Among the sellers could be the Indians, who keep fielding offers for Victor Martinez from Boston, Tampa Bay, and San Francisco, but they aren’t inclined to deal unless a team’s best prospects are included.
Do you believe? Because I sure do. There’s something strange and magical and unexplainable by RC/27 and GB% and isoSLG numbers; it’s an intangible feeling that the Rays are destined to survive these final 50 games and find themselves playing October baseball for the first time in their history. After yesterday’s improbable and heart-stopping win, who would argue?
Comeback Kids: 6 batters. 6 baserunners. 6 runs scored. That’s how the ninth inning went for the Rays last night, and 4 of those batters TATTOOED the ball. Jason Bartlett hit what might’ve been the best ball of his Rays career, immediately followed by a smoked double down the line by Eric Hinske. Then Gabe Gross. Woooo-wheeee did Gabe Gross clobber that home run. It legitimately hit off of the back wall of the Trop. After Aki and BenZo scratched their way on, that was all she wrote, as Carlos Pena hit the home run that’s been replayed ad nauseum on ESPN since yesterday afternoon.
It inspired Steve Phillips and Eric Young to declare that the Rays were going to the playoffs and Karl Ravetch to say that, “Well, let’s see what happens when they lose 3 or 4 games in September. We know the Red Sox and Yankees know how to handle that.” Yes, you’re right Karl; the Yankees and Red Sox DO know a little something about losing this year, as they’ve both done it more often than the Rays have.
I’ve got to be honest, I was silently cursing Joe Maddon for leaving Gross in there to hit in the ninth inning. I was sure he was going to use B.J. Upton to pinch-hit, as he said during the pre-game that he would be willing to use Beej despite the benching in an attempt to win the game. Shows how much I know. By now I should know that Gabe Gross + Ninth Inning = MONEY.
Carlos Pena… is locked in. The past few days, he’s had some tremendous at bats and looks more like the Pena from last year rather than the Pena of the first 4 months. He got a little lucky in the 5th inning when he walked on a pitch that was clearly a strike, leading to an Evan Longoria RBI single. His ability to come up with big hits is something this team will desperately need down the stretch.
Um, Kaz? What’s going on, dude? Ever since the All-Star Break you’ve been in a funk. Want to maybe start pitching better again? That’d be awesome.
New DH on the Block: Okay, so Jason Bartlett isn’t about to take over full-time DH duties, but if he swings the bat like he did yesterday for the rest of the season, the bottom of the Rays order will certainly be lethal.
Ben Zobrist… is locked in right now. Even though he went just 1-for-4 yesterday, he hit a bunch of balls hard again. I’d love to see how the Rays justify sending him down THIS time…
Conditions are ripe for the Rays to win yet another series today – it’s Scott Kazmir against a clearly inferior pitcher, and it’s taking place inside the dome. What more could you ask for?
What to watch for: Despite not being any good, Sowers has been surprisingly solid against the Rays’ hitters. You have to think their recent string of good ABs will continue today against a guy who is anything but overpowering.
Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Scott Kazmir – Kazmir struggled with his control on Friday night when he picked up a no-decision against the Tigers. The 24-year-old left-hander threw 32 pitches in the first inning alone before leaving the game with two outs in the fifth and having thrown 110 pitches. Despite all the balls — which led to six walks — Kazmir only allowed two runs while striking out five. Kazmir is still working to gain command of his slider, which has historically been his best pitch. Without his slider, he has primarily used a fastball-changeup combination this season. He is 3-1 with a 3.08 ERA in four career starts against the Indians.
Jeremy Sowers - The left-hander took a perfect game into the sixth inning for the second straight start, but couldn’t get the win last Friday in Minneapolis. Sowers got ahead early in the count, before Twins hitters became more patient. His finishing line shows four earned runs in 6 2/3 innings, after a two-run homer and run scoring double in the seventh ended his night. Sowers allowed two earned runs on three hits against Tampa Bay July 13, but walked seven batters in four innings of work. He threw 93 pitches.
Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Jeremy Sowers.
View the game preview from Baseball Reference.
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Fausto Carmona didn’t have it, and the Rays bats made him and the parade of relief pitchers that followed him pay to the tune of 8 runs and 10 hits (and 6 walks!) en route to tossing that Cleveland-sized monkey from their backs.
Just Good Enough: Edwin Jackson wasn’t great by any stretch of the imagination, but you can’t expect much more out of your #5 starter than you got from Edwin tonight. It was a typical Jacksonian performance – nearly 100 pitches, a bunch of walks, a little more than 5 innings – but he pitched the Rays to the win and bounced back from a bad beginning to limit the damage.
Is it just me, or did he seem more comfortable pitching out of the stretch? Maybe that’s because he spent the whole night there, but he seemed to make better pitches when he was working with men on base.
