be lost on waivers, and would likely be of little value in the 'pen at the moment. I'd hate to lose him completely, but at the moment, for me at least, he's the weakest link. He goes.

Whether or not that will be the decision that is ultimately made by Joe Maddon and the organisation, we shall have to wait until Sunday to find out. I can't help feeling that Sonnanstine could be the one to miss out purely because he can be sent down with no risk. But, in all honesty, I think that would be the wrong decision. It wouldn't be a disaster, but it would be wrong.

That's a couple of days away still, and we have important things in the meantime. Such as the battle for first place that kicks off tonight, the first of a three-game series at Fenway. Edwin Jackson makes the start for the Rays, and, bearing in mind what I've just said, I still think he needs a good one. The pressure is well and truly on. BJ Upton is doubtful for the start, after leaving yesterdays game with a sore shoulder. I don't think its too serious though, and he should be available for pinch-hitting, which is good news. I may be staying up to watch tonight - I have to spend pretty much the whole afternoon on a train, so it rather depends on whether I get any sleep or not while travelling!

Quick Links

2008-05-01T12:25:00.003+01:00

So Jason Hammel, as it turns out, was quite a way away from throwing a perfecto on Tuesday. I watched the game (a 7-4 Rays loss) last night, but don't really have time to post anything at the mo. Instead, I shall do a whole O's-series bonanza-post tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, here's a link you should check out from ESPN Page 2 - The new, big rivalry in the AL East. You can relive the day Wade Boggs was the Rays' best pitcher, as well as one of my all-time favourite Rays, Esteban Yan's moment of fame. Enjoy.

This just in: Cobb in "cheat" accusations

2008-04-30T14:36:00.007+01:00

Well, as can probably be expected, I didn't watch last night's series opener in Baltimore, but I shall be doing so this evening and thus have no idea what happened. So rather than talking about all things Rays, and having enjoyed last week's look back so much, I thought that I would bring you the second installment of what may or may not become a recurring feature, 'Baseball history from across the pond'. That's a catchy name isn't it?!

Today we are winding back the clock to April 30, 1922, and revisiting Navin Field, home of the Detroit Tigers and player-manager Ty Cobb. For once, on this day 86 years ago, it seems that Cobb wasn't the target of the cheating accusations, but rather the chief accuser. So what was the accusation? As reported on May 2 by the NY Times -

"There were intimations that Robertson had tampered with the ball, it being hinted that oil was used to make the ball hop freakishly. Ty Cobb, manager of the Detroit team, wrote a letter to (American League) President Ban Johnson regarding the matter."

In fact, there were more than intimations. One of the games umpires, presumably at the request of the Tigers, had presented two of the balls used during the contest to President Johnson for examination. His verdict? "I consider Robertson one of the cleanest pitchers in organized baseball today."

So why were Cobb and the Tigers so up in arms over the performance of Robertson? Ok, so the spitball, and many other foreign substance-related deliveries had been banned two years previously, but I'm sure that its elimination wasn't yet universal in 1922. (Some would argue that that remains the case even today...).

Might it have something to do with the games result, a result only seen four times previously in Major League Baseball (and two of them under outdated rules), and only 12 times since? Very probably. Because, in just his fourth Major League start, Charlie Robertson of the Chicago White Sox was perfect. 27 batters up, 27 batters down. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 walks, 0 hit by pitches, 0 missed third strikes, 0 catchers interference, and 0 any other ways of getting to first that I might have overlooked.

The 26-year-old righty was joining some fairly impressive names with his achievement. You might have heard of the two people before him to have thrown perfect games under modern rules. Cy Young and Addie Joss. Hall of Famers both.

I know its hardly a revelation, but I love the perfect game. It has to be the best 'inidividual' achievement in baseball. Ok, so you need a lot of help with it, but 17 times in 100+ years tells you something. But even compared to those other perfectos, Robertson's is quite an achievement. Consider that he had only made three previous starts (one of those three years previously). He would finish the season with a 14-15 record - which would turn out to be his best ever season in the majors. His lifetime win total (49) and win percentage (.380) are the lowest among all of those who achieved perfection. And apparently (though I haven't checked this) his was statistically the most unlikely - the opposition Tigers got on base at a rate of .369 in 1922 - best among all victim teams.

