The Rays closed out their 10 game road trip with an 8-1 win over the Mariners on Sunday.  Note to baggage handlers: please don’t lose those bats between Seattle and Tampa.

Jeremy Hellickson was dominant for Tampa Bay, relying on the fly out, and had a no-hitter going until the sixth.  Hellickson put in seven inning of work and allowed five hits and one run with two strikeouts.  Hellboy became the first 10 game winner on Tampa Bay’s staff.

On the offensive side, the Rays spaced out their scoring with men coming home in six of nine innings.  Ben Zobrist continued his Zorilla ways going 3-for-5 with one run and three RBI.  Shortstop Sean Rodriguez put on quite a show in Seattle and finished the day 3-for-4, including a homerun, with two runs and three RBI.

[Recap]

Rodriguez started all ten games on the road trip since Reid Brignac was sent back to Triple-A Durham.  After the game, Todd Kalas asked the shortstop how that has affected him.  Rodriguez said:

A lot of guys want to make it to the big leagues and be happy at that.  I’m more than happy just being here, so when I get to play every day it makes it that much more enjoyable. You’re fortunate.  You gotta take every opportunity that comes and try to run with it. And I’m fortunate that things happen to be going my way.

The Rays have tomorrow off and begin a series against Toronto at the Trop on Tuesday.

-The trade deadline has come and gone.  If you want to revisit some of the action (or lack thereof since the Rays didn’t make any moves today) you can visit the D-Day edition of Trade Deadline Hysteria on Rays Index.  During today’s game, we learned that Tampa Bay’s executive vice president of baseball, Andrew Friedman, had an emergency appendectomy on Saturday and conducted business from his hospital room today.  One of my Rays tweeps (@ProfessorTwain) had this to say regarding Friedman’s surgery:

-The Go-Gos will perform after the Rays face the Athletics at Tropicana Field on Friday.  The first 10,000 women will get a free t-shirt.  Brian Anderson wondered why the giveaway was only for women…until he put on the shirt. My favorite part was when B.A. called it a “smedium.” He also said it was so tight, he felt stronger, and believed he could body slam DeWayne Staats.  Of course I laughed, even though I was sort of reminded of this tense exchange.

Tampa Bay ran into Michael Pineda on a bad day, as the Seattle rookie won for only the third time in his last eight decisions. The righty struck out ten, walked four, and gave up only one hit, and RBI single to Ben Zobrist in 6 1/3 innings of work. Rays’ rookie Alex Cobb took his first loss, and now stands at 3-1 on the season with an ERA of 2.79.

Seattle scored twice in first inning on a two-run homer by Dustin Ackley, and held the lead until the Rays tied it in the top of the sixth on Zobrist’s base hit. Ackley doubled with one out in the bottom of the sixth and came home on Mike Carp’s RBI single to right off Cobb. Pineda was replaced by Jeff Gray with one out in the seventh, and held the Rays hitless until closer Brandon League locked down the game for Seattle with his 24th save of the season.

In his first loss in the major leagues, Cobb gave up three earned runs and six hits. He also struck out nine Mariners while walking only one.

On the mound for Tampa Bay tomorrow afternoon will be southpaw David Price. Price is 9-9 on the season with an ERA of 3.76. In his last three starts, he stands at 1-2 with a 4.19 ERA. Lefty Jason Vargas will start for Seattle. Over his past three starts, Vargas is 0-3 with a 9.69 ERA while striking out only 5 batters. Game time is 4:10 EDT.
» Continue reading “Almost Hitless In Seattle”

No, I’m not talking about an eastern division, or even a team, being any better than their west coast counterparts.  I am talking about time zones.  A 10:10 ET start in Seattle?  I’m lucky it’s a Friday night or I would have to sleep through another Rays game.

The game is currently in progress and the Rays lead 8-0 in the third.  I like Seattle much better than Oakland already.

