Unfortunately, my cable was out last night so I couldn’t watch the game so you don’t get a full recap. Here’s what I know…
Right now, the Rays stand at 6-3 on this road trip, so either way tonight turns out, the team has been hugely successful over the past week and a half. That said, heading into the week ahead against the Angels and White Sox having gone 7-3 on this swing would be a tremendous boost to the squad.
What to watch for: Dustin Nippert hasn’t started a big league game since 2006 and has a career WHIP of over 1.7. If ever the Rays were going to torch a guy, tonight would be the night.
Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Scott Kazmir – Kazmir took his sixth loss of the season Tuesday night when he allowed two runs in a five-inning stint against the A’s. The 24-year-old left-hander has struggled with his mechanics lately and has worked all season with little luck to gain command of his slider, which has historically been his best pitch. Without his slider, Kazmir has relied primarily on a fastball-changeup combination. He is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in two starts against the Rangers this season, and is 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA in two career starts at Rangers Ballpark.
Dustin Nippert – Nippert is the leading candidate to replace Luis Mendoza, who was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma on Friday. Another possibility is rookie Tommy Hunter. Nippert has pitched four innings in each of his past five outings and has a 3.98 ERA.
Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Dustin Nippert.
View the game preview from Baseball Reference.
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Matt Garza, James Shields, and Andy Sonnanstine are already in the 10-win club, and Edwin Jackson gets his chance to join tonight as he takes on Matt Harrison and the Rangers.
What to watch for: Matt Harrison is not that great of a pitcher (at least not yet), so the Rays might be able to play a little it more home run derby tonight.
Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Edwin Jackson – Jackson picked up his ninth win of the season Sunday in Seattle when he held the Mariners to one run on seven hits in seven innings worked. The 24-year-old right-hander has shown marked improvement from the 2007 season when he had a 3-11 mark on the same date as Sunday’s win. If Jackson is locating his 97 mph fastball, his other pitches can work well, particularly his slider. Jackson is 1-1 with a 3.74 ERA in three career starts against the Rangers.
Matt Harrison – How do you allow six runs and coast to victory? Get 12 runs of support. That’s what happened to Harrison his last time out, when he allowed six runs on 10 hits and two walks in five innings against the Orioles. He also gave up two home runs, didn’t record a single strikeout in the start, and saw his ERA rise from 6.46 to 7.07. Harrison will go for his third straight victory against the American League East on Friday, when the Rays come to Texas. It will be his first game against Tampa Bay.
View the game preview from Baseball Reference.
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I’ll get to B.J. Upton at the end of this, but there’s no way to overstate this: Matt Garza was a BEAST last night. If Rays pitchers keep dealing like that, missing Longoria and Crawford won’t be such a big deal after all.
The Garzinator: You’ve heard of no-hit stuff before? Well, Garza clearly had no-hit stuff last night. A mis-play by Justin Ruggiano (which, by the way, should’ve been an error) cost him the no-no in the 6th, but rather than implode because of his anger like the old Matt Garza would have, he buckled down and allowed just 1 more hit the rest of the way in throwing the 2-hit shutout.
He also walked just 2 and struck out 9 in the effort, throwing 119 pitches (78 strikes). It’s performances like this that are going to make guys like Rick Sutcliffe (of, “I still the Red Sox are going to win the division” fame) eat their words.
His performance was also EXACTLY what the bullpen needed. Joe Maddon used 8 different pitchers in Thursday’s game, so to say that the arms could’ve used a day off was an understatement. Juan Salas was available, but you know that Maddon would’ve preferred to avoid using anyone else down there.
This isn’t the first time Garza’s looked this dominant, either. At 24 years old, he’s got the potential to remain near the top of this rotation to years to come. And despite what people were saying about his inconsistency earlier in the year (more myth than truth, in my opinion), he has become perhaps the MOST consistently good starter of the past couple of months.
Road Warriors: Remember when people were saying the Rays couldn’t win on the road? They are now 6-2 on this tough Western Division road trip and guaranteed to finish it with a winning record. One more win either Saturday and Sunday ensures that this is quite possibly the best road trip in team history (not necessarily record-wise, but in terms of what it means to the franchise).
Lucky 13: 13 hits by the Rays’ offense is considered a “break-out” based on recent performance, and it was really a total team effort. Only Justin Ruggiano, who had just a single at-bat, failed to reach base.
