Rays of Light

[Game 7] Yankees @ RAYS: Home Opener

Raising the AL Championship banner with the Yankees visiting the house. Could it be any sweeter?

What to watch for: It’s the return of B.J. Upton. The lineup should feel a whole lot more dynamic with him up top.

 Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Scott Kazmir - The left-hander enjoyed a nice spring that saw him find his slider and lock in his mechanics. He built on those results in his first start of the season Wednesday night at Fenway Park when he threw 111 pitches in six innings against the Red Sox, allowing just one run on five hits and a walk with three strikeouts to pick up his first win of the season. Kazmir is 21-14 with a 3.11 ERA in 60 career starts at Tropicana Field. He is 4-4 with a 2.51 ERA in 12 career appearances against the Yankees; last season he went 2-1 with a 1.06 ERA in three starts against New York.

Chien-Ming Wang - Making his first start since a season-ending injury last June, Wang was rapped for seven runs and nine hits in 3 2/3 innings by the Orioles in his 2009 debut. He struggled with command of his sinker, leaving after a Nick Markakis home run. Wang said that his body was moving ahead of his right arm, which has been lagging behind on pitches — an issue he also battled during the spring. Though it has carried into the regular season, Wang remains confident it will be addressed. He is 7-4 with a 3.35 ERA in 13 career starts against Tampa Bay, including a 1-0 record with a 0.69 ERA in two starts last season.

Be sure to join other fans in the chat room for some Rays talk during the game!!!

Tags: Yankees
Posted in Game Thread | 5 Comments »

[Grapefruit League] RAYS 5, Yankees 0

The headline: Hey, I actually got to watch a game!

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	6	3
Tampa Bay	0	0	1	2	0	0	1	1	X		5	9	0

My ability… to watch a game has been severely limited this Spring, but today I actually got to watch one, so I was actually quite happy.

King David Reigns: He might have been facing a lineup that was the “Yankees” in name only, but David Price was damned impressive in working through 4 innings of 3-hit ball. He had his problems (2 walks), but he stuck to his gameplan and rolled through the “Yankee” lineup with relative ease. You can bet he’s not going to give up on the 5th starter spot without a fight.

Matt Joyce sighting: Matt Joyce finally got a chance to get into a real game, and he nearly turned the first pitch he saw into a grand slam off of Kei Igawa. He came up just short as the ball was caught at the track, but the fact that he was able to display some raw power - off a left-handed pitcher, no less - was nothing short of impressive. His next time up, he also just missed a home run, pulling one just a few feet foul before striking out.

Runnin’ Wild: The Rays attempted 6 (SIX!) stolen bases today, converting on 5 of them. Even Carlos Pena got into the act. I wonder why the Rays felt the need to pick on Kevin Cash like that?

Patience, Young Padawan: 9 walks. Gotta love that kind of patience, even in a Spring Training game.

I still don’t like… Kevin Kennedy. I wasn’t a fan when he was hired to do color commentary. I’m still not a fan. I’ll need to get used to him.

Pen Pals: Brian Shouse, Troy Percival, Jason Isringhausen, Dan Wheeler, and Grant Balfour worked through 5 innings of scoreless ball, with only Wheeler really breaking any kind of sweat.

Speaking of Izzy: One of the great unanswered questions so far is what, exactly, is going to happen to him after Spring Training. There REALLY doesn’t seem to be a spot on the 25-man for him at the moment. Who would the Rays dump in order to keep him?

Tags: Yankees
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[SPRING] Yankees 5, RAYS 1: The Wade Davis Show

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Tampa Bay	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0		1	5	0
NY Yankees	0	0	1	0	1	0	3	0	X		5	7	0

There’s no point getting worked up over Spring Training results - especially when it’s still February - but it was hard not to be impressed with Wade Davis yesterday. 2 dominating innings against the Yankees’  “A” lineup had to open some eyes.

The Professor over at Rays Index makes a good observation that this is very similar to what happened with David Price last year, and he could easily see Wade Davis providing a shot to the bullpen arm in August and September.

The offense is disappointing, but I’m really not even the slightest bit worried. And you shouldn’t be either.