-Casey Kotchman just doubled as I type this and sent B.J. Upton home. Kotch went 2-for-2 in the second inning alone.  Last year, Kotchman was batting .217 for the Mariners. Coming into the series against Seattle, the first baseman was batting .324 with the Rays.  Bill Chastain has more on Kotchman’s transformation, including this line about Kotch’s eye surgery during the last offseason:

For two seasons, he had dealt with cloudy vision, before finally dealing with the problem after the 2010 season, which resulted in having the ducts below his eyes rooted out.

Rooted. Out.  Good luck getting that out of your head. As sick as it sounds, I’m glad the rooting out procedure (there has to be a prettier name for that, right?) worked. Kotch’s bat, and his glove, have been welcome additions to the Rays roster this season.

-Rookie Alex Cobb will get his eighth start of the season on Saturday.  While in the minors, Cobb debated adding a cutter to his arsenal, but skipper Joe Maddon didn’t want it. Maddon said:

First of all, he doesn’t need it. Second of all, I’m concerned about that taking away from his changeup or his curveball.

-Astros outfielder Hunter Pence was traded to the Phillies on Friday night, so of course that meant B.J. Upton rumors would be discussed along with a lingering close-up of the centerfielder during the broadcast.  If you’re anxious about the trade deadline and need to put your thoughts in writing, make sure you visit the open thread for trade rumor hysteria over at Rays Index.  I just need it to be July 31. Please.

-The Mariners will be remember Rick “The Peanut Man” Kaminski this weekend.  Kaminski passed away on Tuesday at the age of 67. The Peanut Man was an icon in the stands at Seattle’s games, known especially for his accurate behind the back throw.

After Wade Davis gave up five runs to Oakland in the bottom of the first, it’s safe to say the odds were against Tampa Bay. They had lost the previous three games to the A’s and with Oakland piling it on early it just didn’t look pretty. In fact, the Rays had just a 10.5% chance to win today going into the second. (Special thanks to Bob Kibble, @bkibbs to those of you on Twitter, for sharing this link.)

I won’t compare them to the little engine that could just yet, but Tampa Bay took those odds and shoved it. Davis settled down and held the A’s scoreless through the next five innings and the Rays’ bats showed up big time before the stretch. They scored seven runs in the first half of the seventh. Relievers Joel Peralta and Jake McGee each allowed a run to score, as did closer Kyle Farnsworth. But with the Rays had enough on the board, 10 runs total, to take down Oakland for the first, and only, time in this four game set.

Final Score: Tampa Bay 10, Oakland 8

-The revolving door that leads to Tampa Bay’s bullpen continued to turn today. Right-hander Mike Ekstrom was called up from Durham and righty Rob Delaney was optioned back to the Triple-A team.

-Another man on the move today was Felipe Lopez. The veteran infielder was sent to Milwaukee for cash considerations. Lopez played 66 games with the Brewers in 2009. He was designated for assignment by the Rays on June 12 and had played with Durham since then.

-B.J. Upton, on the other hand, is still very much with Tampa Bay. Manager Joe Maddon doesn’t expect Upton to be moved before the trade deadline (July 31). Upton was not in Wednesday’s lineup but the skipper said he simply wanted to give the centerfielder a rest:

“Overall I’ve just been looking for moments to get B.J. a rest, get him off his feet. He’s been going at it pretty hard. I know all these different things being swirled about. It’s got to have some kind of an impact on him too, so I just want to give him a rest once in a while.”

Upton added this today:

“Nobody else needs a centerfielder, everybody that needed a centerfielder just got one. I just don’t see it happening. … I still don’t think I’m going anywhere.”

-Johnny Damon rockin’ the sleeveless look at the Trop back in 1999. Fun fact: the photo shown at Rays Index was taken during a Turn Ahead the Clock Game. Yeah, somehow in ’99 that sounded like a good theme. Looking at photos from around the league taken in the summer of 1999, I get the feeling someone had a premonition about attire that would one day be featured in “Jersey Shore.” Colors that bright do not belong in baseball.

