Woohoo! The Rays won and no one new needs to be added to the DL. Tampa Bay took down the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 on Tuesday night. (Hey, I didn’t say it wasn’t a nail biter, just that they won.)

Starter David Price worked through seven full innings, giving up all three runs to the Jays in the third.

Skipper Joe Maddon said of Price’s performance:

“Just like in his last game, I thought he got better as the game was in progress. I think he could have easily gone out if we needed him to and pitched the eighth inning. Really good stuff, nothing had diminished by the end of the seventh inning.”

-Jeff Niemann is officially on the DL and Josh Lueke has been added to the roster to give the bullpen another arm. In case you didn’t know, Niemann is 6′ 9″. When he broke his leg in Toronto, Rays trainer Ron Porterfield called the Toronto Raptors (that’s an NBA team for you one-sport lovers) for crutches. Brilliant. Before Niemann had crutches, he was being pushed around in a wheelchair by teammate Will Rhymes.

In case you’re ever wheelchair-bound, you might want someone other than Rhymes to guide ya. According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times:

Rhymes, though, wasn’t much of a wheelman, at one point rolling Niemann’s bad foot into an elevator door. “Once he gets rolling he’s hard to stop,” Rhymes said.

-I will be out of town, and surrounded by non-Rays fans, while they take on the Red Sox and the Braves this week. For the sake of my team and my phone, I hope that the score updates that I receive are good ones.

-Jeremy Hellickson (3-0, 2.95) is scheduled to face off against Boston’s Clay Buchholz (4-1, 8.31) tonight at the Trop at 7:10. Here’s hoping the winning streak for the Sox ends at 5.

Another day, another player who will be placed on the disabled list.

Sure, the Rays won 7-1 over the Jays last night, scoring six of those runs in the fifth inning, but they had to do it without their starter. Righty Jeff Niemann caught a line drive from Adam Lind on the leg in the first inning and was pulled from the game before the start of the second. » Continue reading “Rays: Woe Is Us”

What will the starting staff look like for the Rays this season?  Having made it this far without giving up a quality arm, Tampa Bay has some choices to make regarding their starting five.  The fact that they have seven arms from which to choose is a blessing any  pitching coach and manager would love to have.

The Select Seven include, in no particular order:  Jeff Niemann, Jeremy Hellickson, David Price, James Shields, Alex Cobb, Matt Moore, and Wade Davis. There are five right-handers, two lefties, and a wide variety of stuff, ranging from Price’s occasional triple-digit fastball to the devastating change-up of James Shields.  So here goes: » Continue reading “Tampa Bay Rays: The Stuff Of A Rotation, Numbers One Through Five”

Jeff Niemann gave up two runs in the top of the first inning, on a walk and Jose Bautista’s 43rd home run of the season, then gave way to rookie southpaw Alexander Torres, who shut down Toronto for five innings. Tampa Bay countered with two unearned runs in the bottom of the first off Blue Jays’ starter Ricky Romero, and parlayed a 3-for-3, four R.B.I. day by Johnny Damon into a 6-2 Rays’ victory, as they closed to within a game-and-a-half of Boston in the American League wild card chase.

In a game that had a bit of something for everyone, Tampa Bay’s relief corps came to the front, while allowing Toronto zero runs on only four hits, while tallying ten strikeouts over eight innings of rock-solid work.

Johnny Damon had a hustle double in the bottom of the first inning on a ball that could have been caught by a handful of Blue Jay defenders. Ben Zobrist scored on the play, after having reached base on a throwing error by Jays’ shortstop Mike McCoy that allowed B.J. Upton to score from second base. All tied up at two apiece, the Rays’ relievers took over. Torres struck out five while allowing only three hits in his stint, and Brandon Gomes, Joel Peralta, and Kyle Farnsworth threw zeroes up on the board the rest of the way.

Tampa Bay scored a third run in the bottom of the fourth on a screaming line drive home run by Zobrist, his 18th of the campaign. In the bottom of the eighth, Romero gave up a three-run bomb to Damon, which easily cleared the right field fence. It was Damon’s 18th long ball of the season, and gave the Rays some insurance going into the ninth inning.