Tags: Wade Davis, Yankees
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Monday Musings

For most people, the seasons are changing from winter into spring. For sports fans it is a different kind of season change. This is the time of year that my Buccaneers shirts are now demoted to the second team and my Rays hat and shirt are officially promoted to the first team. It’s in the air, everywhere. You can smell it (unless that is the chicken wings and cheesecake from last night) as last second touchdowns transform into walk off grand slams. Just as we start to lament the end (come on, is the pro bowl really relevant, EVER?) of all things football, there is hope. We see the Rays Of Light, poking their heads over the clouds saying, ” Baseball is almost here!”

We have a long journey before opening day and the first pitch. There is the World Baseball Classic (which looks better this year then last), the Yankees off-season shopping spree (we’ll get to that in a separate article as it is worth of an article of it’s own), the RedSox got scarier with their pitching and the Rays made some moves of their own to actually get some bats. And before the WBC, we’ll get the Barry Bonds Court TV Show, 24/7. That will be good, hopefully Barry will get his just deserts. You get tired of people wondering if he did anything wrong and all you have to do is look at his head! Which player in baseball will out do Plaxico Burress from the New York Football Giants? That will be an award I will hand out at the end of the baseball season. I will give the first official Plaxico Burress award to some lucky player in Major League Baseball for off the field stupidity. Elijah Dukes, formerly (thank goodness) of the Rays, would have been the front runner for 2008.

Last year was one of the few times in a franchise history that a loss could have been a win. While it was frustrating to see the Rays fall just short of winning the World Series, just the mere fact that they got there was a miracle! This was defiantly the year of miracles, the Cardinals lost in the Superbowl and the Rays lost in the World Series. Maybe if we had some of those magic Doritos from last nights ad, we could have taken care of the Rays World Series batting slump and that nasty weather. This is historic in Tampa this year that anyone in Tampa (besides the Rays front office) will actually have post-season exceptions for these Rays! One bonus as far as radio coverage goes for the Rays radio play by play, this year the Rays flagship station will be 620 WDAE, which means we’ll have a MUCH stronger signal for quality AM baseball listening this year. There is nothing quite as good as relaxing a few hours with the radio on and the Rays up to bat!

I’m going to be covering the Rays hitting lineup this year for the Rays Of Light, plus I’ll also be looking at the AL East (mainly the BoSox and Yankees but the other teams also when they are actually relevant) and I’ll be writing this column as well, Monday Musings, which will sort of be a what ever happens to be on my mind at the time as far as the sports world is concerned. We might go “off the board” from time to time as my mind wanders quite often. I’m looking forward to baseball, this year…and we hope the AL East…feels the heat! GO RAYS!

Tags: Plaxico Burress, Rays, RedSox, World Baseball Classic, Yankees
Posted in General | 4 Comments »

ESPN Reporting Bud Selig’s $18 Million Salary

ESPN.com is reporting that Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig took home $18 million last year, up 22% from the previous year. The article goes on to state that, in the MLB, Bud’s salary is surpassed only by four Yankees: Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Roger Clemens, and Jason Giambi.

[Update:] Apparently Roger Clemens just missed the mark, only having earned $17,442,637.

A penny for your thoughts? (Bud could probably spare a few!)

Tags: alex rodriguez, bud selig, derek jeter, jason giambi, roger clemens, salary, Yankees
Posted in Discussion | 5 Comments »

Game #137: Back on track

Just one loss. That’s all last night was. But it was enough for some people to begin whispering that “the Rays can’t handle September.” It caused Rudy Guiliani to say that the Yankees were still alive. Both false, of course, but still the overreactions of a quote-hungry media.

Let’s shut those people up tonight with a win on national television.

What to watch for: Carl Pavano’s arm could fall off at any moment.

Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Edwin Jackson - Jackson picked up his career-high 11th win of the season Thursday night against the Blue Jays when he allowed just one run in seven innings. Jackson threw 70 of 106 pitches for strikes and scattered six hits with two strikeouts for his sixth win in seven games. The young flamethrower is at his best when he is locating his 97 mph fastball, which sets up an array of other pitches, particularly his slider.

