THE SATURDAY MORNING REVOLUTION: James Shields 1 Hit Gem; Even Longoria With The Walk-Off Bomb
Cliff Floyd, Nathan Haynes, Troy Percival May 10th. 2008, 11:30am
DRG here again to get you through the weekend. I can be reached here..
- The Good: Best. Rays. Game. Ever…James Shields, 1 hit and one controversial hit batter short of a perfect game…Evan Longoria a 2-run walk-off home run with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th…Diving catches from Carl Crawford and BJ Upton…And let me point out one at bat at this point. Gabe Gross leading off the bottom of the 8th, may have been the best at bat I have seen from a Rays hitter this season. Gross had in mind getting on base at any cost. He was taking until he had a strike. He got ahead 2-0 before the first called strike. A foul ball on the next pitch and it was 2-2. Outside of the first pitch, everything was up-and-away. On the 5th pitch he fouled off a tough fastball. Next pitch he laid off a fastball off the plate. He then fouled off another fastball away. The 8th pitch was in very much the same spot as the last pitch, and Gross drove the pitch to left-center for a double. He didn’t score, but that at bat sold me on Gabe Gross.
- The Bad: Did you guys see Joe Magrane’s suit? Pinstripes with a diagonal striped tie. Doesn’t he know that diagonal stripes clash with Dwayne Staats hair?…
- The Telling: James Shields only needed 92 pitches to pitch the 1-hit shutout. If the Rays do not score in the bottom of the 9th, Shields would have come out for the 10th inning…In his last 2 starts at home, James Shields has thrown 2 shutouts. In those two starts combined, 3 hits, 1 walk, 15 strikeouts…The Rays are 2 games back in the wild card chase…With the Rays winning this year, these out of division games have a different feel. In years past, I would look forward to these series, because I got a chance to watch some other teams and it was a respite from the grind that is the AL East. This year, I find myself dreading out of division series. The Rays are good, and I want every game to be a divisional rival.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- My fellow RAYSHEADS, you have been heard. Nathan Haynes has been DFA’d. The move comes with the Rays activating Cliff Floyd from the DL. [Rays Report]
- The Rays effort last night inspired the poetic side of Her Rays. [Her Rays]
- The Mockingbord takes a look at Troy Percival’s pitches from Thursday when he blew a 3-run lead in the 9th. [The Mockingbird]
- Fire Joe Morgan questions why the Rays are on the list of the 10 worst franchises, considering that the team looks pretty darned good this year. [Fire Joe Morgan]
- Rays of Light argues that the Rays should no longer seek outside help for the lineup noting that the Rays are ahead of schedule and should just play out the 2008 season as is. [Rays of Light]
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i read in the Juan Salas article that he is on a major league Rehab assignemt, this would lead me to believe that he would be on the roster once he is ready no? was this a mistake by the writer?
PS. not that it matters but, shields hit a batter that should not of been calleda HBP,but it was. So he was actually one hit away from a no hitter, not a perfect game
Devil Ray DIVA
wow. wow. wow. I knew when I got there the game was going to be quick, between Sheilds and Garland (who also pitched great), but I didn’t think it would that quick. 2 hours and 13 min. An amazing game.
Oh, and all-star ballots are out! Vote for Willy Aybar (or you can write in Longoria if you want.) I voted for an Upton meets Upton All Star game.
diva?
and can’t believe I forgot about the HBP. not only did he offer at the pitch, if you watch the replay, he had his back foot on the plate. he should have been called out!
prof and I were thinking of starting an all star vote campaign. but strangely this is the first time that the most deserving are pitchers and we can’t vote for them. so we weren’t sure who. Crawford is most well-known, but Upton is having a better year.
if there was one player we should push who should it be?
also. is the game tonight on the extra innings package? im not seeing it.
funny thing is, that is a sign that time are a changin. last year it was at least 1 game a week that wasn’t on. this would be the first time in 2008 and we are more than 6weeks in.
Well, Crawford is the safe pick for all-star. Upton will make it, if not this year, for many years after. And if he wasn’t sucking eggs this year, why not Pena? And Aki over Pedriora or Cano. So why not push for D) all of the above?
Seriously though, if Shields is not an all-star I’m not watching. We could legitimately have 3 all-stars, at least.
In regards to Gross…..This guy draws a lot of ire from the fans from his supposed lack of production at the the plate, but the fact of the matter is that he sees more P/PA than anyone else on the team, and has faced nothing but A+ pitching since joining the team! But now Floyd has been activated, and Haynes DFA (finally), so I guess Gross is designated to a bench role now.
I am thrilled you detail Gross’s AB. I have been praising his performance at other sites all day, and not just that one. I did not count pitches, but it seems to me he saw at least 6-7 pitches every AB, getting to 3-2 even if he started 0-2 and fouling off multiple offerings. That double was served perfectly to the opposite field after that marvelous AB. Well-done.
Note that despite his .200 BA, he has a .326 OBP due to 7 BBs in 35 ABs and with Milwaukee this year he had an OBP of .352 on top of a .209 BA due to 10 BBs in 43 ABs. He is a good pickup and will serve well as a reserve from now on.
I have been asking about that HBP all day. From my vantage, I was sure Aybar’s bat and hand were clearly inside the strike zone and he was offering at the pitch. Others tell me the ump said he was pulling the bat back, and nobody seemed to complain, so I’ll take their word for it.
It was the best game I have ever attended! And probably the best game any of the other 12,038 ever attended.
It sure did look like he was offering at the pitch on that bunt, but I guess they gave him the benefit of the doubt since he got hit (and hurt) and he did seem to start pulling back at the very last microsecond. Also, no way that pitch was in the strike zone, it was well inside when it hit his hand.
Oh well, another call that could have or should have gone to the Rays and they didn’t get it — just add it to the list.