Great Caesar’s ghost! We’ve already won another series! And after sending Joe Saunders to his first career loss yesterday, why not do it again today against Ervin Santana? How many more shutout innings can the Rays throw? How many more straight home games can they win? I guess we’ll find the answer to that question today!
What to watch for: Though this year’s Ervin Santana looks much different than any other version, most everyone in the Rays’ lineup has had success against him. Let’s see if these guys - and the returning Clifford Cornelius Floyd - can put some runs on the board. We can’t expect to win with 2 runs every night.
Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Andy Sonnanstine - Despite having a high ERA, Sonnanstine has done nothing but win this year. The right-hander’s five victories lead the team. Facing the Jays in his last start, Sonnanstine allowed four runs on 10 hits over six innings to pick up the victory. The win, coming in the Rays’ 32nd game of the season, represents the fastest any Tampa Bay pitcher has ever won five games.
Ervin Santana - Looking like an All-Star with his fourth straight road win, Santana delivered perhaps the most dominant performance of his career on Monday night in Kansas City. The four-hit shutout was the second of his career, and he did not walk a batter while striking out nine. His 97th and last pitch was a high fastball that Jose Guillen couldn’t catch up with. He’s 3-3 with a 5.94 ERA in six career outings against the Rays.
Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Ervin Santana.
View the game preview from Baseball Reference.
| TAMPA BAY RAYS |
LOS ANGELES ANGELS |
| 2B - Akinori Iwamura | DH - Reggie Willits |
| LF - Carl Crawford | SS - Erick Aybar |
| CF - B.J. Upton | RF - Vladimir Guerrero |
| 1B - Carlos Pena | LF - Garret Anderson |
| 3B - Evan Longoria | CF - Torii Hunter |
| DH - Cliff Floyd | 1B - Casey Kotchman |
| C - Dioner Navarro | 3B - Robb Quinlan |
| RF - Gabe Gross | C - Jeff Mathis |
| SS - Jason Bartlett | 2B - Sean Rodriguez |
Be sure to join us in the chat room for some good Rays talk during the game!!!
Tags: Angels
May 11th, 2008 at 11:59 am
I just saw the line-up and was curious to see where Floyd would be hitting today. For some reason, I thought Maddon might put him back into the fifth spot. As it turns out, he’s batting 6th behind Longoria. I think that’s a great move by Maddon and it shows a huge amount of confidence in Longoria. Sure he’s struggling at the plate right now, but I think this move lets him relax a little more knowing that Flord is hitting behind him. Hopefully he will see better pitches too.
What is everyone else’s thoughts on the line-up? On paper, our batting line-up is solid from top to bottom!
May 11th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Mark,
I was also very intrigued to see what Maddon would do with the lineup. I thought it was interesting that Gross got the start over Hinske today in right field. Gross hasn’t had the great start that Hinske has had, but I love his approach at the plate. If Aki can get it going at the top of the order then that will be one scary lineup from top to bottom. I am excited to see how Aybar fits into the mix as well upon his return.
May 11th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Eleven years been waiting to see the standings read like they are today. God it’s great to be a Ray’s fan. Sure hope we don’t run out of brooms before the season is over. I have a big NY one ready to go. I think the guys are proving this is their house.