Romero, 15-11, was victimized by three Blue Jays’ errors, and little offensive support. Tampa Bay stole two bases, had two home runs, and played perfect defense in the victory. At this point, with every game being a must-win, the Rays pitched well and got timely hitting, and Joe Maddon pulled the trigger in going early to his bullpen.

Today, the Rays will hope to fire on all cylinders and push the right button again, starting at 1:40, sending Lake Wales’ native Wade Davis to the hill. Davis is 10-10 for the year, and is coming off a rough start against the New York Yankees, in which he gave up five earned runs on eight hits in 4.2 innings. Toronto sends lefty Brett Cecil to the mound in an attempt to slow down Tampa Bay’s playoff chase.

Joe Maddon told Marc Topkin of the St. Pete Times:

“We normally do the tightrope routine on a daily basis. And it’s kind of comfortable for us now.”

» Continue reading “Damon Gets Offensive, Relievers Come to the Rescue, Rays Top Toronto 6-2″

Ladies and Gentleman,

Let’s give a collective pat on the bag to “Big Complete Game” James.  Our Shieldsy threw his 11th complete game of the season on Monday against the formidable Texas Rangers (80-62).

I love, love, love that Shields said complete games aren’t “routine” for him (even though the numbers might not jive with that.)  He’s a workhorse and it seems like he’ll stay that way.  When Shields walked Elvis Andrus in the top of the ninth, it was good to see that he was ticked off about it.  Unfortunately, that walk set the wheels in motion for the Rangers’ only run of the day.

The Rays offense supported Shields and Tampa Bay jumped ahead early with a solo shot by Evan Longoria in the first inning.

Tampa Bay made the most of a bad inning by Texas starter Scott Feldman.  In the fourth, Feldman loaded the bases on walks setting up Casey Kotchman’s two-run single and John Jaso’s double-play ground ball that sent Sean Rodriguez home.

BJ Upton tacked on one more run for the Rays with a homerun in the seventh.

And to add one more ray of sunshine to the end of a holiday weekend, Monday’s victory was manager Joe Maddon’s 500th career win.

Tampa Bay continues their series against Texas tomorrow with a 7:10 game.  Jeff Niemann will square off against CJ Wilson for the second time in just six days.

 

-Catcher Jose Lobaton’s time behind the plate will increase during the last month of the regular season which means we’ll be seeing less of Kelly Shoppach and his beard.  Skipper Joe Maddon said of Lobaton:

“Going into next year, he’d definitely be a candidate. And that’s why it’s vital we see him right now.”

-Jeff Niemann gets the nod for the Rays on Tuesday.  He’ll try to put his last start against Texas behind him.  On September 1, Niemann lasted just five innings in Arlington and gave up five runs on six hits.

-The wives of Rays players will hold a “Mystery Ball” event before Saturday’s game against Boston.  Proceeds will go to St. Petersburg’s All Children’s Hospital.  Of course when I read “Mystery Ball” my mind first jumped to a masquerade ball…but the event that will actually occur on Saturday sounds like a lot of fun too.  Fans can purchase a wrapped, autographed baseball for $30.  The wrapping will conceal which player, or players, signed the souvenir, hence the mystery.

YAYYYYY the Rays won 4-1 at Texas last night, buoyed by a strong showing by starter James Shields.  Our complete game man didn’t toss another CG, but he pitched eight innings of quality ball.  Shields allowed four hits, zero runs and walked one with seven strikeouts.

Tonight, Tampa Bay’s big man, Jeff Niemann will take on super-tweeter CJ Wilson.  The Rangers will look for a boost from Adrian Beltre in this evening’s game.  The third baseman is expected to return to the lineup for the first time since he landed on the DL with a strained hamstring on July 23.

