Rays of Light

Royals 6, RAYS 1: So much for that post-game meeting

(Box Score)

By now you’ve probably read about that post-game meeting that Joe Maddon had with the boys after last night’s win where he ripped them for their lack of hustle lately.

Sure doesn’t look like it helped.

It was another listless, lethargic performance by the Rays who blew a golden opportunity to tie the game in the 6th inning and watched as Al Reyes put it out of reach in the 7th. In case you were curious, Reyes just isn’t that good.

Wasted: Carl Crawford delivers an RBI single to put the Rays on the board. Evan Longoria then doubles to put the tying run at second base with no one out. Pena coming up. So what happens? The Royals go to the bullpen, and the next three Rays go down as neither Crawford nor Longoria finds his way across home plate. Sound familiar? It should. This has been the story of the past month or so of Rays baseball. Pena may have delivered a pair of hits today, but he didn’t come up when he was needed most. And is it now strikingly obvious that Willy Aybar is NOT a #6 hitter? I can see it. You can see it. Do you think Joe can see it?

Not Entirely Sonny’s Fault: The line looks ugly (5 ER in 6.2 IP), but like I mentioned, Al Reyes didn’t do him any favors. You expect a guy who was considered the “best” reliever on the staff last season to be able to get one out without allow a run to score. Silly me. Why would I expect that?

Hustle and Bustle: There was a little bit of hustle on display as Carl Crawford made an absolutely beautiful diving catch towards the left field line. Vintage C.C. defense.

When was the last time Gabe Gross got a hit? May 13th or so?

Remember how I mentioned Willy Aybar a few paragraphs ago? OPS of .668 right now. And he’s hitting 6th. I can’t make this up.

Bossman: Now has 31 steals on the season. At least he’s trying to make up for his frustrating lack of power.

Is this… like watching a different team than the one we were watching about a month ago? Where’s the energy? Where’s the fire? Where’s the killer instinct? Not there right now. Let’s hope they pick it up in Toronto somewhere.

Tags: Royals
Posted in Game Recap | 1 Comment »

Game #104: Bouncing back to win the series?

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.

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

Tags: Royals
Posted in Game Thread | 1 Comment »

RAYS 5, Royals 3: Things are turning around

(Box Score)

No, I’m not about to say that two straight games of 5 runs means that the Rays are completely out of their offensive funk, but there’s definitely been some sure-fire signs that the team might have finally turned a corner. And even if it hasn’t, five runs a night will win plenty of ballgames when the pitching is as good as its been for this squad.

Maybe the biggest myth is that this team NEEDS to go outside the organization to add another bat. Would it be nice? Probably. Would it hurt? Absolutely not (at least in the short-term). You always want to improve your team, no matter how that might be, but the Rays have a boat-load of talented players who simply aren’t playing to that potential right now. If Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, Carlos Pena, Jonny Gomes, Cliff Floyd, and Eric Hinske were all playing like themselves, would anyone care if the Rays were in on the “Right-handed Outfielder” sweetpstakes? I think not.

Triple Your Pleasure: Carl Crawford did his part last night, tripling twice - including the go-ahead gapper in the 8th inning - to jump-start the Rays’ offense. His second one was a big deal because it came immediately after the left-fielder dropped a tough one in the corner, giving him a second-life. The Rays have been terrible at cashing in on opportunities given to them by the other team, so as a fan it was great to actually see them do it for a change.

I was looking at the numbers last night while complaining about Crawford to a friend of mine, and did you know that he has just 24 extra base hits on the year? (9 2B, 7 3B, 8 HR) That’s compared to 57 of them last year (despite missing 19 games). Are Carl’s leg problems to blame for his power outage? Or is it just a trickle-down effect from his poor hitting? Maybe we won’t need to find out and last night puts him back on the right track.

Tough No Decision: I thought Scott Kazmir was good last night but was the victim of the weather and a couple of dinky little hits in the 5th inning that cost him a victory. Those are the breaks in baseball sometimes, but its disappointing that the rain might’ve played a role in his ability to pick up a win. He was certain to get one more inning last night, if nothing else, but instead had to settle for a very mediocre 2 runs in 5 innings. Good enough to win, as the Rays did, but not indicative of how good I thought his stuff was.

