Rays of Light

Another game, another loss for the Rays. They look to snap the skid at three games while going up against a guy who no one has ever heard of.

What to watch for: Wins. It doesn’t matter how they come.

Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Jeff Niemann - Niemann looked much improved in his second outing of the season Thursday night when he allowed two runs on nine hits while walking one and striking out three in six innings. The 6-foot-9, 280 pound right-hander, who was the Rays’ No. 1 pick of the 2004 June Draft (fourth overall), had a slower than expected path to the Major Leagues due to injuries and problems with his mechanics. He showed marked improvement in pitching down with his fastball and with his breaking ball command, which proved exceptional all spring. While getting everything coordinated might be difficult for a taller pitcher, the downward angle of Niemann’s pitches can make the baseball extremely hard to hit. This will be Niemann’s first start and his first appearance against the Mariners.

Chris Jakubauskas - The right-handed Jakubauskas made a solid starting debut, holding the Angels scoreless for five innings before two singles in the sixth ended his strong outing. He became the tough-luck loser as the Mariners bullpen came apart, surrendering four hits and walking a batter during a five-run uprising. Jakubauskas, replacing Ryan Rowland-Smith in the rotation for a couple of weeks while the lefty recovers from triceps tendinitis, retired 15 of the first 18 batters he faced. He pounded the strike zone: 60 of his 81 pitches were strikes.

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Tags: Mariners
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[Game 14] RAYS @ Mariners: Reboot

The Rays look to right the ship out West against the surprising Seattle Mariners. They’ve been playing over their heads; the Rays have been underperforming. Should be a nice three-game set, right?

What to watch for: The offense needs to be more dynamic, and not simply rely on the longball to win games.

Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Andy Sonnanstine - Sonnanstine looked sharp in his last outing, his second of the season, when he held the Yankees to two runs in five innings to earn a no-decision on Wednesday. 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. Among those other pitches, Sonnanstine has added a changeup to his repertoire this spring, which he is fast gaining confidence in the more he masters it. The right-hander’s mantra is to dispatch hitters one way or the other in three pitches, which allows him to get deeper into the games and save the bullpen. Sonnanstine is 1-1 with a 2.66 ERA in three career starts against the Mariners and is 1-0 with a 1.26 ERA in two starts at Safeco Field.

Jarrod Washburn - The veteran left-hander retired the first 12 batters he faced in his previous outing on Wednesday, extending his scoreless streak to 12 consecutive innings to start the season. Both streaks ended during a two-batter sequence in the fifth inning, when a single and home run put a dent in his first home outing of the season. Even so, he took the game through six innings on 87 pitches.

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Tags: Mariners
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RAYS 11, Mariners 3: Rocco returns to reach team milestone

(Box Score)

What we’ve all known for months finally became a fact yesterday – this is the greatest season in the history of Rays baseball. Even if the Rays were to lose every game from here on out, they would have the franchise record for wins in a season. And it’s only August 11. Isn’t that crazy? It was also a bittersweet day for the team, as Rocco Baldelli found his way back onto the field for the first time all season, but at the expense of Carl Crawford, who may be done for the season.

Rocco’s Modern Life: Not a bad return for Rocco, going 1-for-4 with what – at the time – looked like a big RBI single. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t that big of a run, but he came through when the team needed him at the time. A pair of weak ground outs and a strkeout made up his other at bats, but I was most impressed with his discipline at the plate. He showed very good patience up there and waited for hitter’s pitches. That could be a good sign of things to come.

Am I the only one who held his breath when he made that sprawling catch in the 5th inning? I was just waiting for him to come up limping on that one. Thank goodness he was fine.

Big Willy Style: Willy Aybar did his part to make me look like an idiot for calling for him to be cut, hitting a pair of home runs and knocking in a total of 4 RBI. Nobody is going to start saying “Evan Who?” but it’s the kind of offensive performance that could really jumpstart him for these final 7 weeks.