Turning the Power On: Evan Longoria, Cliff Floyd, and Dioner Navarro hit three BOMBS in the 7th inning to put this one out of reach. I was actually ready to write a little blurb in here about how I couldn’t stand watching Floyd’s at bats anymore, but he bought himself a couple days’ reprieve with this performance.
Oh Benny Boy: I love Ben Zobrist’s approach at the plate. He takes good swings (and works a count), and certainly deserves to keep a spot on this roster no matter what happens over the course of the next few days. I’m not sure whose spot he takes (I still vote Willy Aybar), but maybe it’s time the Rays dialed back to 11 pitchers on the staff? I dunno; just something to chew on.
Ew, Gross! Over the past two games – starts, in fact – Gabe Gross seems to have found his stroke. He’s been working some deep counts and has been really putting a sting to the ball. Needless to say, his value shoots up if he’s able to put together those kinds of plate appearances.
Carlos! 2-for-2 with 2 walks and a sac fly? Please, let’s not have this be yet another tease where you’ll then go 0-for-10 with 8 strikeouts.
Rookie Record: Evan’s 22nd home run in the 7th inning set a new Rays record for rookies, originally held by the recently-departed Jonny Gomes.
Gaining Ground: The Yankees lost again tonight, pushing the Rays’ lead in the division to 6 1/2 games. The BoSox, however, won, so the Rays still lead them by just 3.
The Indians are not a good team this year, yet they’ve managed to beat the Rays in all 4 games that the two teams have played. The boys from Tampa Bay try to reverse the trend tonight as Edwin Jackson goes up against Fausto Carmona, who has struggled to regain the form that made him one of the league’s top pitchers a year ago.
What to watch for: Carmona gives up a ton of baserunners, but not many home runs. The Rays will need to string together some rallies if they want to put runs on the board tonight.
Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Edwin Jackson - Jackson picked up his seventh win of the season Wednesday in Toronto when he battled through five innings, holding the Blue Jays to two runs despite giving up seven hits and walking two. Twice the 24-year-old right-hander faced jams in which the Jays had a man on third with no outs and he did not allow the run to score. If Jackson is locating his 97-mph fastball, his other pitches can work well, particularly his slider. Jackson is 0-1 with a 2.61 ERA in four career appearances against the Indians.
Fausto Carmona – Carmona rebounded from a woeful return from the disabled list with a more typical performance Thursday against the Tigers. Going 6 1/3 innings, the right-handed sinkerballer induced a number of groundouts, struck out three and found his way out of a number of jams, which were mostly the result of poor fielding and a glaring sun that played havoc on Tribe fielders. He allowed four runs (two earned) to pick up his fifth win of the season. He has yet to face the Rays this season, but in his one previous start against Tampa Bay he went seven innings and allowed two runs to pick up the victory.
Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Fausto Carmona.
View the game preview from Baseball Reference.
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This game was stacked against us from the beginning – Cliff Lee on the hill, Carl Crawford and Jason Bartlett unavailable, a bench where Shawn Riggans was the primary pinch-hitter – but the Rays still had a few chances before ultimately falling to the Indians last night.
Just Didn’t Have It: Matt Garza just didn’t have it last night. We get spoiled, I think, when he has an absolutely brilliant outing like he did his last time out and expect to see that every time. Of course, it’s unrealistic to think he can duplicate that performance every time out, and though he pitched well enough that he might pick up a win on some days, you don’t want to have that kind of performance when Cliff Lee is matching you.
It just didn’t look to me like his fastball had the usual movement to it last night; the 7 hits and 2 home runs allowed seem to bear that out. And yet despite that, he was one out away from escaping 5 innings with a tie game and just 2 runs allowed; instead, one bad pitch to David Delucci put the nail in the Rays’ coffin.
The Short Of It: With Jason Bartlett out with an injured finger, Willy Aybar got his first career start at shortstop. He made a nifty little play up the middle in the first inning (with an assist to Grady Sizemore who was running on the play), but then in the second saw a ball trickle under his glove that Bartlett probably gets to. Of course, it’s unfair to compare Aybar to Bartlett since Jason has elite-level range at shortstop, but it just underscores how important J-Bart’s defense is to the Rays when you see someone else playing the position now. Aybar certainly didn’t embarass himself out there, though, and likely made Joe Maddon feel a little bit better about his lack of a pure shortstop on the bench.
Aki See, Aki Do: Usually when Akinori Iwamura has the kind of night he had last night – 3-for-4 and on base 4 times – the Rays put a few runs on the board. Unfortunately, B.J. Upton, Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria, and Dioner Navarro combined to go 1-for-15 behind him and thus the Rays couldn’t sustain any rallies. In fact, it was Gabe Gross at the bottom of the order who helped spark the little bit of offense there was last night with an infield single and a double down the left-field line.
