Happy Fourth of July everyone! It’s amazing that we’re here, this far into the season, and the Rays find themselves 20 games over .500 and with a 3-game advantage in the AL East. If you consider that the Rays have 4 more games to play than the Red Sox do, that lead could balloon to as much a 5 games depending on how the Rays do in those contests.
For now, it’s important for the Rays to avoid any kind of a let-down at the hands of a Kansas City Royals team that’s not nearly as talented as the Red Sox that just left town. Perhaps yesterday’s day off will help, but this is where it’s really up to the manager and the veteran players to keep this team in-line. After that sweep of the Sox, anything less than 2-out-of-3 in this series is a MASSIVE disappointment.
What to watch for: Is Edwin Jackson pitching to save his spot in the rotation? With the trade deadline fast approaching, it would seem that Jackson would be the starting pitcher to drop if the Rays were to add another arm. He needs to string together a few really good starts to keep the Rays from thinking they need to make a change.
Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Edwin Jackson – Some fans may have forgotten that Jackson started against the Pirates on Saturday. The game lasted 13 innings and almost four hours. Jackson left the game after a steady 6 2/3 innings of work. He threw 64 of 104 pitches for strikes and earned praise from skipper Joe Maddon afterward. The game was Jackson’s first since serving a five-game suspension for his role in the Rays’ on-field incident against the Red Sox on June 5. He is 0-1 with a 14.73 ERA in two appearances against the Royals.
Brian Bannister – Bannister didn’t regret any of his pitches in his last start, a loss to St. Louis. The Cardinals scored three of their runs off a wind-aided triple and a pop fly that got lost in the sun. Bannister lasted just 4 1/3 innings and gave up seven runs. The start was a surprise, given his recent performances. He’d been 3-1 in June and 8-1 in his career during the month.
Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Brian Bannister.
View the game preview from Baseball Reference.
| TAMPA BAY RAYS |
KANSAS CITY ROYALS |
| LINEUP 1 | LINEUP 1 |
| LINEUP 2 | LINEUP 2 |
| LINEUP 3 | LINEUP 3 |
| LINEUP 4 | LINEUP 4 |
| LINEUP 5 | LINEUP 5 |
| LINEUP 6 | LINEUP 6 |
| LINEUP 7 | LINEUP 7 |
| LINEUP 8 | LINEUP 8 |
| LINEUP 9 | LINEUP 9 |
Be sure to join us in the chat room for some good Rays talk during the game!!!
Tags: Royals
July 5th, 2008 at 11:47 am
There was a couple no record games for Jackson when he left with the lead and bullpen could hold or save for him. Hope last nights game is the coming out of Pena and he will start hitting. Rays need to start hitting like last year.