(Box Score)
Is it becoming surreal to anyone else how routine it feels to win a home series? In years past, I remember celebrating every series win as an accomplishment. In 2008, anything less than taking 2-of-3 from a team like the Rangers at home would be a disappointment. The progress that this franchise has made in a short amount of time is truly amazing.
Garza’s strong outing: What can you say about the gem that Matt Garza pitched this afternoon? Garza flashed all the tools that we sold on this offseason when we made the trade with Minnesota. He still pitched mostly off the fastball, but his breaking pitches were devastating as well. To go along with his great stuff, he showed great stamina pitching 8 strong innings. This start by Garza ranks right up there with Kaz’s masterpiece on Monday.
I think most of us were a bit concerned about Garza after his first two starts of the season, but he has been even better-than-advertised since coming off the DL. Since returning Garza has 2.84 ERA and a 4-1 record. Of course, those numbers do not tell the whole story, but it provides a brief glimpse into how effective he has been. Garza is flashing the potential to pitch up to a #2 starter, which would give the Rays a deadly rotation in 1-2-3 slots. That is not to mention that the Rays are going to win almost every game that Good Jackson takes the mound, and Bad Jackson is actually managing to keep them in the game this year. If the rotation continues to pitch at this level they will be in great shape for the homestretch of the regular season and possibly beyond.
Wacky lineup: Anytime you can win a game with Jason Bartlett in the six-hole then I consider that a huge bonus. It can’t be overstated how key it is going to pick up games when Maddon decides to give half of the lineup the day-off. The good news is that they should be well rested with the Central Division leaders coming to town.
Don’t do this to me Troy!: It was certainly a scary moment in the 9th inning when Troy Percival had to leave the game due to a leg injury after coming off the pitching mound awkwardly. The talk out of the clubhouse seemed optimistic, but we should all know more after a scheduled MRI on Thursday. Percival has been such an integral part of the team’s early success that it would be a huge blow if he were out for an extended amount of time. I would assume Dan Wheeler will be asked to step into the closer’s role if Percy is going to be out, but Al Reyes is another option that Maddon may feel comfortable going with if Wheeler is unavailable. Let’s all hope that this was just a brief scare and Percival will be back in action in time for the Rays to hit the road.
Goals for the upcoming series: The Rays will wrap up this season-long ten game homestand with a Thursday-Sunday set with the Chicago White Sox. If the good guys can go 3-1 in this series against the red hot Sox then they will be in great shape heading into a very tough road trip. Normally, I would be content with 2-out-of-4, but, as I stated at the beginning, winning home series is what this team does now. Lets take a quick look at the scheduled starters for the series.
Thursday: RHP Edwin Jackson (3-3, 3.47) vs. LHP John Danks (3-4, 3.00)
Friday: RHP James Shields (4-3, 3.38) vs. RHP Jose Contreras (5-3, 3.06)
Saturday: LHP Scott Kazmir (4-1, 1.50) vs. RHP Javier Vaquez (5-3, 3.52)
Sunday: RHP Andy Sonnanstine (6-3, 4.98) vs. LHP Mark Buehrle (2-6, 5.27)
I would give the edge to the White Sox in tomorrow night’s game with Danks on the mound, but I like the Rays in the last three games of the series. Our lineup has been very good against right-handed pitching and Buehrle has been brutal this year. Also, I don’t expect Sonnanstine to put together three consecutive poor outings. Last time Sonny faced the White Sox he dominated them, pitching a three-hit shutout. What better team to inspire confidence in Sonnanstine?
Enough about my prediction. What do you guys think? Can we really pull off an 8-2 homestand?
May 29th, 2008 at 9:12 am
The last time E-Jax faced the White Sox, Jim Thome was ridiculous. He single handedly beat Edwin. I think we will be fine tonight, as long as we walk Thome every time he steps to the plate against Edwin. I think the rest of the series is going to simply come down to whose pitcher is better that night. I expect Shields to have another lights out performace-his last 2 starts have been below his standards. Kazmir vs. Vazquez should be a delightful pitching duel. I really think a split would be great against a team that is red hot right now, but I think we could possibly pull off the 4-game sweep, too. No matter what, though, I think it will be a lot of fun to watch this week.
May 29th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Without the Percival injury I would have said 3 – 1 without batting an eye. With the Percival injury, suspect batting sometimes and the fact that the Rays are facing not one but 2 left handed pitchers…I’ll have to say 2 – 2. I would not be suprised with a 3 – 1 series win over the White Sox, however.
May 29th, 2008 at 11:44 am
I’d take a 2-2 split any day. I know we’re not going to win, or even split, every series but we’re definitely playing baseball the way it should be played just about every night. Like AJ said, it will probably come down to whose pitcher is hotter that night, though EJ has had some good outings without getting rewarded for them with a win as well. I’m now living in NJ after spending 35 yrs. in the Tampa area and I catch the games on DirecTV’s MLB package. Even the visiting announcers are raving about the Rays and the plans for the new stadium (most can’t stand the Trop), and are surprised by the lack of attendance. Attendance is definitely being noticed by the national media as well. Hope the fans start coming around, this is definitely a whole new organization. Too bad Stu and the gang weren’t around from the start.
May 29th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
JS, you make some good points. The Rangers series can almost be thrown out the window because they never draw well, at any stadium. But there needs to be 25,000+ just about every game against the ChiSox. To address the Percival injury, I think if he ends up on the DL, we could finally see Balfour get his chance to be brought up. He’s been pitching out of his mind in Durham, and deserves the opportunity to come up and prove himself again. If he does well, and Percy comes back, you could finally see Glover be DFA’d. Glover’s a nice guy from what I understand, but he is your typical veteran reliever with just okay stuff-he had a good year last year, but that time has run out now. I’d rather have Balfour, who can simply blow hitters away with his stuff. He definitely would bring something to the bullpen that we don’t have right now…K’s.
May 29th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
It’s hard not to see this team not winning this series. I think they now have a mental attitude this is their house. Tired of hearing about the lack of fans, they’ll start showing. Tired of hearing how the media guys hate the trop. I personally don’t think it’s that bad. This fan business is historical problem for this area, Bucs had it till they started consistently winning, same with lighting. The history of this market every franchise began with lousy owner ship and put it in a hole and took awhile to dig out. I’d like to see the local Media hype the team more. Less talk about fans and stadium and more about the team. Hell when the Bucs or lighting win there’s a special section in the papers. I hear some of us old time supporters call in to these talk show hosts and fill them in on the team stats as the hosts don’t know. I believe some of those callers also write on this blog. Proud of you guys. See you at the games.
May 29th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
AJ, I was watching the game on Monday when Glover gave up the home run. When Maddon came out pull him he had a real “deer in the headlights” look to him. To his credit he came back on Tues. and pitched 2 scoreless (in a Texas win), but you never like to see a pitcher looking like that in a game. Look like Percy’s injury isn’t too serious, but would like to see Balfour get a chance. Can’t agree with you on the Trop Richard (though Stu has done a nice job in improvements, even the Texas announcers commented on them and the food), baseball outdoors is the only way to go. It gets plenty hot around most of the U.S. during the summer as well, and the Rays will have the sail to extend on very hot days for shade, as well as A/C and mist makers. Enjoy the games guys, I wish I was down there with ya’.