Was That An Eric Hinske Sighting? A 3-for-5 day from Eric Hinske showed us glimpses of the guy who was helping to carrying this offense early in the season. With Carl Crawford out for an indefinite amount of time, Hinske becomes an even more integral cog in the machine.

People Who Say That B.J. Upton Doesn’t Get Lazy Sometimes… obviously didn’t watch his at bat in the top of the 9th inning last night. That was the biggest throw-away at-bat you’ll ever see. He went up there just “running out the clock” so to speak.

Don’t get me wrong – B.J. is immensely talented and there are few players who have the raw skills that he does – but people who try to say that he’s always giving 100% out there are simply lying to themselves. I’ll still take 70% of B.J. over 100% of a lot of other players, though.

Ed-WIN: This was prototypical Edwin Jackson 2008 last night. He scattered 7 hits over 7 innings, and when he left the game, he had somehow allowed just 1 run despite not having his best stuff. Think that maybe he’s learned how to pitch a little bit?

Not Too Concerned: Jason Hammel giving up 2 runs in the 9th inning doesn’t bother me too much; in that situation, you’re just trying to throw strikes and avoid walks. Hammel did that and gave up a couple of flares and ground balls – what more do you want from the guy?

A Little Help From Our Division-Leading Friends: The White Sox and Angels beat the Red Sox and Yankees respectively yesterday, so the Rays now hold a 4 1/2 and 8 1/2 game lead on ESPN’s darlings. Yet, for some reason, the Rays are still only considered to have a 56.4 percent chance of winning the division by CoolStandings. They do, however, have a better than 80 percent chance of reaching the playoffs.

Tags: Mariners
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Game #117: Chance to win the series

After the disappointing loss in Game 1, the Rays have a chance to win the series from the Mariners today AND set a franchise record with their 71st win. And they have to do it against mediocre knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. I’ve gotta be honest… I kind of like the Rays’ chances.

Dang it… I just jinxed them.

What to watch for: You never know what to expect from a knuckleballer – especially one who is converted from a regular pitcher. If Dickey is “on,” you never know just how he might pitch.

Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Edwin Jackson - Jackson got the win in Tuesday’s game, tossing 5 2/3 innings against Cleveland. Although hardly dominant, the 24-year-old Jackson gave the Rays a chance to win — allowing seven hits and three runs — and left the game with a 4-3 lead. Jackson is at his best when he is locating his 97-mph fastball, which sets up his array of other pitches, particularly his slider. The young flamethrower has won his only career appearance against Seattle, tossing eight shutout innings and allowing just two hits.

R.A. Dickey – Dickey has put together two solid starts in a row, seemingly securing his spot in the Mariners’ fluid rotation. He held the Twins to three runs over seven innings in his last start, making big pitches when he had to, and handed a three-run lead to the bullpen, which didn’t hold it, costing the knuckleball specialist a win. He has not faced the Rays this season and is 0-1 with a 7.38 ERA in his career against them.

Check out the Rays’ career numbers against R.A. Dickey.

View the game preview from Baseball Reference.

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Tags: Mariners
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Game #116: Potential milestone day

What to watch for: Matt Garza has been a very different pitcher on the road than he has at home. Hopefully the pitcher-friendly confines of Safeco Field help him reverse that trend and pitch the Rays to a win.

Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Matt Garza – Coming off his first career shutout, Garza wasn’t nearly as economical on the hill on Monday night. The right-hander exited after five innings, in which he threw 102 pitches and was plagued by the long ball. Cleveland’s No. 9 batter, Asdrubal Cabrera, opened the third inning with a solo shot, and David Dellucci went yard for a two-run homer two innings later, as Garza never appeared to settle in on the mound. Garza has faced the Mariners once this season already, in an April 8 contest in which he left with radial nerve irritation after pitching a season-low 2 2/3 innings.

