Rays of Light

Game 135 - Bringing the Pena!

What an absolutely fantastic game to watch tonight. The Rays hit. They pitched. They fielded (well… most of the time). In all, they played a great game and absolutely embarassed a pennant-contending ballclub. For those who are counting, that’s 4 in a row and 7-out-of-8. WIthout a doubt, this is the best baseball the Rays have played all year.

That’s also the first winning month the team has had since June of last year, going 15-14 here in August. Think this wasn’t a big win for the club?

The offense was keyed by Carlos Pena, who was on base all 5 times - 2 home runs and 3 walks - while the pitching was anchored by the surprisingly sharp Andy Sonnanstine.

Let’s start with Pena. The offense ran through him tonight. As I mentioned, he got on base all 5 times he hit. He is truly maturing as an offensive player and has become capable of carrying this team through stretches. With no realistic options at first base any time soon in the organization, every effort to resign this player who wants to be here need to be made. 3 years… 4 years… whatever it takes. Carlos Pena has a chance to be a solid, Tino Martinez-like contributor (Yankees Tino, not Rays Tino) for years to come.

My favorite player Greg Norton got into the act tonight, too! His homer in the 9th was nice, but I was more impressed with his single to left in the 5th inning. It was a tremendous piece of hitting, and he should be commended for his solid 2-hit, 2-RBI night. Nice work, Greg.

In fact, only Brendan Harris didn’t enter the hit parade, but after his 4-walk performance yesterday, he gets a pass. Everyone else hit at least once. Akinori Iwamura scored 3 more runs (that’s 65 in 97 games). C.C. had 2 more hits (that’s an amazing 50 for the month of August), and Delmon Young delivered with another 2-RBI night.

The only real negatives to the night were the absolutely boneheaded throw by B.J. Upton in the 4th inning (that thankfully didn’t hurt the Rays), and the bunt that Dioner Navarro laid down in the 5th. What the heck was he thinking?

On the other side, Andy Sonnanstine was truly brilliant this evening, allowing only 2 hits in 8 innings of work without walking a single batter. He was establishing the strike zone early into counts, getting well ahead of the Yankee hitters. Even better, he kept them off-balance and was able to make them miss his fastball. When he is able to establish all of his pitches for strikes like he did tonight, he can be a very dangerous pitcher. Keeping the ball down (and thus inducing ground balls) are the key for him, and he did that tonight. When he’s been hurt in the past, he’s left the ball up in the strike zone. He definitely didn’t do that tonight.

I am really curious to see where Andy Sonnanstine fits into the future of this organization. You can never have enough pitching, that’s for sure, but he doesn’t get nearly the press that guys like Jeff Niemann, Mitch Talbot, David Price, or Wade Davis get. Is he in the mix for next year? What about 2009? With more performances like tonight - and like he’s put out there the past few times out - his name certainly enters into the equation.

To close it out, our new favorite bullpener Grant Balfour slammed the door shut on this rout. The silence from the Yankee fans was deafening.

I got the “pleasure” of watching this game tonight on MLB.tv, so I got the Yankees feed of the game. It’s funny to hear how these announcers act like the Rays are second-class citizens compared to the Yankees. I’m sure they don’t do it intentionally - it’s easy enough to forget who we are - but I bring it up because its going to be interesing seeing the way that these announcers’ attitudes change in the next couple of years.

Guess what American League: We can pitch now. Look out.

Joe Maddon’s contract looks like it will be picked up. (Source)

Sternberg was asked if Maddon had any reason to sweat.

“I don’t think so, no,” he said. “Given where we are on the scale, it’s not a day-to-day thing with us. We feel pretty good about the way things are headed, and most importantly the way the players have responded. You can see the enthusiasm they’ve still got, even given their place in the standings, and that speaks volumes to Joe and the staff and the players themselves.”

Good. The team is really responding lately and you have to at least give some credit to the manager. It helps that he actually has a bullpen to manage now.