Oh No, Gomes: Alright, there’s no more defending Jonny Gomes like some people keep trying to do. He had ANOTHER 0-fer last night, and hit nothing more than a few lazy fly ball outs again. Time to activate Rocco and see if he can do better. There’s no way he can do any worse.
Al Right: In his attempt to make me look like a tool for ripping him the other night, Al Reyes blew threw the Indians in the 9th.
Hammel Time: Kudos to Jason Hammel; he was actually very good through 3 innings of relief work, allowing just the 1 run. You can’t ask for much more out of a guy who is tasked with saving the other arms in the pen.
Lucky Night: The Red Sox and Yankees both lost as well, so the Rays’ place in the standings remains unchanged.
After a three game sweep of the Tigers, the Rays find themselves in another sweepable three-game set against the Indians. Though its presumptuous to think the team could just sweep another team at will, the Indians are clearly inferior this season. Plus, you’ve got to think that pre-All-Star Break series in Cleveland is still eating at the Rays.
Tonight will be the toughest challenge of all, as Cliff Lee has been brilliant this season. Let’s see if the newly-resurgent Rays bats can get something done against him.
What to watch for: The lineup is very left-handed tonight thanks to Jason Bartlett being out; both Eric Hinske and Gabe Gross get the start against Lee. Will they still be able to get something going on offense?
Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Matt Garza - Garza will be making his 21st start of the season after claiming his ninth win with a complete-game shutout of the Blue Jays on Tuesday night in Toronto. Garza was masterful, allowing no runs on five hits and a walk while striking out five. Garza has a mid-90s fastball that sinks, a curve, a slider and a changeup. He is 0-2 with a 5.85 ERA in four career starts against the Indians.
Cliff Lee – Lee had a bizarre outing against the Tigers on Wednesday — bizarre from the standpoint that he actually gave up more than a couple runs. In just five innings, Lee was roughed up for six runs on 10 hits with no walks and five strikeouts in a no-decision. Lee gave up two homers. Actually, Lee cruised through the first two innings, gave up a run each in the third and fourth and was tattooed in the fifth. This marked just the third time this year that Lee gave up more than four runs. He’ll look to recover against a Rays team he held scoreless on six hits in six innings on July 11.
Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Cliff Lee.
View the game preview from Baseball Reference.
| TAMPA BAY RAYS |
CLEVELAND INDIANS |
| 2B – Akinori Iwamura | CF – Grady Sizemore |
| CF – B.J. Upton | DH – David Delucci |
| 1B – Carlos Pena | LF – Ben Francisco |
| 3B – Evan Longoria | SS – Jhonny Peralta |
| C – Dioner Navarro | C – Kelly Shoppach |
| SS – Willy Aybar | 1B – Ryan Garko |
| LF – Eric Hinske | 3B – Andy Marte |
| DH – Jonny Gomes | RF – Franklin Gutierrez |
| RF – Gabe Gross | 2B – Asdrubal Cabrera |
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There’s no other way to say it: the Rays need a win. Problem is that they are running up against Cliff Lee tonight. It’s a great example of how bad the Indians really have been this year that Lee can be 11-2 and the team can still be so far out of first place. Truly baffling.
What to watch for: Any signs of life from the suddenly stagnant bats. (Hey that’s sounds familiar. I think I said it last night.)
Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
James Shields - Shields picked up his seventh win of the season Sunday when he held the Royals to two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out eight in seven innings. The 26-year-old right-hander’s 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 is 0-1 with a 2.66 ERA in three career starts against the Indians and is 0-1 with a 2.84 ERA in one start at Progressive Field.
Cliff Lee - On the same day Lee was announced to the All-Star team, the lefty went seven innings and gave up four earned runs on six hits and two walks against the Twins in a 4-3 Indians loss. Lee sailed through five scoreless innings before running into trouble in a one-run sixth and three-run seventh. Even so, Lee continues to be a stabilizing force on an otherwise disappointing team. Lee’s next start, his last before the All-Star Break, will come against Tampa Bay. Lee has not faced the Rays in 2008 during the club’s breakout campaign.
View the Rays numbers against Cliff Lee.
View the game preview from Baseball Reference.
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4 games to close out the first-half of the season against the struggling Cleveland Indians. Anything less than 3-out-of-4 should be considered a disappointment.
What to watch for: Any signs of life from the suddenly stagnant bats.
Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Andy Sonnanstine – Sonnanstine earned his seventh win of the season Saturday after blanking the Royals for seven innings while limiting them to five hits and a walk while striking out two. The 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 setup the other pitches. Sonnanstine is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in one career start against the Indians.
Aaron Laffey - Laffey had his second consecutive poor start on Saturday. The rookie allowed four earned runs in five innings on five hits and four walks against Minnesota. This came after an Interleague start where Laffey allowed a five-run fifth inning to the Reds. The lefty will next take on the Rays, a club he has never faced.
None of the Rays have ever faced Aaron Laffey.
View the game preview from Baseball Reference.
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