How about that for a week? Last Monday the Rays were on the receiving end of a BoSox beatdown that was horrible to watch. Tuesday had Andrew Sonnastine suprise everyone has he hung tot to toe with Red Sox pitcher John Beckett and Dioner Navarro had the walk off RBI single to win the game 2 – 1. Wednesday, the Rays had their revenge as rookie Fernando Perez, Willie Aybar and and Gabe Gross all homered off of Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield. The Rays went on to slam Boston 10 – 3 and win the series 2 games to 1. Thursday saw the Twins come to town and not even Evan Longoria’s 3 home runs were enough to beat the Twins, who rallied with 5 runs in the 9th to beat the Rays 11 – 8. Friday had history at the Trop with instant replay going the way of the Rays and Carlos Pena was awarded a home run after the reversal. The Rays move one game closer to clinching at least the playoffs and killed the Twins 11 – 1.
Saturday was the historic Rays playoff clinching game as Scott Kzamir erased the demons of his previous shelacking at the hands of the Red Sox and helped to pitch the Rays into their first ever post season appearance. Carlos Pena had a two run double plus Cliff Floyd and Fernando Perez also had solo home runs in what had to be the clubs biggest win in the history of the Rays franchise.
Sunday saw Francisco Liriano get the best of the Rays as only Carlos Pena could get a single RBI for the whole team and the Rays lost to the Twins splitting the series 4 – 1.
Monday began the first of four games up at Camden Yards and the Rays bounced back as Jason Bartlett had two of the Rays three hits. Carlos Pena then had a bases loaded walk in the seventh as the Rays scored two unearned runs. The Rays ended up winning 4 – 2.
Tonight the Rays face a tough doubleheader. Pitching match ups are below. The magic number is 4 after a Rays win and a Red Sox defeat last night. The Red Sox fell at the hands of the Indians 4 – 3.
Mlb.com Probable Pitching Previews
Game 1:
TB: RHP James Shields (13-8, 3.61 ERA)
Shields earned his career-high 14th win of the season on Thursday night and was charged with six runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings on the hill against Minnesota. He has lasted at least six innings in 16 of his past 17 outings, dating back to a shortened stint in the June 5 fracas with the Red Sox. The Rays will look for another long appearance from their staff leader in wins. Shields will be facing Baltimore for the third time this season, and last faced the Birds in an Aug. 31 win. In that game, Shields tossed seven innings of one-run baseball.
BAL: LHP Garrett Olson (9-9, 6.75 ERA)
Olson has pitched relatively well in his last two starts, answering the challenge posed to him by manager Dave Trembley. The southpaw has worked erratically for most of the season, unable to secure a rotation slot for 2009. Trembley has said Olson needs to master the command of his fastball before he’ll have any big league success.
Game 2:
TB: RHP Mitch Talbot (0-0, 12.00 ERA)
The rookie right-hander made his Major League debut in relief of Scott Kazmir on Sept. 15, tossing three innings and allowing four runs. The 24-year-old was recalled from Triple-A Durham on Sept. 13 after going 13-9 with a 2.86 ERA for the Bulls.
BAL: RHP Alfredo Simon (0-0, 8.10 ERA)
Simon, who was signed out of Mexico earlier in the season, will make this start in place of injured ace Jeremy Guthrie, who has been nursing a tired right shoulder for the past few weeks. Baltimore hasn’t closed the book on Guthrie yet, but Simon’s emergency start reflects the uncertainty in the rotation over the season’s last few weeks.
September 24th, 2008 at 6:45 am
I am predicting we take the championship today. Think the Rays will sweep and Cleveland will pluck Byrd’s feathers.
September 24th, 2008 at 10:05 am
Richard, I like your thinking. If we clinch tonight, I don’t think we’ll be seeing the A-squad in Detroit very much. I’d look for Navarro to get a couple of days off on Thursday and Friday, Bartlett to get Thursday and Saturday off, Upton to get Saturday and Sunday, and Shields will probably just throw about 50 pitches on Sunday (if he throws at all). Aki will probably get Thursday and Saturday off with Bartlett as well. It’s a good time to get these guys rested and ready for the playoffs. They still need to play, so they can get their reps. But a couple of days off over the next 4 days can keep them rested, but not rusty. Also, on another good side note, Crawford could possibly be ready for the playoffs next week. If that’s the case, then I can’t wait to see what the lineup will look like with him in it. That would mean that Rocco is probably the guy who gets the boot, especially if we draw Minnesota. They have Liriano as their only solid lefty on their pitching staff, and Rocco went just 1 for 8 against their entire pitching staff last week. Rocco has a chance to be on the roster against Chicago, as he did hit 2 of his 3 HR against them, and went 4 for 10 in that series. But the bottom line is that there still might not be room for the guy. Perez is playing his way onto the roster right now, and can rpovide the stolen base factor that helps in the playoffs. If Crawford is ready, and they put him on the roster, then the 25-man looks like this:
C- Navarro, Hernandez
1B- Pena, Hinske
2B- Iwamura, Aybar
3B- Longoria
SS- Bartlett, Zobrist
LF- Crawford
CF- Upton, Perez
RF- Gross
DH- Floyd
SP- Shields, Garza, Kazmir, Jackson
RP- Sonnanstine, Howell, Balfour, Percival, Bradford, Miller, Wheeler
Rocco basically has to hope that Crawford isn’t ready to go, or that Maddon decides to go crazy and use just a 10-man pitching rotation. Either that, or we get the ChiSox, and Maddon goes with the success that Rocco has had with them.