Game 68: Garza, Navarro back on the same page for Rays win
By Jon Ziegler | June 14th, 2008 | Posted in Game Recap
Masterful Matt: Coming off an ugly outing and outburst in Anaheim, Matt Garza’s start tonight was nothing short of beautiful. He threw strikes, kep his composure when he was squeezed on a few calls, and did not turn into the “Raging Bull” on any of his teammates. Despite only striking out three, Garza threw strikes on 61% of his pitches and was inducing groundballs all night. Garza and Navarro were in a groove all-night, and both seem to have quickly moved passed the incident in Arlington. We have seen Garza put together performances like this in the past, and the key for him, or any young pitcher for that matter, is to work on stringing together a couple of starts together. Garza has been great at the Trop all season, and he should get his next start at home against the Astros.
The unnamed duo strong again: Someone creative out there in the Internets needs to come up with a clever nickname for the 8th/9th inning combo of Wheeler and Percival. This game was never in doubt as soon as Maddon made the call to pen for Demolition. (You know, the most dominant WWE tag-team of the 90s. Here comes the Ax (Wheeler), here comes the Smasher (Percival)! Yea, that’s not doing it for me either…). Six up, six down and the Rays clinch another series victory. It is amazing how the 2007 bullpen seems like a distant memory at this point. I wonder whatever happened to that Gary Glover guy? Probably back in Japan…
Bartlett delivers with his bat??? There is no doubt in my mind that Jason Bartlett won the first game of the year against the Red Sox with his glove. Tonight, he may have won a game with his bat. Bartlett came through with a HUGE two-out single with the bases loaded in the 4th. That hit pushed the Rays on top for good and the outcome never felt in question the rest of the way. Barty is now 4-5 over the last two games with 4 singles and a sac-fly.
Golden Infield: Seriously, is every member of the Rays infield a contender for a Gold Glove this season? Shining tonight, Longoria made a play that probably made Mike Schmidt stop and say, “Damn!”. (#1 Web Gem on Baseball Tonight) His defense has been better than advertised since his call-up, and, with Longoria winning the A.L. Rookie of the Year, he may garner the “name” recognition to have a chance at the gold. I doubt he takes it this year, but he should win this pointless award (which I just spent a paragraph talking about) several times before his career is over.
Bonus Link
Will Carroll takes a closer look at the potential impact of Griffey to the Rays.
2. How does Griffey’s big contract affect the talks?
Griffey’s contract is a really complex one. He’ll make $12.5m this season and is scheduled for $16.5m next year or a $4m buyout. $6.5m of this year (but not next) is deferred which makes the AAV lower. That’s not a big concern for the Rays, who would be more likely to buy him out. The Rays could unquestionably take on the salary, especially if the Reds have already paid the deferred money as sources tell me they do at the start of the season. The Rays could hold out for the Reds to eat more of the contract if they were willing to give up a prime prospect but …
June 15th, 2008 at 5:34 am
No TV last night but my sign was on the BIG Board. Maybe tonight if Percival will come in and I can use my sign. “No Mercy From Percy”
June 15th, 2008 at 6:02 am
The unnamed duo “Wheeler & Dealer”