Elsewhere tonight, the Baltimore Orioles proved that all they needed was for the Rays to leave town, as they beat the Red Sox 9-8, meaning the Sox were unable to gain any ground on the Yankees and remain 5 games up in the division.

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Game 135 - Open Thread - Rumble in the Bronx

The Devil Rays find themselves smack-dab in the middle of the pennant race tonight as they take on the New York Yankees up in the Bronx. Of course, the Rays aren’t in it the way they would like, but they still have a chance to do some damage in both the AL East race (where the Yanks are 5 down) and in the Wild Card race (where the Yanks are 1 up).

What to watch for: Can Andy Sonnanstine do anything against the juggernaut offense of the Yankees? Sure, the Rays have been scoring runs lately, but Sonny will need to at least be mediocre for the Rays to have a shot. Phil Hughes is better than his record indicates and will be a tough challenge for the Stingers.

Scouting Report on todays starters from MLB.com

Andy Sonnanstine - Sonnanstine allowed just two runs while striking out seven on Sunday against the A’s to pick up his third win of the season. The right-hander went back to his fastball, and the results were much better than his previous outing, when he allowed seven earned runs against the Red Sox. Though Sonnanstine now owns 70 strikeouts and just 19 walks, the Rays have won just four times when he’s started this season. He is 0-1 with a 7.11 ERA in one start against the Yankees.

Phil Hughes - Hughes raised some concern when he suffered a loss on Sunday at Comerica Park, but mostly his afternoon came down to a pair of fat fastballs that cost him a combined four runs. Otherwise, Hughes pitched rather well, commanding the zone and retiring 11 of the last 12 to face him. Still, the Yankees need results at this point in the season, and Hughes is cognizant of that. Asked to sum up his performance, Hughes replied by saying that the Yankees hadn’t won, and thus his afternoon was unacceptable.

No one on the roster has ever faced him in the Major Leagues, so the Rays have no career numbers against Phil Hughes.

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The Minor League Wrap

The Wrap

(TGI)Friday morning coffee thread

You guys know how much I love my statistics. Whether you agree or disagree with my take on them, thank you for putting up with them. :)

That said, here are some more statistics for you:

Game 134 - Sweet Sweep

In my last recap of a Devil Rays-Orioles game, I wrote that it seemed like the O’s had some type of curse over the Rays to make them play poorly against their terrible team. After this three game set, I think it is officially safe to say that Tampa Bay has “exorcised the demons”. The Devil Rays downed the Orioles by a final score of 8-6, and earned their first sweep on the road this season.

The story of the night has to be the suddenly “never say die” offense of the Devil Rays. For the third consecutive day they feel behind by at least three runs, and for the third consecutive day the offensive found a way to come from behind. The unconventional spark in this game came from shortstop Josh Wilson. He gave the Rays their first run of night on his first home run of the season and would eventually go 3-5 with 2 runs. B.J. Upton provided a big shot with his three-run home in the 3rd inning that pushed the Rays ahead 4-3 at the time. Akinora Iwamura also added a solo home run on the night.

The offense was able to pick up Scott Kazmir, who had one of his rare sub-par outings since the All-Star break. While I am sure this is not the type of outing Kaz was looking for, he did just enough to keep his team in the game and did not fall too far behind early. Kaz labored through five innings before handing it over to the bullpen. The much maligned unit had a second consecutive strong outing by working four innings and allowing 1 ER. Al Reyes picked up his 22nd save of the season.

This impressive sweep of the Orioles could not have come at a better time of the year for the Devil Rays. They were able to move to 5.0 games behind the Orioles for 4th place in the American League East and move their winning percentage above .400 for the first time in forever. The goal of getting out of the cellar now gives the Rays something to play for over their final month of the season. I can’t blame you if you have already converted in to full-blown football mode, but this team is finally starting to play good, solid baseball. If you put up with this team through the dog days of summer, then do yourself a favor and check in on them when they are actually playing well. You might enjoy watching this young team finally mold into the team we always hoped they would become.