So maybe Cobb's accusations of cheating were understandable, if not justified. Though, and maybe this is just me, if you were accused of cheating by Cobb, the words pot, kettle and black would leap quickly to mind.

Robertson's effort is worth noting for one other reason - the length of time that would pass before the feat would be repeated. If you couldn't name Robertson as one of the authors of a perfecto, I'm willing to bet that you could name the next man who did it. 34 years, 5 months and 8 days later. Don Larsen.

Normal service should be resumed tomorrow. Who knows, maybe last night the name of Jason Hammel was added to the list of seventeen. Ok, well you know already. I don't. Don't tell me in the meantime. You wouldn't want to be the one to ruin that surprise would you?!

Sox sweep!

2008-04-28T09:40:00.007+01:00

Boston Red Sox 0 - Tampa Bay Rays 3

Don't worry, I'm changing the record - last night wasn't a battling performance by the Rays. It was a simply brilliant performance. And it rounded off one of the best series I have ever watched - not just because the Rays swept the BoSox; not just because of how well the Rays played; but because it was some of the highest quality baseball you will see.

Ok, so the bats for both teams were somewhat quiet. But that was for no other reason than the outstanding pitching that was on display.

And in that regard, it would be totally amiss of me if I were to start anywhere else than with Mr James Shields.

As I've mentioned before, Shields has been far from at his best in his first few starts of the season, struggling at times, and really having to fight to get decisions. Well, I think it is safe to say that last night he was at his brilliant best. He simply dominated the Red Sox from first to last, taking just 98 pitches to throw his first career complete-game shutout. He gave up just two hits and a walk, and faced only 29 hitters. He struck out 7. The win takes him to 3-1 on the season, and lowers his ERA to 2.54. But none of those numbers describe just how good he was yesterday.

Giving a bit more of a hint to that is the pitcher he had to face, Josh Beckett. Beckett too was outstanding, striking out the first five Rays hitters he faced, and going on to collect a personal best 13K's in 7 innings work. He only gave up 4 hits himself, but thanks to a bit of luck, and to a star in the making, that was all the Rays needed to ensure that Shields' masterpiece was rewarded with a W.

The bit of luck came in the third inning. Jason Bartlett singled to lead off the inning, and got the chance to set off around the bases when Beckett threw wildly trying to pick him off. The ball bounced up into the right field bullpen, and Bartlett dashed round to third, where Tom Foley was showing the stop sign. Bartlett showed himself to be a good heads-up baserunner though, as rather than stopping at the bag and catching his breath, he rounded it and looked back across the diamond to find the ball. And when he spotted it, he liked what he saw, as JD Drew had thrown it nowhere near any other Boston fielder, and it was rolling back towards the infield, letting Bartlett take off once again and easily make it home to put the Rays one up.

In a game like yesterday's one run always looked like being enough, but its nice to give your ace a bit of a cushion when he's throwing a game like Shields was. That cushion came with Evan Longoria leading off the seventh. In his first two times up, Evan had looked a bit overmatched, striking out both times. But third time's the charm, and he stuck with it, found a 2-2 curve to his liking, and belted the ball into the seats in left-centre. It was a pretty good day all round for Longoria, as he also continued to excel with the glove at third, making a few nice plays including two in the ninth as Shields sealed the shutout.

The Rays third run came in the eighth, after Jason Bartlett was hit on his helmet by a pitch from Manny Delcarmen. He stayed in the game, stole second, and one out later made the win safe as he scored on a Carl Crawford double.

That's six in a row for the Rays, and back-to-back series sweeps for the first time since 2005. And I hope you will forgive me for including the AL East standings here, but I shall make the most of it while I can, and point out to anybody who's listening that the Rays are currently tied for FIRST place in the division. Ok, so I don't imagine its going to last for very long. But if we carry on in this sort of form, anything is possible!

