• As Tampa Bay sits just one game back in the Wild Card standings, it’s natural to start thinking about the postseason. Strong Septembers are starting to seem like the norm around here. MLB.com’s Bill Chastain wrote yesterday that late-season relevance is becoming the Rays way. While it’d be nice if they didn’t put us through an emotional rollercoaster in the spring and summer months, I’ll take the stress during the season if it means the Rays play meaningful games in September.

• I’m a nerd about social media, so I loved when my sister gave me a heads up about this next story: B.J. Upton hit three home run on Sunday, but his luck turned after the game when he lost his wallet. Twitter to the rescue! Twitter user Brent Sutton found the wallet and sent a tweet to Upton about it. B.J. got his wallet back and Brent got a B.J. Upton bat. See? There are good people out there.

The Rays take on the Orioles tonight in Baltimore. Matt Moore is set to be on the bump for Tampa Bay. The O’s will send Jason Hammel to the hill for the 7:05pm start.

So how was your Sunday?

Went pretty well for the Rays. James Shields pitched like it was 2011 and picked up his second complete game of the season. As Shields shut out the Rangers, B.J. Upton launched three solo shots to score half of Tampa Bay’s six runs.

The Rays are just one game back in the Wild Card race as they head off to start a six-game road trip on Tuesday.

I hope you enjoyed today, because the next few weeks are gonna be stressful. The Rays will play 19 more games in September and 15 of those will be against AL East opponents.

In times like these, it’s comforting to be reminded that Tampa Bay is #162strong.

Tampa Bay rode the long ball, and shutout pitching from Matt Moore and four relievers to top Baltimore, 2-0.  The win puts the Rays into second place in the American League East all by themselves, trailing the Yankees by 6.5 games.

While Moore may not have had his best command, he was able to make the big pitch when he needed to, and left after 5.1 innings, in favor of Jake McGee.  McGee entered the game with the Rays holding a one-run lead on the strength of B.J. Upton’s 100th career home run (hit shortly after his brother Justin hit his 100th) in the fourth inning.

McGee arrived with a man on base, and proceeded to shut down the Orioles without incident. Tampa Bay got their second, and final tally in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to Desmond Jennings eighth homer of the season.   Kyle Farnsworth followed with a perfect seventh inning, and handed the ball over to set-up man Joel Peralta.

Peralta had Rays’ as well as Orioles’ fans on the edge of their seats as he allowed hits to Matt Wieters and Chris Davis after striking out Adam Jones to open the inning.  He then proceeded to freeze Mark Reynolds with a ninety-one MPH fastball on the outside corner at the knees.  After catching Reynolds looking, he got Wilson Betemit on three pitches, finishing him off with a swing-and-a-miss at an eighty-three MPH splitter.  Fernando Rodney finished Baltimore off with an uneventful ninth inning for his thirty-second save in thirty-three opportunities.

This evening, Jeremy Hellickson will be on the mound for Tampa Bay, squaring off with southpaw Wei-Yin Chen, who is 9-6 with a 3.65 earned-run average.  Hellickson is 2-2, with an earned-run average of 2.67 over his past five outings. » Continue reading “Upton Bangs 100th Homer, Moore & Pen Shut Out O’s”

When I got home, the Rays had men on first and second, one out, bottom of the ninth in a 4-4 game.  A strikeout by Matt Joyce gave Drew Sutton the chance to be a hero, and he almost was.

On a ground ball to the right side, Blue Jays pitcher Casey Janssen failed to cover first, and when Carlos Vizquel fielded the ball, he only had one option – throw out Carlos Pena, who had been running on the pitch, at the plate.  Bonus baseball!

Closer Fernando Rodney, in a bit of a different role, pitched the ninth and tenth, and kept Toronto at bay.  Jake McGee took the ball in the top of the 11^th and set the Jays down on a ground ball and two strikeouts.

Tampa Bay seemed to have a base-runner when newly acquired Rich Thompson appeared to be hit by a pitch.  No problem.  A couple of pitches later a Darren Oliver breaking ball did hit him.  Pena struck out before Upton rifled a line drive into the left field corner.  Thompson got a great jump at first, cut the bases neatly, sand scored the winning run without a play.  Upton was three-for-six with two doubles, including the game-winning walk-off. Click here to watch the RBI double that sent the Rays home as winners.

Starter James Shields was tremendous, but   a blown save took the win away from him.  Rodney held Toronto for two innings before McGee picked up his first win of the season.