-Evan Longoria isn’t that bad compared to the 2010 version of himself. No, really. D Rays Bay shows you the numbers along with a fun photo of Longo. At this point in the season, I think it’s pretty clear that we can’t place the blame on Evan for Tampa Bay’s less than stellar offensive output this year.

-There are at least two sides to every story. This is one we don’t hear very often: What it’s like to manage a Triple-A club in July. Many Rays fans have jokingly inserted the word Bulls into Tampa Bay’s name because we’ve called up a large part of Durham’s roster over the course of the season. It’s great to have Bulls come up as the Rays please (from the Rays perspective, anyway) but it can make life in the International League just a little bit tough.

It seems that the Rays went to sleep about the same time I did last night. It’s just a shame that they’re on west coast time and were mid-game when I drifted off to dreamland just after 11:30 ET.

They dropped the second game in their series with Oakland by a final score of 6-1. David Price slipped to 9-9 on the season after giving up seven hits, four runs and four walks through six innings. Jay Buente, who was recalled from Triple-A Durham yesterday, pitched two innings of relief and allowed two runs to score on two hits. Buente sent two batters to first on balls and struck out one.

Price said after the game:

“It’s getting old… The way I’ve been pitching. … We just need to play better. It starts with pitching. And that’s me.”

Skipper Joe Maddon was a little less critical of the All-Star southpaw:

“[Price] didn’t pitch his best game, but definitely good enough to win had we been able to generate some offense.”

Ben Zobrist was the lone bright spot. He homered in the top of the eighth.

Johnny Damon, owner of an infectious smile, said:

“There’s no reason to mope. Sometimes you catch teams at the wrong time. That seems to be the case right now. So hopefully tomorrow’s a better day for us. Hopefully ‘Big Game’ [James Shields] can go out and toss one and we can get the offense going.”

We know the Athletics want to get out of the O.co and if the second half of this series follows the trend of the first two games, the Rays will want to leave just as badly.

Tampa Bay will pin tonight’s hope on the arm of James Shields (9-8, 2.53). Oakland will counter with Trevor Cahill (8-9, 3.77).

-Recently, there has been an interesting argument brought forth when talking Rays attendance. Could a lack of corporate support be part of the reason Tampa Bay struggles to get people through the turnstiles? [Rays Index]

-We’re four days away from the trade deadline, and the talk about James Shields has died down. But, the rumors surrounding B.J. Upton are still flying.

Ben Berkon says Upton might be worth the asking price.

Jeff Passan calls Upton an addition as “intriguing as (Carlos) Beltran.”

Alex Speier explains why the Red Sox haven’t expressed interest in Upton.

And the man in the middle of it all Tweeted this yesterday:

Remember when the road and the Rays got along brilliantly? Yeah, that fond memory is fading for me too. Tampa Bay is 3-7 outside of the Trop since the beginning of July. They’re 4-6 at home this month, not that those numbers will make you feel much better.

The Rays fell to the A’s last night/this morning depending on what time zone you call your own. Tampa Bay held the lead through six innings, but the Rays’ bullpen couldn’t hold off the home team. Starter Jeremy Hellickson threw 70 pitches by the end of the third inning and finished with 106 pitches on the night after facing one batter in the sixth. J.P. Howell took the loss and Joel Peralta was charged with the blown save. Tampa Bay stands at 18-44 all-time in the A’s O.co Coliseum. Ouch.

Ben Zobrist was in Zorilla-mode going 3-for-4 with one run and one RBI. Tampa Bay’s newest big-leaguer, Desmond Jennings, went 2-for-5 with 1 RBI.

Final Score: Rays 5, Athletics 7

Tampa Bay will tie a major league record tonight when they start a pitcher under 30 for the 704th consecutive game. Their man on the mound for the second game in Oakland is David Price (9-8, 3.67). The Athletics will counter with Brandon McCarthy (2-5, 3.74).

And if you were looking for permission to jump on the Desmond Jennings bandwagon, Eric Karabell gives it to you in his latest piece for ESPN.