Day off today, and then its off to Baltimore on Tuesday to take on the Orioles. Jason Hammel will be making the start, one of three of our pitchers whose place in the rotation is very much on the line. He's worked hard so far this season, and definitely has a real shot at staying. And, if his attitude is anything to go by, then he may well do it - this quote from the Rays' site to me sums up the perfect attitude for a pitcher under pressure to perform: "I want to be a part of this, this is awesome. But I'm not thinking about that, I'm thinking about keeping the ball down." Wise words.

Aki picks his moment

2008-04-27T11:05:00.003+01:00

Boston Red Sox 1 - Tampa Bay Rays 2

I kind of feel this morning as though I need to set up an auto-complete for the blog, where I can just press a couple keys and make a whole paragraph about a battling performance appear...

Yesterday, I wondered whether the good or the bad Edwin Jackson would turn up. Well, he was wild, but the good kind of wild, definitely putting his last two starts behind him in impressive fashion. He worked 7 innings, and allowed only five hits to the potent BoSox lineup. He gave up just a solitary run in the fifth - an unlucky run at that. After Coco Crisp reached first, a wild pitch eluded Shawn Riggans long enough for him to go all the way to third. With two outs, Jacoby Ellsbury then ripped a ball down the third base line. Evan Longoria made an awesome diving stop, but couldn't quite get it to first in time. It was still a great play though, very much in keeping with our recent defence.

As good as Jackson was, that one run looked as though it was going to be enough for the Sox. The reason - Clay Buchholz. Now, the Rays have had some good pitching performances this year, but that was something else. He was, for most of the game, simply unhittable. Through 7 innings, the Rays had but a single hit, a BJ Upton double in the fourth. But, and I think I've mentioned this before, we have some serious battle this year.

So, one out in the eighth, and up comes Dioner Navarro to pinch hit. He fights through his at-bat, and eventually finds a pitch he can stay with and bloops it into right for a single. One out later, and Aki Iwamura to the plate. Aki looked for a curveball, and when it came he didn't need asking twice. He belted the ball over the fence down the right field line - his first homerun of the season. 2-1 Rays.

Cue some rapid action in the bullpen. Trever Miller and Scott Dohmann had pitched the eighth, and after a very quick warmup, Troy Percival came in for the ninth. And he looked good for his day off Friday, forcing two quick fly outs, before striking out Varitek on a nasty changeup to seal his fifth save of the season (and fourth this week).

That's five straight wins now, a 13-11 record, and I tell you something - I am enjoying this. We are playing some superb baseball, and even when we're up against things, we are still working, still fighting, not giving up. And thats the way it should be.

This afternoon's series finale is one that you do not want to miss - James Shields against Josh Beckett as the Rays go for the sweep. There'll be a different Ray in uniform, as infielder Andy Cannizaro was called up from Durham after the game, Elliot Johnson being optioned back to make room.

Have I mentioned the battling?

2008-04-26T11:09:00.005+01:00

Boston Red Sox 4 - Tampa Bay Rays 5

Wow, that was quite a game. A proper big-league battle. It went well into the night over here, but was more than worth staying up for - the Rays' first extra-inning game of the season was also the best contest so far.

It started out in the bottom of the first with Carl Crawford doing what he does best, tripling to centre. There is just no better sight in baseball than CC rounding first, looking up, and turning on the afterburners. Its just flat-out fun. He scored on a sacrifice fly by BJ Upton, and the Rays were off.

Unfortunately, so were the Sox in the top of the second, as Matt Garza, making his first start back from the DL, struggled mightily, allowing three runs and throwing 40 pitches by the time he got out of the inning. Still, I think that Garza could fit in well at the Trop if the battling qualities he showed are anything to go by, as he shut out the Sox for the next three innings, leaving after five with a respectable line of 5IP, 5H, 3ER, 3BB, and 1K. Not amazing, but satisfactory for his first start back.