I’ve Been Fooled a Few Times Already: So, I implore you Carlos Pena, don’t fool me again. Every time you’ve had a night like last night - a home run, a line-drive single up the middle - I’ve been convinced that you’re finally snapping out of your funk, only to see you go 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts the next day. Please don’t do it again.

Percy Me: I’m not exactly convinced that there’s something wrong with Troy Percival; lots of closers have allowed runs in a 2- and 3-run games and lived to tell about it. Last night, I thought Gabe Gross should’ve caught that leadoff triple - a tough play, but makeable - and if he does, do we even really say anything about Percy’s performance? Probably not.

Brian O’Nora Giveth and Brian O’Nora Taketh Away: The umpiring hasn’t really gotten any better as the season has gone along; I’ve just stopped complaining about it. Last night, on consecutive pitches, the Rays were both the victims and the beneficiaries of first base umpire Brian O’Nora’s glaucoma. On one play, Evan Longoria kicks a tough short-hop but still gets the throw there in plenty of time to record the out. Problem is, O’Nora wasn’t paying attention and called Billy Butler safe. On the very next play, Alex Gordon laid down a bunt and looked to be safe on Kaz’s throw to first, but O’Nora called him safe. Payback for screwing up the first call? Or an umpire who had a REALLY bad inning? Either way, you never like to see situations dictated by poor officiating.

Thanks, Yanks: Usually, we just wish for a tie when the Yankees and Red Sox play each other, but right now we’re secretly rooting for the Yanks to keep beating the Red Sox. As long as the Rays keep winning these games, it simply services to pad the Rays’ lead atop the AL East. 2 games is precarious to be sure, but I’d rather be 2 games up than 2 games down. Now, we just need the Yanks to start losing again once this series is over.

Tags: Royals
Posted in Game Recap | Comments Off

Game #103: Twice would be nice

So the Rays finally found a way to win a game on the road yesterday (yay!), but you can’t worry about yesterday any more. Time to look ahead today and what things you can do to win another ballgame. It all starts with Scotty Kazmir, who - when he’s good like last time out - is as unhittable as they come. If he can’t throw strikes, though, it leads to seeing guys like Jason Hammel come out of the bullpen. That’s something no one wants to see.

Also of note is that the offense had at least a glimmer of a spark yesterday despite still leaving 10 guys on base. Guys like Luke Hochevar are perfect fodder for a slumping offense.

What to watch for: The Rays combine to go 9-for-18 lifetime against Hochevar with 6 RBI; sounds like a recipe for a breakout to me!

Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Scott Kazmir - The ace of the staff, Kazmir is fresh off winning his eighth win of the season on Monday night. The lefty tossed seven innings of shutout baseball, holding the A’s to two hits and fanning nine. The start also marked the first time Kazmir pitched through the sixth inning since a June 6 win at Texas. He is at his best when he is commanding his slider, as he uses it to set up a blistering mid-90s fastball. Kazmir will be facing the Royals for the first time this season. He is 1-2 in five career starts vs. Kansas City, with a 5.90 ERA.

Luke Hochevar - Taking on the powerful Tigers last Monday night, Hochevar was in a good groundout mode, getting five in the first two innings. Then his pitches started to elevate and before the third inning was over he’d given up five runs. Hochevar finally was lifted after the fifth when he was trailing 7-0. He’s lost three of his last four starts. One of those losses was to Tampa Bay, 9-2, on July 6. That time he lasted just four innings and gave up seven runs.

Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Luke Hochevar.

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: Royals
Posted in Game Thread | 3 Comments »

Game 102 - Scott was a little late on this one

Tags: Royals
Posted in Game Thread | 4 Comments »

Game #101: Midwest Matchup

Jason Bartlett’s back as the Rays hit the road to take on the Royals for four games over the weekend. This could be a golden opportunity for the team to take 3 out of 4, so let’s see how they react. Remember: the last time the Rays were on the road, they lost 6 straight games. No repeats, please?

What to watch for: That APB for the offense is still out. Anyone going to answer it?

Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Matt Garza - Garza is coming off his eighth win this season, a dominating performance on Saturday night vs. the Blue Jays, in which he allowed two hits over 7 2/3 scoreless innings. He fanned six Jays in the 107-pitch performance, and for only the second time this season did not issue a walk. The 24-year-old right-hander has a mid-90s fastball that sinks, a curve, a slider and a changeup. He is 0-3 in four games vs. Kansas City, with a 3.42 ERA. Garza’s lone no-decision to the Royals came this season, when he allowed three runs over six 2/3 innings on July 7.

Gil Meche - Meche had one of his best performances on Saturday night at Chicago, going 6 1/3 innings in a 9-1 victory. He allowed the White Sox just two hits and, at one point, retired 16 of 17 batters. Meche came out of the bullpen with a good fastball and worked both sides of the plate very well. He had thrown just 91 pitches when he was relieved. Meche faced Tampa Bay on July 7, giving up two runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. The Royals won, but he had no decision.

Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Gil Meche.

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: Royals
Posted in Game Thread | 3 Comments »

Royals 7, RAYS 4: Offensive offensive performance

(Box Score)

That’s, of course, meant to be read as “uh-fensive off-ensive performance” as in “that smell was offensive.” That’s exactly what the Rays offense was yesterday afternoon, and they’ve got no one to blame but themselves for that loss. Tons and tons and tons of wasted opportunities put Dan Wheeler in the position to lose this game in the 10th, and though he definitely blew chunks when he was given the chance to try and keep the game tied, that doesn’t absolve the offense from their absolutely dismal performance with runners on base.

Let’s look at some numbers, shall we?

All told, the Rays left 12 men on base, which is bad enough to begin with. But then consider how many of those men were left on base after getting on with zero or one out, and it looks even worse. Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena were the worst offenders, combining to leave 14 men on base during their at-bats, but Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist left 4 runners on base between the 2 of them. So, though there were only 12 men left on base when innings were over, Rays baserunners actually stranded 33 different runners on base. There were 5 different innings where the leadoff man reached base and didn’t score - including innings where Aki and Dioner hit leadoff doubles. Unacceptable. In the second inning, the Rays loaded the bases with no one out and couldn’t scratch home a single run thanks to a pair of weak pop-outs by Crawford and Pena and then a strikeout by Longo.

Any way you slice it, the offense spit the bit yesterday.

Enough negativity, though. The Rays had won 7 straight games before that - a few of them in dominating fashion - so they were bound to lose one eventually. Losing, of course, is now the exception rather than the rule, and if the Rays can win 7 out of every 8 games, I think they are going to be okay.

2 big road series coming up to close the first-half of the season. If the Rays can take both from the Yankees and then grab 3 out of 4 from the Indians, it gives them that Big Mo’ going into the All-Star Break. Stumble, and they could find the Red Sox right on their heels again.

Stop for a second, and re-read that last paragraph. Did you honestly think we’d be saying that about this team this year? I’m already finding myself taking for granted how bad we’ve been for so long that I need to stop and appreciate just how good things are right now. Enjoy it, Rays fans, because you never know how long the ride’s going to last.

Tags: Royals
Posted in Game Recap | 7 Comments »

Game #88: Royal flush?

The Rays have already won this 4-game series. Today it’s time to step on the neck and go for the sweep in this matinee game.

What to watch for: If the good Matt Garza shows up today, it could be another long one for the Royals, who’ve been outscored 23-4 during this series already

Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Matt Garza - The right-hander followed up his first career complete game on June 26 with another stellar outing on Tuesday night. Garza tossed seven innings and allowed Boston one unearned run off five hits. The 24-year-old has the best stuff on the Rays staff and, if he can keep his emotions in check, is a force on the mound. With wins in his last two starts, Garza seems well on his way to solidifying that status, and will look to continue to dominate vs. Kansas City. He tossed 65 of his 102 pitches for strikes on Tuesday night, and fanned a trio of Red Sox batters.