With the trade deadline looming, DRaysBay has a nice piece about Casey Kotchman and the other first basemen who are free agents.

If you’re looking for all of the Rays trade rumors, be sure to head over to Rays Index where they have an open thread appropriately entitled “Trade Rumor Hysteria.”

It only took Alex Cobb 83 pitches to negotiate seven innings as Tampa Bay salvaged the final game of a three-game set in Kansas City. The young righty gave up six hits and struck out two while allowing no walks in running his record to 3-0 on the season. Keeping the Royals off-balance with his second and third pitches, Cobb rolled ground balls, and even when allowing the first two hitters of the sixth and seventh innings, escaped unharmed.

The Rays got the only run they would need when Evan Longoria singled Johnny Damon home in the top of the third. Matt Joyce then knocked in Ben Zobrist, who had reached base on his 31st double of the season, with a sacrifice fly.

In an inning that would drive pitching coaches and manager crazy, the Rays tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth. After a lead-off single by Sam Fuld, Royals starter Felipe Paulino and reliever Blake Wood combined to hit three batters and walk one, resulting in an RBI on both a walk and a hit-by-pitch.

Tampa Bay would send three relievers to the hill to close things out after Cobb was forced to leave the game with a blister on his throwing hand. Jake McGee slammed the door shut on the Royals in the ninth, striking out two in the process. The Rays improved to 53-47 on the season, but remain 9.5 games behind division-leading Boston an 6.5 games behind the Yankees in the race for the wild card.

Tampa Bay headed west after their win for a four-game set with the Athletics.  Jeremy Hellickson (9-7, 3.17) will take the hill in Oakland this evening, against Guillermo Moscoso, who is 3-5 on the year with a 2.96 ERA.

» Continue reading “Cobb Dominates As Rays Take Royals, 5-0″

Desmond Jennings left AAA Durham to start in left field for the Rays, and he brought his energy along with his talent, but it proved to be not enough as the Royals took the Rays in ten innings, by a 5-4 score. Jennings had a double and triple in three at bats, walked twice, scored twice, and had an RBI to go along with a stolen base in his season debut with Tampa Bay.

But all the excitement and energy he brought to the Rays’ lineup couldn’t overcome a Kansas City team that battled back from deficits throughout the game before winning on a walk-off double by rookie Eric Hosmer. The Rays wasted a fine effort by starter Jeff Niemann, who went six innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits while striking out four and allowing no walks.

Jennings tripled to lead off the game before scoring on a Ben Zobrist single, and doubled in a run in the second inning to stake the Rays to a 2-0 lead. K.C.’s Mike Moustakas tied the game in the bottom of the fourth with a double that plated Billy Butler and Eric Hosmer. Tampa Bay pulled ahead again in the fifth with a single run, and added onto their lead in the top of the sixth when Jennings scored from first on Johnny Damon’s ground ball double to right-center that never made it to the wall.

Moustakas brought the Royals to within one with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth, which set up the ninth inning with the Rays leading 4-3. Closer Kyle Farnsworth gave up a two out double to Alex Gordon, which scored Alcided Escobar from first base, setting up the tenth inning at 4-4.

In the top of the tenth, Tampa Bay loaded the bases with no outs on walks to Evan Longoria and B.J. Upton, which were followed by a pinch-hit single to left by Matt Joyce. Casey Kotchman hit a ground ball back through the middle, which was knocked down by Royals’ reliever Joakim Soria and turned into a force play at home. Sam Fuld and Elliot Johnson then took called third strikes, leaving the bases juiced.

Kansas City scored rapidly off reliever Brandon Gomes in the bottom of the tenth. Butler singled on a jam shot to right on the first pitch he saw, and Hosmer lined a walk-off double to left-center on the first pitch. Gomes record stands at 0-1 while Soria picked up the win, and owns a 5-3 record.