By the time he left, the Rays were back in the lead, thanks to more of that battling hitting I've been talking about all week - and you know that when you're up against Tim Wakefield you need to battle! We pulled one back in the third, an RBI-single from Evan Longoria (who then added his second stolen base of the season). That scored Jonny Gomes from second, but it ought to have been a two-run effort, as BJ Upton had just been called out stealing third, despite having comfortably beaten the tag. Two more runs came in the fourth, CC adding his second triple of the game (he obviously heard of my surprise that Thursday's was his first of the season!), scoring Aki. CC then scored himself on a fielding error by former Ray Julio Lugo.

Turning it over to the bullpen, unfortunately the lead didn't last long, as JP Howell gave up a run right back in the top of the sixth. He settled down though, and pitched 3 good innings, before turning it over to Dan Wheeler in the ninth. And talk about handling big-time pressure. Wheeler has been the pick of the 'pen so far this year, and showed that again last night. Catcher Kevin Cash singled to lead off the inning, and then one out later Dustin Pedroia reached on a mental lapse from Aki Iwamura - charging a softly hit grounder, Aki was caught in two minds about which out to go for, and ended up getting neither as Cash stopped on the basepaths, and Aki paused, double pumped, and threw late to first, rather than flipping it to second for the easy force out.

Not that that phased Wheeler of course. Nor did the fact that he now had to face David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez with two men on. A pop up from Ortiz, and then one of the best-pitched at-bats you'll see this year against Ramirez, who came to the plate 3-4 on the game. Two beautiful sliders that Manny got out in front of made it 0-2. A fastball up that Manny took brought the count to 1-2. And then with Manny sitting on the slider, Wheeler went back upstairs with the heat, getting the huge strikeout.

The Rays then left the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth - but only just, Eric Hinske ripping a shot to deep right-centre, only to see it fade and JD Drew catch up with it on the edge of the track.

So, extra innings, and the bullpen get another chance to star. And star they did. Gary Glover comes in in the tenth with a couple of men on. Ground ball, double play, nicely done. Scott Dohmann comes in in the eleventh with a couple of men on. Ground ball, double play (a 3-6-1 beauty at that), nicely done.

Step forward the batters. CC adds his third hit of the game, a single, to open the inning. He steals second (his second steal of the night). BJ Upton walks. Nathan Haynes steps to the plate, having earlier entered the game as a pinch-runner. The BoSox are thinking nothing but bunt. Haynes takes a massive swing at the first pitch, but misses. The Sox are still thinking bunt. Haynes takes a swing again, this time ripping the ball through the infield, allowing CC to motor around for the winning run.

With so many outstanding performances on the mound and at the plate, it might surprise you to hear that my player of the game went 0-5. Jason Bartlett still hasn't got his swing in gear this season, but his play at shortstop last night was simply outstanding. His range is superb, and two of the backhand plays he made last night are up there among the very best that you will see all season. The Rays defense in general was excellent, particularly in the outfield, where both CC and Upton made awesome full-length diving grabs.

The win takes us up above .500, at 12-11, and ahead of the Yankees in the AL East. To be honest though, its not so much the record - though considering all the injuries we've had, it is impressive - but rather the way we're playing that's the real positive. We're getting the fundamentals right, and not giving up when the going gets tough. That is a good combination.

Tonight is going to be very interesting, as Edwin Jackson makes the start against Clay Buchholz. Which Jackson will turn up? Who knows?! But he needs a good one, so I hope he can deliver.

Disney Sweep!

2008-04-25T16:56:00.005+01:00

Toronto Blue Jays 3 - Tampa Bay Rays 5

Everything, every single thing that I have said about the Rays over the last couple of days is going to be repeated now about last night's game that I have just finished watching. Because it was yet another battling performance against a pitcher who looked as though he had his good stuff early. It was another perfect example of stringing together good at-bats. And it was another case of a job well done by the bullpen.