• Tampa Bay had ten offensive walks and two HBPs as well as thirteen strikeouts.  On the other hand, Rays’ pitchers K’d fourteen while allowing only one free pass
• Upton’ three hits upped his average to .300 on the season.  His OPS is .812.
• Drew Sutton, one of the newest Rays, is now four-for-eight in two games, and had a two-run double to go along with his almost-game-winning infield hit in the bottom of the ninth.
• McGee hit 98 MPH during Colby Rasmus’ at-bat in the top of the eleventh.  He struck the Jays’ center fielder out on a high slider that checked in at 86 MPH.
• Shields went 7.1 innings and allowed two earned runs while striking out ten and giving up a single walk – possibly his best outing of the season.
• With ten men on the disabled list, it was good see Evan Longoria was taking some hacks in the cage yesterday.  Desmond Jennings is on the mend as well.  Ten on the DL?  That’s TWO teams worth on players on an NBA court, or a starting nine plus a DH.  Ridiculous.  But the Rays still compete daily, and are within hailing distance of Baltimore in the AL East.

The Rays have a day off for the first time in forever.  They have tomorrow off before they travel to Boston on their Ken Rosenthal/Nerd Theme Road Trip, complete with bow ties to benefit needy causes.  The projected starters for Tampa Bay are Alex Cobb, David Price and Jeremy Hellickson.

-Dad (Cowbell Clankers contributor Wayne to the rest of you) sent me a text yesterday after visiting the zoo. While looking at bats hanging upside down, he couldn’t help but think of the Rays offense.

Bats just hanging around, not being productive. The offense is the biggest question for the Rays heading into the 2012 regular season. » Continue reading “Rays: Missing Bats, Farnsy, And Minor League Decisions”

The Rays will be here soon.

Spring break began for me last Friday when the school bell rang at 3:30.  As my break is beginning, Spring Training is winding down while teams are gearing up for the start of the season.

Yesterday, the Rays fell to Minnesota by a score of 19-4 as Jeremy Hellickson struggled with his command.  Hellickson got his work in, was fortunate not to be injured by a ground ball off Joe Mauer’s bat that hit him in the foot, and saw his ERA rise to 15.30.  Neither he nor Joe Maddon was concerned with the outing.  It doesn’t count yet- just get the work in, and extend the pitch count. » Continue reading “Rays: Winding Down The Spring And Gearing Up For The Season”

If you’ve watched MLB Network or ESPN or local news in the Tampa Bay area today, you’ve seen the video of outfielders B.J. Upton and Desmond Jennings colliding. If you want to see it again, or hear Upton and Jeremy Hellickson talk about the incident, click the photo below.

Apparently, Upton and Jennings only heard the other call for the ball at the last second which gave them both a chance to brace for the impact. Upton and Jennings were carted off the field after the collision, which resulted in a three-run, inside-the-park homerun for Miami’s Austin Kearns.

The Rays lost 4-2, but the good news is that Upton and Jennings are expected to be okay.

According to the Tampa Bay Times:

Upton said he has lower back soreness, but it won’t impact him more than a couple of days, and Jennings believes he can play today.

Jennings said:

“That’s something that can end people’s career. We got to do a better job of avoiding that situation. It’s a pretty scary situation to be in.”

Yes, Desmond and B.J., you need to do a better job of avoiding that situation.

You may have heard some form of a speech about communication from a woman in your life, but I don’t want to have to tell you to call early, and loudly, for a ball again.

For those of you who follow me on Twitter (cough, @SarahSeesSports, cough), some of this may look familiar to you.

On Friday night, I attended Joe Maddon’s Thanksmas fundraiser at 717 South in Tampa.

There was a good size crowd and I imagine there was a good amount of money donated. Plus, the mixing of pro athletes with the common folk always leads to some fun people watching.

I’m in love with most ice sculptures and this one was no exception to that general rule. Plus, there was a gnome at the bottom of it.

Click through for some of the other photos I took without flash, so as not to be too obnoxious, along with my thoughts from the event.

The Thanksmas events in which Joe Maddon and company feed the homeless continues this week in the bay area and concludes on December 18th in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.

» Continue reading “Tampa Bay Rays: Thanksmas Fundraiser Revisited”

Editor’s note: After reading Wayne’s latest post, I decided that it was time to give out the 2011 Golden Cowbells.

On April first, I put out my Fearful Prognostication for the 2011 Tampa Bay Rays. I made it clear that I wasn’t much for predictions, and now I’m here to let you know how poorly I foresaw the season.