Power Surge: The team hit 4 home runs yesterday – Willy Aybar, Carlos Pena, Eric Hinske, and Gabe Gross – and if the power is going to be turned on like that, the Rays are going to win lots of games. The recent emergence of Carlos Pena has been the biggest key to this offense; his batting average likely won’t get back up to last year’s levels before the season’s over (nor will his home run total), but everyone has seen just how important he’s been to this offense in recent weeks. Perhaps rumors of his demise were a bit premature, and more related to some underlying slump of physical problem that we weren’t aware of.
Whatever the case, he will be an incredibly important player come playoff time.
I’m Going to Be a Buzzkill: There’s only one thing I didn’t like about last night’s game – WAY too many taken third strikes. It’s becoming a running theme with this team; I’m not sure if they’ve been instructed by the coaching staff to take pitches that are close to the edges in hopes of getting a favorable call on those they don’t think they can hit, but it certainly seems like its a team-wide thing rather than restricted to individual players.
Now will you admit there’s a problem? There’s still plenty of B.J. Upton apologists out there who think that what Joe Maddon did last night by pulling Upton was wrong. That’s fine; you’re entitled to your opinion.
I’m going to keep this short and sweet, though: Upton has been told before – both in a big team meeting and individually when he was benched the first time – that maximum effort and running hard are what is expected of him. I don’t think any one of us will argue with that. Whether you agree or disagree with the theory behind it, there’s no argument that this is what B.J. Upton has been told and based on comments he made after the first benching, he understood this.
Maddon is Upton’s manager. Like an employee in any job, Upton should be expected to listen to what his manager wants, whether he agrees with it or not. And, like an employee in any job, if he’s going to be subordinate there should be consequences. In this case, it seems the consequences were the embarassment of being pulled from the field, sitting out agan Saturday, and any other punishment Maddon deems fit.
This is not a commentary on Upton’s ability or his attitude; it’s not a commentary on whether Maddon is right or wrong on the kind of effort he expects from everyone. It’s simply the way things are; if you disrespect your manager, you should expect to face consequences, plain and simple. Even the Upton apologists can’t argue with that (but I’m sure they’ll find a way to try).
If you care about my opinion on the matter – I completely support Maddon on this one. Even if it’s just “false hustle,” I’m a guy who believes in it. You never know when a shortstop might kick one or a first baseman might drop one, and you never want to be called out on a play you could clearly be safe on. Plus, I think it inspires ballplayers to take more ownership of their performance. Upton’s “loafing” (for lack of a better term) has certainly become an issue – whether big or small – for this team, or else Maddon would’ve done nothing about it.
I agree when the apologists say that Upton running hard on ground balls isn’t going to make him hit more home runs; it’s true, it won’t. But that shouldn’t matter. Upton has not been the same offensive player this year as he was last year, plain and simple. Whether he’s acting out of frustration we’ll never know, but Maddon was absolutely right for doing something about it last night.
Despite having some of the worst pitching in the history of Western Civilization, the Texas Rangers are a dangerous ballclub with a lethal lineup, so this 3-game weekend tilt in Arlington to finish off this road trip is a big one for the Rays.
Right now, the Rays are 5-2 on this road trip through the bottom of the AL West; if the Rays can take 2-out-of-3 or even sweep the Rangers, it would put an incredbile end to one of the most successful – and important – road trips in team history.
What to watch for: If Matt Garza can hold the Rangers’ bats at bay, we should be fine. Kevin Millwood is not very good at baseball anymore. You might remember that this is the site of Garza’s blow-up with Dioner Navarro earlier in the season. Some might say that turned his entire campaign around.
Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Matt Garza - Garza will be making his 23 start of the season after earning a no-decision against the Mariners on Saturday night. Garza allowed five runs in the first two innings, but never gave in to finish his outing with 3 2/3 scoreless innings before getting lifted with the lead. Garza has a mid-90s fastball that sinks, a curve, a slider and a changeup. He is 2-1 with a 2.95 ERA in three career starts against the Rangers; he is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in one career start at Rangers Ballpark.
Kevin Millwood – Millwood will be making his first start since being placed on the disabled list July 24 with a strained right groin. He made one rehab start with Double-A Frisco and allowed two runs, one earned, in four innings. He allowed five hits and two walks while striking out six. With his return to the rotation, Millwood will try to end a streak of three straight winless starts, having not earned a victory since July 6. Friday will be his first start of the season against Tampa Bay, against which he’s 1-1 in three career starts, with a 6.63 ERA.
Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Kevin Millwood
View the game preview from Baseball Reference.
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