-The roster expands to 40 men today.  The Rays are set to bring outfielders Brandon Guyer and Justin Ruggiano into the fold.  When the team returns home tomorrow, they’ll bring long reliever Andy Sonnanstine back to the bullpen.  Catcher Jose Lobaton is expected to rejoin the team this weekend, as long as his left knee sprain continues to heal. [St. Petersburg Times]

-The Sun Sports team had a little fun with file photos of broadcaster Brian Anderson last night.  Here’s my favorite (original screenshot courtesy of @BRaysballTalk):

-The Rays went 18-10 in the month of August.  I’d be up for feeling a little déjà vu this month, and that’s just what Tampa Bay needs to hang on to playoff hopes.  [Rays Index]

-I love Kyle Farnsworth.  Don’t tell my parents, but I think it has something to do with his “bad boy” image.  The tats and the famous tackle, plus this season’s saves, are things of beauty.  The “closer” has 22 saves on the year with a 1.94 ERA and 0.92 WHIP.  And that is why I don’t want to see him hurt.  Farnsworth suffered from tenderness in his right elbow last week.

The MLB veteran said his elbow is fine, but he wasn’t as spot-on as usual during his inning of work last night.  Farnsworth allowed three hits and one run.  I have to hope it was just a fluke, and that his elbow really is okay, because the Rays need him in this final month of the regular season.  It’s much more fun to watch Farnsworth tackle Paul Wilson than worry about his elbow:

The Rays beat Minnesota 8-2 last night (and scored 4 of those runs in the first!) to improve to 12-11 on the season.  It’s nice to be over .500 isn’t it?

Rays Index has a photo of the SNOW at Target Field last night and another picture showing some shirtless fans in The Hangover.  Scroll to the bottom of that post to hear about why Joe Maddon doesn’t like the idea of today’s day/night doubleheader.

Tampa Bay will play a doubleheader against the Twins today to make up Tuesday’s game which was postponed due to rain.  Jeremy Hellickson gets the start in the 1:10 p.m. ET game against Nick Blackburn.  Jeff Niemann will square off against Anthony Swarzak in the second game, scheduled to begin at 8:10 p.m. ET.  Swarzak has not pitched in the bigs since 2009.

And in Sam Fuld news, the Legend has joined the Twitterverse.  The handle @SamFuld5 has been verified as the real Sam Fuld by David Price (@DavidPrice14).

 

The Rays (9-10) are still waiting to be on the right side of a sweep this year, but going 3-1 in back-to-back series doesn’t look so bad to me.

Jeff Niemann struggled last night and only lasted 4 2/3 innings against the White Sox.  Niemann’s final line was 4.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 5 ER and 2 BB.  Niemann also recorded one wild pitch and hit two batters.  Sam Fuld stood out on Thursday going 2-for-5 with a two-run single.  Johnny Damon returned to the lineup as DH for the first time since injuring his finger in a bunt attempt on Sunday and went 1-for-4.

Niemann speaks about his rough start in this post-game interview:

Final Score White Sox 9, Rays 2 [Box Score]

And meh. The Tampa Tribune’s Roger Mooney believes Kotchman could be off the roster when Evan Longoria returns to the roster next week.  [Rays Index]

Sam Fuld struggled at the plate on Tuesday and Wednesday, going 0-for-4 in each game, but his legend continues to grow.  The baseball section of the New York Times included a Sam-centric story earlier this week.  I can definitely picture 5-year-old Sam walking around with The Complete Handbook of Baseball.  Steph Diorio of the Aerys Sports Stanford site “Nine Shot First” included a drawing of Sam in a recent post about the newly anointed legends from Stanford.  (Clankers, you can ignore the part of Jed Lowrie since he’s busy being “legendary” for Boston.)

Reid Brignac upped his average to .262 with three hits in the last two games, but it’s early so every hit makes a pretty big difference.  Tommy Rancel discussed Brignac’s stats and trends at the plate, along with ways that Brignac can improve, in a post on Thursday.  I like Brignac, and it’s not just the drawl.  He earned the nickname Briggy Baseball for a reason.  I hope he can produce this season and find  a way to stay with the Rays for the long haul.  [The Process Report]

If you’d like a smile as the Rays prepare for a three-game series in Toronto, just click this link.  It includes David Price and a puppet. [The Heater]