I shall start with the pitching, and while Andy Sonnanstine was not in the kind of form that saw him shut down the White Sox in his last start, he was certainly solid. He allowed the Blue Jays just 3 runs in 6 1/3 innings - one of those scoring on a wild pitch, and another on a mental lapse that saw him and Navvy leave home plate unguarded with a runner on third. Relieving Sonnanstine was Gary Glover, who retired all four batters he faced, Trever Miller and, for the fourth game in a row, Troy Percival. Percy let the first two batters he faced get on base, but then showed the value of his experience as he came right back to retire the next three, and pick up his fourth save of the season.

He was in the position to get another save mostly thanks to the hitting of Evan Longoria and Eric Hinske. Longoria went 2-2 with a double, a triple, a walk, a sacrifice fly and a steal of third. I honestly could not be more impressed with the start he has made to his big league career. Hinske only went 1-4, but picked up 2RBI pushing his total for the season to 13.

Elsewhere in the lineup, CC moved his batting average above .300, going 3-5 and in the process moving his hitting streak to 11 games. He also added a pair of steals and an RBI. Aki Iwamura and Carlos Pena are still stuggling at the plate - Aki just looks like he needs to take a few more pitches, whereas I have almost lost count of the number of called third strikes that Pena has taken recently. Not like him at all. Meanwhile, Gabe Gross made his Rays debut in right, going 0-3 at the plate, and making a few decent plays in the outfield.

Back to the Trop tonight, and a three game set against the Red Sox. Matt Garza has been reinstated from the DL, and will make the start - outfielder Justin Ruggiano being optioned to Durham as expected to make room on the roster. I'm looking forward to the game tonight, and seeing a (hopefully) healthy Garza go up against the Red Sox hitters.

The only downside is that Tim Wakefield is making the start for Boston, and he has a quite ridiculous record against the Rays - 19-3, with a 3.12ERA. And at the Trop he's 9-1 with a 2.41 ERA. Ouch. Still, now is a good a time as any to get hitting against him!

Stick it out, and the runs will come

2008-04-25T09:13:00.003+01:00

Toronto Blue Jays 3 - Tampa Bay Rays 5

Continuing my day-behind blogging for the week, last night I watched Wednesday night's game - the second of the three at Disney. I imagine I shall watch the series finale this afternoon unless I get a mad rush on at work, and jot down something on that this evening.

So, Wednesday's game, and Roy Halliday on the mound for the Jays. Pitching superbly, which is, well, what you'd expect from him really. He breezed through the first five innings, allowing just 3 hits, and only throwing about 50 pitches. He looked really on form. And by the time the Rays came to bat in the 6th, Matt Stairs had given him a 3-run lead to work with, with a pair of homeruns.

But, the 2008 Rays are nothing if not battling. Bottom of the 6th, a double from Navvy and a single from Bartlett, and Carl Crawford comes to the plate with one out and runners on the corners. A single from him, pushing his hit-streak to 10, and the Rays are on the board. Upton walks, loading the bases, and Pena strikes out. Step forward Evan Longoria. He's up to the task, and slaps a 2-RBI single. Tie game. Next up is Eric Hinske, who has been swinging a really hot bat lately. He makes contact again, a single, scoring Upton and giving the Rays the lead. Stringing good at-bats together. Thats what I like to see.

The scoring was rounded off in the 8th, as CC hit a lead-off triple (amazingly his first of the season!), and scored on a sacrifice fly from BJ Upton.

On the mound, Jason Hammel more than matched the hitters in the battling stakes. Six strong innings, in which he only gave up 4 hits - the only downside being that two of them were round-trippers for Stairs, resulting in three runs. He did walk four Jays, but all-in-all he did very well, and certainly won't have harmed his chances of keeping a spot in the rotation. The majors' best bullpen (I know!! I'm making the most of that while I can!) shut the game down for him, Dan Wheeler pitching two scoreless innings, and Troy Percival getting the save for the second night in a row with a perfect ninth.

That's the first two from Disney, I hope we did well last night - but either way I shall be writing about it just as soon as I know!