Gil Meche - Meche admittedly wasn’t very good on Wednesday night at Baltimore. He made a bad pitch to Aubrey Huff (two-run homer) in the first inning and it didn’t get any better. Even the 1-2-3 sixth inning, his last, featured three rockets that were caught. The loss ended a personal three-game streak for Meche, all three wins coming against National League teams. Tampa Bay hasn’t treated him kindly; he’s 1-4 with a 5.65 ERA in eight games and that was before the Rays became such a hot team.

Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Gil Meche.

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: Royals
Posted in Game Thread | 6 Comments »

RAYS 9, Royals 2: 7 in a row, 5 games up on Boston, and 2 All-Stars

(Box Score)

It’s flipping late and I’m really tired, so I’m going to make this kind of brief. My apologies.

7 in a row: Talk about clicking on all cylinders. This team not only has the best record in baseball right now, but it looks the part, too. Hitting, pitching, defense. You name it, the Rays are doing it right now.

It was great to see B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena have such big days, combining to go 5-for-9 with 4 RBI. When the two of them are hitting and Aki and C.C. are getting on base (4 times total), good things are going to happen. The Evan Longoria 2-run home run was pretty darn nice, too.

James Shields looked just like James Shields today, allowing just 4 hits and striking out 8 in 7 innings of work. If he, Kazmir, and Garza are all firing on all-cylinders, there’s not a better top 3 anywhere in the game.

5 games up on Boston: Thanks to a late rally by the Yankees, the Red Sox lost another game, which puts them at 5 games back of the Rays (7 on the loss side). This story begins getting more and more compelling by the day. How does Papa Joe keep them focused on the prize when it would be very easy to start coasting or acting like you’ve already clinched a playoff berth? That singular question might be the biggest one heading into the second half of the season. If the Rays’ lead becomes really big - I’m talking 8 or 9 games - does that change the way they approach things? I hope not.

2 All-Stars: Congratulations abound for Scott Kazmir and Dioner Navarro earning berths to the All-Star team. Kaz’s name on the list would never be a surprise, but Dioner Navarro’s - who was hitting in the .180s at this time last year - certainly is. There were many people who were calling for his job midway through last season, but a few of us preached patience with the young backstop. That patience has been well-placed, as we now have a very good defensive catcher who also happens to have an above-average bat. I’ll take it.

Let’s also hope Evan Longoria gets a little bit of love from the fan vote. He deserves it. Unfortunately, Jason Giambi from the Evil Empire is on the list so will draw the votes from the ballot-box stuffers. I guess we’ll find out for sure next week.

Tags: Royals
Posted in Game Recap | 3 Comments »

Game #87: Lucky 7s?

Lots of good stuff today. The Rays send James Shields to the mound trying for their 7th straight win and also looking to win the series with the Royals before ever getting to Game 4 tomorrow. Also, the All-Star Teams will be announced later tonight, at which point we’ll find out how well-represented the Rays are in the classic. If it were me, I’d put Scott Kazmir, Dioner Navarro, and Evan Longoria on the team. But that’s just me.

What to watch for: Some signs of life from B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena. Those two guys have been so hot-and-cold that you never know what to expect from them. If they heat it up, expect the rest of the offense to be that much more dangerous. Carlos in particular needs some semblance of consistency for a change.

Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
James Shields - Shields is coming off an impressive performance in Monday night’s series opener against the Red Sox. Facing Boston for the first time since an on-field melee on June 5 — which resulted in a six-game suspension — Shields was dominant on the mound. The right-hander retired the first 10 batters faced, and scattered five hits over 6 1/3 innings. Shields tossed 66 of his 104 pitches for strikes and held a potent Sox lineup to just two runs. With wins in his last two starts, he will look to continue to roll in the series finale vs. Kansas City.

Luke Hochevar - Hochevar was hurt by fielding mistakes in his last outing, against the Orioles, but took the blame himself for making his own mistakes with his pitches. To his credit, after the Orioles scored six runs in the first three innings, he rebounded to throw three scoreless innings. The loss was his first in more than a month. Since losing May 29 to Minnesota, he had two wins and three no-decisions. This will be his first appearance against Tampa Bay.

No one on the Rays has ever faced Hochevar before.

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: Royals
Posted in Game Recap | 2 Comments »