About 1/3 the way through the season, I made some adjustments to those predictions, and fell short there as well.

I have often asked myself, “What in The Wide, Wide, World of Sports Were You Thinking???”

Wins –

• April 1st-David Price,with 16
• 1/3 of the way through the season-David Price
• Golden Cowbell winner at the end of the season-James Shields, 16

E.R.A. -

• April 1st-David Price, 2.90
• 1/3 of the way through the season-David Price
• Golden Cowbell winner at the end of the season-James Shields, 2.82

Ks –

• April 1st-David Price, 235
• 1/3 of the way through the season-David Price
• Golden Cowbell winner at the end of the season-James Shields, 225

B.A. -

• April 1st-Manny Ramirez, .305
• 1/3 of the way through the season-Matt Joyce
• Golden Cowbell winner at the end of the season-Casey Kotchman, .306

R.B.I. -

• April 1st-Evan Longoria, 96
• 1/3 of the way through the season-Matt Joyce
• Golden Cowbell winner at the end of the season-Evan Longoria, 99

Homers –

• April 1st-Evan Longoria, 31
• 1/3 of the way through the season-Evan Longoria
• Golden Cowbell winner at the end of the season-Evan Longoria, 31

Pitching X-factor –

• April 1st-James Howell
• 1/3 of the way through the season-Jeremy Hellickson
• Golden Cowbell winner at the end of the season-The bullpen – good job!!!

Offensive X-factor –

• April 1st-B.J. Upton
• 1/3 of the way through the season-Johnny Damon
• Golden Cowbell winner at the end of the season-Damon/Upton

Bounce-back –

• April 1st-Ben Zobrist
• 1/3 of the way through the season-James Shields
• Golden Cowbell winner at the end of the season-Zobrist/Shields

Overall W-L –

• April 1st-83-79
• 1/3 of the way through the season-87-75
• End of the season-91-71

M.V.P. -

• April 1st-Joe Maddon
• 1/3 of the way through the season-Joe Maddon
• Golden Cowbell winner at the end of the season-Joe Maddon

» Continue reading “The Golden Cowbells: Rays’ Prognostications Revisited And A Future To Look Forward To”

Tonight’s game against the Tigers is still in progress as I type.  We’re currently knotted at two apiece heading to the top of the 10th.  If we’ve learned anything from the first two games of this series, it is that this game will cause Rays fans some anxiety.

Wade Davis stayed on the hill through the ninth, with Joel Peralta coming in to begin the bonus baseball. The Rays have turned into a complete game, or nearly complete game, machine.

Max Scherzer lasted five innings for the Tigers.  Daniel Schlereth pitched an inning and a third of relief before being replaced by Ryan Perry.

To be completely honest, I prefer Daniel’s father, former NFL star and current football analyst Mark Schlereth, when it comes to the looks department.  I choose to ignore the fact that the senior Schlereth’s nickname was Stink. But I’ve already said on this site that I like ‘em a little older. Ya know? Like Johnny Damon. But I digress.

I tried to distract myself from the tension of the game with a glass of wine over dinner, but I felt the need to address the Andrew Friedman situation.

We know, you (you being Cubs and Astros) want the Rays’ GM.

Because it’s hump day, the FOX Sports broadcast team is conducting another Website Wednesday so you can ask questions through Game Connect.  One fan asked a question about the rumors swirling regarding Andrew Friedman’s future.  Here’s what broadcaster Dewayne Staats and Brian Anderson had to say:

Staats: First, I think that is a compliment.

Anderson: I took it as one.

Then Staats elaborated:

“The Andrew Friedman story has been obviously the topic of conversation in a couple markets. the answer is that for one, he’s a loyal guy and they’ve had some great things Going here. obviously that’s  why you hear those stories and of why other clubs would naturally have an interest. I wouldn’t think every team in baseball would have an interest. other teams have an interest.

He doesn’t look for the limelight, really he’s uncomfortable hearing these things, but it’s hard to find a guy who has done a better job than Andrew Friedman.

Number one he’s a very bright guy and number two he’s willing to work hard. And I don’t care what you do, if you have those two combinations, you’ve got a pretty fair chance to succeed.”

Because of Friedman’s traits and the successful club he has built in Tampa Bay, most Rays fans love the guy.  He worked from a hospital room after having his appendix removed just prior to this year’s trade deadline.  The guy’s for real. » Continue reading “Pleeee-ease Don’t Leave Me”