Ryan Rowland-Smith – The left-hander from Australia returns to the Mariners roster as a starting pitcher, possibly for the remainder of the season. Used exclusively as a long reliever, Rowland-Smith was sent to Triple-A Tacoma more than two weeks ago to be converted to a starter and he pitched well in three starts, surrendering two runs in each of them and working his pitch-count to 101 in his most recent outing. He isn’t overpowering, relying instead on command of this fastball and off-speed pitches to keep hitters on their toes. He replaces right-hander Miguel Batista in the rotation.

Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Ryan Rowland-Smith.

View the game preview from Baseball Reference.

Be sure to join us in the chat room for some good Rays talk during the game!!!

Tags: Mariners
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RAYS 5, Mariners 3: Gettin’ it done

(Box Score)

It wasn’t the blowout I expected with Carlos Silva on the mound for the M’s, but even without Evan Longoria the Rays took care of business and left Seattle with a 5-3 win last night to even the series with the Mariners at 1 game apiece. James Shields bent but didn’t break and kept the Rays in control of this one.

Locked In: Carlos Pena is finally there. He’s hitting the ball hard virtually every time up and seems to be laying off more pitches out of the zone. When he swings, he’s making contact – and making good contact – and his home run last night was a BOMB. Oh yeah, he walked again, too. His OPS is creeping up ever so high, now sitting at .829. As Joe Magrane said during the broadcast, this is a guy who can carry an offense when he’s on. Right now, he’s on.

Gabe Gross: Batting 5th? That was a little weird. Maybe he got Gabriel and Eric Hinske confused?

Grant Balfour: Is sick nasty. He’s going to be the premier reliever in some team’s bullpen (hopefully ours!) before too long.

James the Mediocre: James Shields certainly didn’t have his best last night (and I’m sure he’ll tell you same), but it was good enough to beat a bad team like the Mariners. He got big outs when he needed them, and never let the game get out of hand. Is that good enough to win in the playoffs? Maybe not. But it’s good enough to beat the Mariners on a Friday night.

Call Him Bossman: A GREAT night for B.J. Upton, as he delivered a couple of hits AND walked twice, reaching base a total of 4 times. THAT was the B.J. we’ve come to know and love.

No Evan, No Problem: Not having your best offensive player in the lineup would be a problem for most teams, but not the Rays. Willy Aybar filled in admirably and the rest of the offense picked up the slack to make the Rays winners.

Gaining Ground: With the Red Sox and Yankees both losing last night, the Rays gained ground on both squads. They now lead Boston by 3 1/2 and New York by 6 1/2 in the AL East race.

Tags: Mariners
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Game #115: Bounceback time

No Evan Longoria means a tough road to sow for the Rays tonight as they try to bounce back from last night’s frustrating loss to the Mariners. On the bright side, it’s the great James Shields going up against the awful Carlos Silva. That’s gotta make you feel pretty good about tonight, right?

What to watch for: The offense should be able to tear Carlos Silva apart. If they don’t, I might throw some things across the living room.

Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
James Shields – Shields made his 16th quality start of the season by allowing two earned runs in 6 1/3 innings on Sunday against the Tigers, but he came away with a no-decision. 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-handed hitters. He is 0-1 with a 1.57 ERA in three career starts against the Mariners.

Carlos Silva – Silva battled against the Orioles on Sunday and gave up four earned runs in 6 2/3 innings while striking out two and walking one. That was an improvement upon his last two starts, which lasted 2 1/3 and three innings, respectively. This will be the first time the big right-hander has gone against his former team since coming over to Seattle as a free agent in the offseason. He has not recorded a win since June 28 against the Padres.

Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Carlos Silva.

View the game preview from Baseball Reference.

Be sure to join us in the chat room for some good Rays talk during the game!!!

Tags: Mariners
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Mariners 2, RAYS 1: Listless in Seattle

(Box Score)

Not a whole lot to say about this one: the offense was stymied by Felix Hernandez and couldn’t capitalize on the ineffectiveness of J.J. Putz,  Andy Sonnanstine was great, and Joe Maddon made a very strange managerial decision in the 9th inning that led to this loss to the M’s.