Carl Pavano -Pavano delivered six impressive innings Friday night to pick up his second win of the season in as many attempts, and his first at Yankee Stadium since 2005. He quieted the Blue Jays’ bats, holding them to one run and just three hits. He recorded one walk and one strikeout. The strikeout came against the final batter he faced before exiting after 72 pitches. Pavano said he had to work throughout the game to keep the ball low, but he retired 18 of the 22 batters he faced, including 12 straight hitters. He has not faced Tampa Bay this season.

Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Carl Pavano.

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: Yankees
Posted in Game Thread | 21 Comments »

Game #136: The anti-climactic Yankees series

The Yankees are dead and buried. It’s just a plain fact. This series is important for one reason and one reason only - reducing the Rays’ magic number. Even if the Yankees sweep the series, they STILL don’t have a chance of catching the Rays. It’s just a fact.

What to watch for: The crowd. Let’s see it, Rays fans. Don’t let the Yankee fans take over the park.

Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
Matt Garza -The 24-year-old Fresno State product has arguably the best stuff on the Rays staff, boasting a mid-90s fastball that sinks, a curveball, a slider and a changeup. He is coming off Wednesday night’s win over Toronto in which the right-hander scattered six hits over seven 2/3 shutout innings. Garza tossed 69 of 115 pitches for strikes, and two of his three walks came to his final batters. Garza is 1-1 in two starts vs. the Yankees, with a 3.29 ERA.
Mike Mussina - Mussina kept up his consistency with seven solid innings against the Red Sox on Thursday, but came away with his second straight no-decision. He held Boston to two runs to keep the Yankees in the game, scattering five hits with two walks. With six strikeouts, Mussina moved past Frank Tanana for sole possession of 20th place on the all-time list with 2,778 career strikeouts. He has thrown at least six innings in nine of his last 10 starts. Mussina is 2-0 with a 1.46 ERA in two outings against Tampa Bay this season.

Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Mike Mussina.

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: Yankees
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Yankees 2, RAYS 1: No, the sky is NOT falling

(Box Score)

I don’t want anyone to start freaking out over this little 3-game losing streak that the Rays are on right now. It’s not the end of the world by any stretch of the imagination. Does it stink to lose 2 games to the Yankees after all of the positive media attention we’ve gotten of late? Absolutely. At the end of the day, though, the Rays still maintain a 2-game lead on Boston and a 6 1/2-game lead on New York, and that’s really all that matters.

Clearly, the Rays’ offense is to blame for the lackluster showing in The Bronx. 1 run in two games? Pathetic. No hits with runners in scoring position? Ghastly. It’s actually quite shocking that a first place team can run as hot and cold as the Rays have, but that just speaks volumes to how well the pitching has perfomed to keep the Rays playing at such a high level. I keep thinking that the offense is eventually going to “click” and we’re reel off 5 straight 10-2 wins, but it just hasn’t happened yet. It looked like it was starting to happen in the Kansas City series before the wheels fell off of that. This team is like the ultimate tease. Every time you think they are ready to jump up into another gear, they ease back a little bit and remind us that it’s still just a bunch of 20-somethings still figuring out how to play this game. And that’s okay. It’s who they are. We just need to remember that sometimes.

Again, the world is NOT coming to an end after these two losses. The Rays could easily win the next 4 games in Cleveland and re-open a big-time lead in the division based on how Boston plays. At the very least, 4 straight wins ensures that the team heads into the All-Star Break with momentum and a lead of at least 2 games. There’s not a person among us who wouldn’t have signed up for a 2-game lead at the All-Star Break before this season started. Heck, there’s not a person among who wouldn’t have signed up for being 2 games OUT at the All-Star Break. Isn’t that really what makes this run so amazing? It took even us - the most hardcore, passionate, and optimistic fans of all - by huge surprise.

I really think the Rays can make some noise in Cleveland to close out the first half. That’s a beaten, dejected team down there, just ripe for the picking. I like our chances.

Tags: Yankees
Posted in Game Recap | 7 Comments »