Game #104: Bouncing back to win the series?
By Scott Caruso | July 27th, 2008 | Posted in Game Thread
After dropping Game 1 on Thursday night, it was going to take a big-time effort for the Rays to come back to still win this series against the Royals, but here they stand one win away from doing just that. Andy Sonnanstine takes the hill for the Rays, still trying to get that 11th win, while the non-awe-inspiring Kyle Davies takes the hill for Kansas City.
Then, in a night-cap we’ve got the Yankees and Red Sox going at it again on ESPN. The Rays could find themselves 3 games up on Boston at the end of the day if the Bombers hold up their end of the bargain (and we TCOB against the Royals).
They’ve always said that pennant-contending and championship-caliber teams win the games and series against the bad teams that they should beat. This is one of those teams and one of those series, so a loss today to cause a split would certainly be disappointing.
What to watch for: Carlos Pena. He’s taken some better swings in recent days. Which, as his season would dictate, means he’ll go 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts today. Maybe he’ll prove me wrong and continue breaking out of his slump with another nice day at the plate.
Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Andy Sonnanstine - Sonnanstine was plagued by one fateful pitch — that resulted in a three-run homer — and accounted for all of Oakland’s runs in Tuesday’s loss. The crafty right-hander is a master of deception, employing an array of pitches that he can throw from all different angles. But he has learned to primarily use his fastball to set up the other pitches. Sonnanstine will be facing Kansas City for the second time this season, as the right-hander notched his 10th win vs. the Royals after throwing seven scoreless innings. In two starts against them, Sonnanstine is 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA.
Kyle Davies – Davies lasted just four innings on Tuesday night against the Tigers. Not because he was battered around — he trailed just 2-1 — but because he ran up 96 pitches in that span. He walked just one batter, but only 54 of the 96 deliveries were strikes, so his old lack-of-command problem again was unhappily evident. Davies has not won since June 17, when he beat the Cardinals. This will be Davies’ first appearance against the Rays.
Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Kyle Davies.
View the game preview from Baseball Reference.
| TAMPA BAY RAYS |
KANSAS CITY ROYALS |
| 2B – Akinori Iwamura | 2B – Esteban German |
| CF – B.J. Upton | SS – Mike Aviles |
| LF – Carl Crawford | LF – David DeJesus |
| 3B – Evan Longoria | DH – Billy Butler |
| 1B – Carlos Pena | 3B – Alex Gordon |
| DH – Willy Aybar | RF – Mark Teahen |
| RF – Gabe Gross | 1B – Ross Gload |
| C – Shawn Riggans | C – Miguel Olivo |
| SS – Jason Bartlett | CF – Mitch Maier |
Be sure to join us in the chat room for some good Rays talk during the game!!!
Tags: Royals
July 27th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
I vote for:
1) Sonny to the Pen;
2) Niemann up to the rotation;
3) RF was again a big zero; DFA or trade Gomer and bring up Ruggy (Gomer has been so much a part of the team maybe this will send a message to the other 24 on the roster that management take winning – and performance – seriously unlike the past decade)
4) DFA, trade or keep Reyes on DL for awhile to make room for Niemann