Dandy Andy: One thing was for sure last night: Andy Sonnanstine was on his game. Early on it looked like it might be a rough one, but Andy worked around some early command issues to be truly great. He even set a Rays record by retiring 17 batters in a row at one point during the game. Unfortunately, the M’s were able to scratch one across in the 8th and that set the stage for the rest of the contest.

Can’t Figure It Out: Trever Miller has been very good against left-handed batters. Raul Ibanez is a very good left-handed batter. Trever Miller was already in the game. Yet, inexplicably, Maddon removed him at the start of the 9th inning in favor of Dan Wheeler (who, if you’ve been paying attention, turns into Dewon Brazelton when he comes into a tie game in the 9th inning. It makes no sense). Why would the manager remove Trever Miller there? He’s shown in the past he has no problem with Miller facing multiple batters (see: pretty much any of Miller’s usage this season), and leaving him in the face Ibanez – to me – was a complete no-brainer. Maddon blew that one, plain and simple.

Phew: What could’ve been disastrous – Evan Longoria getting smacked on the hand with a fastball – looks like it’s okay, as x-rays were negative. He says he plans on being in the lineup again tonight.

Stop Defending Him: There are a number of people out there that continually try to defend Cliff Floyd and say that he’s not as bad as he’s looked at times. All I know is what I see and what the numbers tell me, and the numbers tell me that he’s been very mediocre at the plate, and – I’m sorry – if you ONLY play against right-handed pitching and ONLY play DH, you had better provide better than a .769 OPS. That’s just how I feel about it. His strikeout in the 9th inning was a real killer last night; a fly ball or a weak grounder scores Evan Longoria. One thing’s for sure – going down swinging doesn’t. That was incredibly frustrating.

Don’t get me wrong – I think there IS an intangible effect that he’s added to the team by being the “veteran presence” in the clubhouse. But how about a hit in a big spot? Or on the road? Or with runners in scoring position? He’s just not getting the big hit, period.

Ben Zobrist… was on base 2 more times last night. I am SHOCKED that I seem to be the only person that thinks he should remain on the roster even after Rocco Baldelli is activated. We’re trying to field the best 25-man team possible to reach the playoffs here.

Tags: Mariners
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Game #114: West Coast Swing

The Rays open up what is undoubtedly the most important West Coast road trip in team history tonight in Seattle, as Andy Sonnanstine takes the ball against the Mariners’ ace Felix Hernandez. “Don’t Call Him King” Felix is tough, for sure, but the Mariners’ bats are not very good, so this could very likely be a low-scoring affair.

If the Rays can make it through this stretch with a 6-4 record, I think everyone will be happy. Anything better, and you can say that the Rays truly weathered a big storm. These 4 games with the Mariners are a great way for the Rays to try to get off the deck, as they will be throwing – after tonight – a slew of inferior pitchers at the Rays. Anything less than 3-1 in this 4-game set is likely to be seen as a disappointment.

What to watch for: Jet-lag? I doubt it. Carl Crawford should be back in the lineup tonight and Jason Bartlett is likely back at shortstop. With the lineup complete again, can they put the runs on the board?

More than that, though, the Rays need to work the count against Hernandez. He hasn’t been going deep into games lately, and the Mariners’ bullpen can be hit.

Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Andy Sonnanstine – Sonnanstine picked up his 11th win of the season Saturday night, when he held the Tigers to two runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out six in six innings. 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 1-1 with a 3.46 ERA in two career starts against Seattle.

Felix Hernandez – Hernandez hasn’t been getting hit hard lately, but he’s not taking the Mariners deep into ballgames like he was earlier in the season. His last start was a classic example, as he gave up two earned runs in five innings against the Orioles on 109 pitches. He threw 37 pitches in the first inning, which set him up for a high pitch count. Since returning from the disabled list (sprained left ankle) on July 11, Hernandez has been unable to go more than six innings in each of his five outings.

Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Felix Hernandez.

View the game preview from Baseball Reference.

Be sure to join us in the chat room for some good Rays talk during the game!!!

Tags: Mariners
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