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Game 134 - Open Thread - Sweep Dreams

The Rays, winners of 5-out-of-6, look to keep on rolling Thursday night in the finale of a 3-game series against the Orioles. Scott Kazmir stands on the hill with broom in hand, ready to try and deliver the sweep. This would be the Rays’ first sweep of any opponent since the Orlando series against Texas all the way back in May.

What to watch for: Carl Crawford needs 4 hits to finish the month of August with 50 total. He’s got 2 games to do it.

Scouting Report on todays starters from MLB.com
Scott Kazmir - Kazmir had his best outing of the season Saturday night against the A’s, boasting electric stuff and knowing what to do with it. His fastball command was the best it has been all season, and he was able to locate his slider or bury it whenever he wanted. All of it added up to a team-record 13 strikeouts for the left-hander. Kazmir is 3-3 with a 4.42 ERA in 10 career starts against the Orioles.

Jeremy Guthrie - Guthrie pitched an outstanding game against the Twins through six innings in his last start, but couldn’t get through the seventh. He gave up two home runs and left with a 4-3 lead before the Orioles’ bullpen doomed him to a no-decision. He’s struggling through August, going 0-1 with four no-decisions and a 5.96 ERA. Guthrie is 2-0 with a 3.77 ERA in three career games, including one start, against Tampa Bay.

View the Rays career numbers vs. Jeremy Guthrie.

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The Minor League Wrap

News and Notes: Royster powers Columbus to a doubleheader sweep

Thursday morning coffee thread

Is the art of baseball lost?

Look at me, not mincing words there. I just got right to the heart of what I wanted to ask today.

What do I mean by the art of baseball? Establishing the inside of the plate, playing hard, swinging for contact with 2 strikes, hitting your cut-off man, getting dirty, breaking up the double-play. That sort of thing. A quote by Carl Crawford in the St. Pete Times got me wondering about this. (Source)

“That’s the stuff they want done around here, situational hitting, fundamental stuff, getting stuff done when you’re supposed to, scoring a guy from third with two outs,” LF Carl Crawford said. “It was good to see we got that stuff done (Tuesday) night.”

On the surface, this is a very meaningless, throwaway quote. But if you look closer, it may reveal a deeper problem with this team’s players and - more importantly - baseball players in general.

Crawford says: “getting stuff done when you’re supposed to, scoring a guy from third with two outs.” Certainly it’s wonderful to score a guy from third with two outs, but last time I checked, that is NOT one of the fundamental things defined as “situational hitting” in baseball. The Rays problem is that they leave guys on third base with LESS than 2 outs. You know, the situation where anything BUT a strikeout or a pop-up should score that runner? Is the art of baseball so lost that players think that situational hitting means scoring a runner from 3rd with 2 outs? As long as I can remember, this situation has been considered more of a bonus - since it takes a hit or an error to pull off - while the less than 2 outs spot is where situational hitting comes into play.

I know it sounds nit-picky on my part and I’m probably being unfair, but it’s the kind of thing you see all of the time now.

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Game 133 - Comeback Kids

Dear Baltimore Bullpen,

I just want to thank you for being as bad as you are. These past 2 days have been much more fun for me thanks to your inability to get Major League hitters out. If the Rays end up moving ahead of you for 4th place in the division, we’ll have you and only you to thank. I never thought I’d see a bullpen that is worse than the Rays’ was in June, but I have.

Love,
Scott

Yup. They did it again. The Rays - down 4-1 going to the 8th - battled back to tie the score, winning it in the 12th against the Baltimore Orioles to guarantee a win in the series. The win also moves the Rays to within 6 games of fourth place.

James Shields pitched well enough to win, that much is for sure. He didn’t have his best stuff by any means, but when you bring what he brought tonight, you deserve better than a no-decision. He was hurt a little by poor defense from Delmon Young in the 3rd, but he was hurt a lot by Aubrey Huff in the 6th. Speaking of Huff, Dave Wills took a nice jab at him on the radio broadcast, saying “Now that his team is 20 games out of first, his season has begun” or something to that effect. He even went on to drag Huff through the mud some more, making it clear that he doesn’t think Huff would play well on a good team. It was actually realy funny. I wholeheartedly endorse it.