This afternoon, Tampa Bay will send Alex Cobb to the mound, attempting to avert a sweep in the City of Fountains. The Royals will counter with Felipe Paulino, who is 1-7 overall, but 1-3 with a 3.60 ERA with Kansas City. Cobb is 2-0 with a 3.09 ERA for the Rays.
» Continue reading “K.C. Bastes Rays In Ten, Royals Win In Walk-Off Fashion”

This recap was written by Kelly Lake.  Kelly covers the Mets for Aerys Sports through her site “The Curious Case of Sidd Finch.”  She attended last night’s Hudson Valley Renegades game and was kind enough to share a recap with Cowbell Clankers. Thanks Kelly!  The ‘Gades are Tampa Bay’s short-season single-A affiliate.  Their current roster features several of the Rays’ 2011 draft picks.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers beat the Hudson Valley Renegades, 7-4, in the series opener at Dutchess Stadium Saturday night.

The Renegades got on the board in the first inning as Chris Winder scored from third on a ground out by Jeff Malm. Malm leads the New York-Penn League with 27 RBIs.

The ‘Gades would go on to take a 2-0 lead in the third inning on an RBI single from Matt Rice.

After walking the lead-off batter to start the fourth inning, Renegades starter Andrew Bellatti went on to give up an RBI double to Alex Lavisky. Bellatti got a little help from his defense, however, to end the inning. With Lavisky on second base, the Scrapppers’ Jerrud  Sabourin hit a long fly ball to right field, but Winder made a leaping catch at the wall to end it.

The following inning, Bellatti left two men on base for reliever Lenny Linsky. Linsky allowed two runs to score in the inning, but both runs were charged to Bellatti.

Things fell apart for Hudson Valley in the seventh inning. Mickey Jannis, who replaced Linksy on the mound, gave up three doubles and a total of four runs to the Scrappers before the inning was finally brought to a close.

The Renegades tried to mount a comeback, scoring a run in the seventh and eighth innings, but it was to little avail.

Bellatti fell to 0-4 on the season after going 4.1 innings, and giving up three runs on three hits. He lead-off three of the five innings he started with a walk, and two of those base runners scored. All together, Renegades pitchers gave up a season-high ten walks in the game.

With the loss, Hudson Valley has dropped to 17-18 on the season, and are ten games back of Staten Island.

Sloppy defense behind a pitching staff that allowed 16 hits and 9 earned runs (10 total) spelled doom for Tampa Bay in Kansas City on Friday night.  The Rays fell to the Royals 10-4 and Wade Davis slipped to 7-7 on the season.  But it was B.J. Upton’s name that dominated social media for the last few frames of the ugly game.

Upton was pulled from the Rays game versus the Royals following the first half of the eighth inning and the tweets began to fly.  Outfielder Desmond Jennings had been pulled from the lineup in Durham just shy of game time.  Could it be?  Did the Rays finally trade Upton and plan to replace him with Jennings?

No.

Following the game, we learned that Desmond Jennings has indeed been called up from Triple-A Durham, but Rays shortstop Reid Brignac has been optioned to Durham and Upton is staying put with Tampa Bay (for now at least).

St. Petersburg Times beat writer Marc Topkin tweeted:

#Rays Upton just said he has NOT been traded. No word on move yet, but Brignac was in Maddon’s office

Todd Kalas, who reported the news during the Rays’ post-game show, pointed out that Brignac had been the best shortstop for Tampa Bay defensively but had just a .193 batting average with 1 homer and 10 RBI.  Jennings had a .275 average with 12 homeruns, 39 RBI and 17 stolen bases with the Bulls this season.

Kalas said via the Sun Sports Rays Twitter account:

Rays will have new LF 2moro, Desmond Jennings will be in KC. Good luck to @reidbrignac. Just need 2 find the stick 2 go w/ MLB+ glove. TK

I like Briggy, but a .193 average on a team as offensively anemic as the Rays are this year just couldn’t cut it.  I will miss his glove and his sweet southern drawl.  Hope he finds his swing in Durham!