Up until first pitch, use the comments section to predict who you think will be the Sunburst Player of the Game. (be sure to use a valid email address while leaving the comment). The commenter that correctly predicts who we will name the Sunburst Player of the Game the most times prior to the all-star game, will win two tickets to a second-half game. Runners-up get their choice of a t-shirt. [Click HERE for rules]
Check Marc Topkin’s blog for the starting lineups.
Before his worst start of the year, Zack Greinke had some choice words about playing baseball at The Trop…
“The Rays’ PR department promotes the game like it’s a club and not a baseball game,” he told MLB.com. “It almost doesn’t feel like you’re playing baseball when you’re playing here. They do stupid music stuff. They have dancers everywhere, they have a DJ. They just do a bunch of stupid stuff that isn’t baseball.”
He does have a 6.00 ERA in three Domed starts this season. Here is hoping Greinke one day is traded to the Blue Jays.
Rays’ Maddon comes to Garza’s defense [Tampa Tribune]
ESPN’s primetime news magazine “E:60″ will air tonight at 7:00pm ET and will include an in-depth profile of Evan Longoria (per Press Release). He will be interviewed by Jeremy Schaap.
Of the many topics to be covered is what Dirtbag does when he makes a bad play or mental mistake.
“If I make an error in the field or if I swing at a pitch in the dirt at the plate and I really feel like I’ve lost control of either my emotions or the at bat that’s when I step out. I always look at the left field foul pole at the top of the left field foul pole.”
We have watched Longo play a lot of baseball, but that is something we don’t recall ever seeing. But it will be interesting to see how often we notice it now.
Last week’s Rays Confidence Graph results.
Below you will see two polls that ask about your confidence in the Tampa Bay Rays. We will present these same polls every Tuesday. The results will be presented in graphical form on Thursday, and will be displayed permanently in the sidebar. The goal of the Confidence Graph is to get a feeling of how Rays fans feel about the team and the franchise and track how that level of confidence changes through time.
Raysiverse events of the past week that could impact confidence levels…
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
click above image for boxscore
THE GOOD: The Magic Touch. Joe Maddon makes some unorthodox move sometimes. OK. All the time. And sometimes every single one seems to work. Yesterday, JoeMa started Willy Aybar and he hit 2 home runs. He put Jason Bartlett in the leadoff spot and he was on base 4 of 5 times. And he started Pat Burrell in the bench spot and he didn’t kill any rallys…Offense. Sometimes they look great. Zack Greinke entered the game as the AL ERA leader and had not allowed more than 5 earned runs in any start this season. The Rays scored 6 and scored in 4 of the 5 innings he took the mound…Day Baseball. If we were commissioner, we would make sure that every day of the regular season featured at least one day game, especially Mondays. A Rays day game on Monday is like finding a Barbie Big Wheel outside your apartment at 2am – A gift from above.
THE BAD: Scott Kazmir. He would have been pounded by a better team. He allowed more than one baserunner in 3 of the 6 innings and had to battle out of a couple of jams including a bases loaded situation in the 5th. But what really hurts is that even his “good” innings aren’t good. Kazmir needed 18 pitches to get through a 1-2-3 1st inning…In A Nutshell. The last two games sum up the entire Rays season. In one they score 10 runs and look like world-beaters. They look like the best offensive team in baseball, and get contributions from everybody, including 2 home runs from a bench player. In the other, the offense can’t score a run and the Rays somehow lose a game in which the starting pitcher took a no-hitter into the 8th inning.
THE TELLING: If the Red Sox go 29-29 in their final 58 games, the Rays would have to finish 33-23 just to tie. The Rays also have 6 games left with Detroit, 6 with the Rangers and a West Coast trip. Anybody still think there is “plenty of time”?
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Willy Aybar
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Indianapolis 6, Durham 2. Andy Sonnanstine gave up 3 runs in 6 innings for his first loss since being demoted. He allowed 9 hits while striking out 4 and walking none…Desmond Jennings went 0-3 but walked twice and stole his second base…Reid Brignac went 1-4 with a walk while Matt Joyce was 0-4. Joyce is now hitting .265/.355/.476 (.241/.286/.446 versus LHP).
Mississippi 3, Montgomery 0 (gm 1). Heath Rollins dropped to 9-10 after giving up 3 runs in 3 innings…Cody Cipriano was 0-3 with a strikeout.
Montgomery 3, Mississippi 2 (gm 2). Former starter Mike Wlodarczyk made the spot-start in the nightcap striking out 4 and walking none in 3 shutout innings. He allowed just one basehit…Cody Cipriano went 0-3 to finish the double-header hitless…Jose Lobaton started his second game since being picked up by the Rays and went 2-2 with a double and a walk.
Charlotte. No games scheduled
Bowling Green @ Savannah. (ppd. rain)
Princeton. No games scheduled
Notes from Down on the Farm…