The reason Shields didn’t win this game, though, was because the Rays’ offense reverted back to its original form and began leaving batters on base and in scoring position like crazy. Whether it was that leadoff man back in the 3rd inning of the other xx runners that were stranded on base by the Rays, this could’ve easily been a 10-4 kind of game and another win for Jamie.

The problem - for afar - seems to lie with batters trying to do WAY too much at the plate and not concentrating on just making solid contact where the ball is pitched. A perfect example of this was during the 10th inning. B.J. Upton was up with runners on the corners and a chance to give the Rays the lead, but he took three swings that looked as if he was trying to hit the ball 500 feet. It was as if he had no concept of contact hitting. Like young players are apt to do, Upton may be getting a little homer-happy. Let’s hope Steve Henderson and Joe Maddon talk to him a little bit.

Thank goodness for Brendan Harris and Dioner Navarro. They bailed the club out with 2 RBI each, including the tying RBI (Harris) and the winning RBI (Navarro). Doing just enough to win.

One thing was shocking to me when I was looking up stats related to hitting with runners in scoring position. I had this inherent idea in my head that Akinori Iwamura has been bad in RBI spots. but I didn’t realize HOW bad he has been. Coming into tonight’s game…

Wow. That’s bad. Really bad. I couldn’t find anywhere to tell me if he’s the worst player in the league in this situation, but you can’t imagine anyone being any worse. He might want to work on improving that a little bit.

How about our bullpen, by the way? Try 4 scoreless innings, including a dominant performance by Grant Balfour in which he fanned 4 in 2 innings of work. Dan Wheeler did his job, while Reyes made it a little interesting before he slammed this door shut. It’s nice to know that our bullpen can actually get big league hitters out again. Back in June, I would’ve been sure that the Rays would’ve lost this game long before the 12th inning.

A good win, proving that the team can be resilient even when it doesn’t bring its A-game. Time to put the foot on the throat and go for the sweep tomorrow. On top of it all, the ace is on the mound to try to close it out. I like our chances.

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Game 133 - Looking to stay on Trach

Hopefully the Rays have something planned for an encore after they lowered the curtain on a record-tying night in Baltimore last evening. The 11 runs scored in the 8th inning tied a team record that was set back in 2000 and helped the Rays beat the Orioles for only the 3rd time in 13 tries this season. James Shields looks to stay hot in delivering a series win for the Rays.

Hope you don’t have anywhere to be tonight. Steve Trachsel is on the mound for the Orioles, and he works painfully slow on the mound. Paint dries faster.

What to watch for: If Jamie Shields can keep up his recent efforts, the Rays should win this game. Trachsel isn’t good enough to shut the Rays offense down when it is clicking.

Scouting Report on todays starters from MLB.com
James Shields - Shields came two outs short of pitching a complete-game shutout against the A’s in his last start Friday night. The Rays right-hander surrendered a two-run homer to Dan Johnson with one out in the ninth to end the shutout and prompt a call to the bullpen. Nevertheless, Shields continued to do what he does best: mixing four quality pitches while pounding the strike zone. He is 0-1 with a 3.97 ERA in five starts against the Orioles.

Steve Trachsel - Trachsel put together one of his best outings of the season in his last start, but he couldn’t earn a win. He shut down the Twins and surrendered one earned run and one unearned run on four hits in 7 1/3 innings, but lost due to the runs charged to him after he left. Nevertheless, the game marked Trachsel’s first in his last 10 that he’s completed seven innings. He’s having a great month despite his 1-1 record in five starts, as his August ERA is 2.53, his best monthly mark this year. Trachsel is 0-3 with a 7.17 ERA in four career starts against the Devil Rays.

View the Rays career numbers vs. Steve Trachsel - Splits

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