I heard and read a number of commentators and columnists who said that you’d know if the Rays were real if they could make it to the 100th game of the season and still be in the race. 1st place in the AL East still counts as “in the race,” right?
After last night’s rough loss, the Rays can still take this series behind James Shields today. If he’s on the mound for a series clincher, you like your chances.
What to watch for: Any signs of life from the offense. Things still just haven’t clicked yet.
Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
James Shields - Shields continued his home dominance on Friday night, notching his eighth win this season, six of which have been at Tropicana Field. The 26-year-old right-hander tossed seven innings of one-run baseball — allowing only a solo homer to Toronto’s Adam Lind — in the four-strikeout performance. Shields’ best pitch has always been his changeup, but he also has a plus fastball and curve and he’s added a cutter that has helped him throw inside to left-handers. He will be making his first start of the season against Oakland, a team he has traditionally fared well against. In four career starts, Shields is 2-1 with a 4.55 ERA.
Greg Smith - Smith struggled Friday night against the Yankees and exited after just 3 2/3 innings. He allowed six earned runs on eight hits in the shortened outing. He fell into long at-bats to contribute to the high pitch count. The lefty threw 62 pitches through the first three innings. Smith walked five and struck out just one in the game. He is 0-1 with a 2.57 ERA against the Rays.
Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Greg Smith.
View the game preview from Baseball Reference.
| TAMPA BAY RAYS |
OAKLAND A’S |
| 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: A's
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Will Carl Crawford please show up to work? Four at bats, four outs and five runners stranded. This is not a three hole hitter. Crawford and Pena are AWOL. They need to start hitting or give back some of their paycheck.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:00 pm
We do need a strong bat behind Evan. Carlos hitting there is getting ridiculous. The onlu way to do this is to trade for a real bat (NO NOT MURTON!), a real, proven hitter like Jason Bay or NadyX. We have the prospects to do it. Bring in someone who, is a strong steady big bat, is not a 2008 rental, and who will also be here for the 2009 run. And do it soon.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Folks, we may be winning right now, but we will not win too many if the Rays continue to muster, what is it now?, only six hits in eight innings. The bats have to wake up. Crawford, Upton, Pena, Gomes are all hitting sub-par…. They all tired out already?
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:31 pm
My final post for the day, then I quit. Percy is no longer a “light out” closer as he was in years past. He is a great, experienced reliever, but the Rays need to seriously look at a lights out closer for the remainder of this year and next. Almost every game Percy comes into ends up being a heart stopper. To many runs, too many walks, etc. Sorry Percy, accept that age has set in and you can be part of the solution, but you no longer are THE solution.
July 23rd, 2008 at 3:03 pm
agreed on all fronts, not happy winning this way, dont get me wrong the W is nice to have, but, most teams explode for runs once a week, it is truly a struggle every night for this team.
Pena should be in the 6-hole and Crawford down to 8
July 23rd, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Zobrist is finally sent back to Durham
HIs bat is going great for the majors, but his defense and instincts are horrible.
The middle game of the Oakland series could have easily been saved if his bad infield plays had been played properly.
Welcome back Barlett!
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Can we please stop thinking about Nady as an impact bat or even a particularly good one (especially for a right fielder). I know he is having a fine season this year, one that is almost certainly a career year and unlikely to continue. But if you review his overall career you see almost exactly the performance as Ty Wigginton. In fact they are eerily close.
Maybe that represents some improvement over what we have, although odds are that Gomes will hit just as well as Nady over the rest of the season, but at what cost. The point is that given his current numbers, Nady is going to command a lot more than he is worth for the very unlikely possibility that he continues his hot streak all year.
As for Bay, he cannot play right field. He has no arm and his defense in left field has declined precipitously. He is an impact hitter and is worth pursuing, but his price is even higher than Nady’s. It is unlikely the Rays would pay it, and probably are right not to. There is quite a bit of evidence that deadline deals have historically had minimal impact on the outcome of pennant races. A glaring example was Atlanta getting Teixeira last year for minor leaguers when they were 1 1/2 games out of first and ending the year 6 1/2 games out and out of the post-season. Quite a few studies have demonstrated that is the most common result of “big” deadline deals.
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Boy you guys have had 10 years of training about complaining. Closer comes in and doesn’t throw 3 pitches and gets 3 outs, get rid of him. 2 games of the DL and he gets the job done. Gomes had a good 3 day series, count the times on base and runs he was involved in. the only thing I really agree with you guys on is 23 and 13 has to start producing with men on. The bottom of the order came through today. Bartlett will help us with his defense and his base running and I hope his bat will get him up to 280 or 90. The Rays have to start lowering th LOBs and that will take care of any closer problems. I personally am more worried about the Yankees that Boston because the Yankees are winnning more on the road. Let’s face it men with our schedule it’s going to be damn tuff to make the playoffs unless we can some how win on the road. MLB scheduling has favored the Yankees and Boston for years. Check back and you’ll see there at home a lot the last of the season. MLB wants the big markets in the post season. Makes money.If the Rays could win the division which is set up for Bonston or New York we’d truly be the best team in baseball and we’d take over for the miracle Mets. God wouldn’t that be great. Enjoy every W we get now because months 9 and 10 are going to be tough.
July 23rd, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Sorry for the Percy-whine, but the reality is Percy is getting old…he is on the downward side of his best years. Will he not only carry the Rays on his 9th inning back in 2008 but also 2009, or is Balfour or Salas or ??? being groomed to replace the Percy War Horse when 1) he breaks down again or 2) gets too far past his prime to be a championship closer. Again, sorry, but the most common observer can see he is getting it done most of the time (when not hurt) except we are all living on the razor’s edge during these innings waiting for the party to end. Rays are in the second half in first place…hate to waste this opportunity. There are many teams that say, “oh, we can do it next year” and they do not make it back to the playoffs for 10-15 years. Let’s go for it, but at not a backbreaking cost. If Nady is not the guy, what about Thames?
July 24th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
your late, your late for a very important date, no time to say hello good bye– Hi Scott