[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Soriano’s Revenge, Shields Performance And The Return Of Shouse
Brian Shouse, Carl Crawford, Dave Martinez July 22nd. 2010, 7:02am
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: Devil O’sian? With one out in the 8th with the potential tying run on second, Scott Moore broke for third despite a groundball being hit in front of him to Jason Bartlett. Bartlett got Moore at third killing the O’s last hope…Rafael Soriano. One day after his first real blown save of the season, Soriano came into the 9th of a 1-run game and mowed the O’s down 1-2-3…Randy Choate. After Shields left with the tying run on base in the 7th, Choate came in and battled Nick Markakis before getting him to hit into a inning-ending double-play…Evan Longoria. He started the scoring with his 14th home run and broke the tie in the 6th with a bases-loaded walk.
THE BAD: James Shields. “Big Game” (haha) James continues to struggle with the longball. This time it was a 2-run home run to yet another former Ray, Ty Wigginton. The blast cut the Rays lead to 2 and brought the O’s back in the game. Shields would eventually allow the O’s to tie it before being pulled after 6.1 innings.
THE TELLING: Carl Crawford was not in the lineup yesterday after CC hurt his PP…Randy Choate leads the AL with 49 appearances…Brian Shouse made his first appearance since re-signing with the Rays. He threw 2 shutout innings for high-A Charlotte.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 57-37, 2.5 games behind the Yankees and 4.5 games ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card. Nobody else is within 7 games in the Wild Card. After 94 games in 2008, the Rays were 55-39.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- James Shields talks about his performance yesterday (Video). [The Heater]
- Carl Crawford is still a little sore but vows not to wear a protective cup. [St. Pete Times]
- Yet another member of the Rays Dominican Summer League team has been suspended for 50 games for violating baseball’s drug policy. [Yahoo! Sports]
- The Rays have donated money to support a group campaigning for a rail system to…wait for it…Hillsborough County…Now why would they want a rail in Tampa? [Shadow of the Stadium]
- Joe Lemire writes that the Rays don’t need a bat, but another bat could make the offense great. He wonders if the Rays are willing to part with the pieces necessary for such a deal. [SI.com]
- George Ofman wonders if Dave Martinez might be the next Cubs manager. [That's All She Wrote]
- If you missed Todd Kalas’ post-game interview with Rafael Soriano, this is a must-read. [RaysRev.com]
- Jack Moore can’t figure out why the Phillies would trade Jayson Werth. [Fangraphs]
- Sports Casualties wonders why the Rays are giving Rocco Baldelli another shot when they have better options in-house…Simple. He is a buy-low investment. A minor league deal isn’t costing the Rays much money and maybe some of the natural ability shines through one more time. [Sports Casualties]
- Joe Maddon had some nice things to say about the Orioles roster. [The Baltimore Sun]
DOWN ON THE FARM…
- Check out Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
- DURHAM: Virgil Vasquez gave up 6 runs in 5.2 innings. He struck out 3 and walked 4…Desmond Jennings (2006-10) had 2 singles in 6 at bats and stole his 26th base…Dan Johnson as 2-3 and hit his 26th home run…Dioner Navarro was 0-5 with a walk.
- MONTGOMERY: (no game scheduled)
- CHARLOTTE: Frank de los Santos allowed 5 runs (4 earned) in 6 innings. He struck out 4 and walked none. His ERA is now 4.79…Brian Shouse pitched 2 scoreless innings, giving up 2 hits. He struck out none and walked none…Tim Beckham (2008-1) was 1-4 with an error…Rocco Baldelli (2000-1) did not play.
- BOWLING GREEN: Kirby Yates allowed 8 runs in 4.2 innings. He gave up 3 home runs…Cody Rogers (2009-7) went 0-4 with a walk and 2 Ks.
- HUDSON VALLEY: (game suspended in the 2nd inning)
- PRINCETON: Eliazer Suero allowed 2 runs in 5 innings. He struck out 3 and walked none. His ERA is now 2.08…Scott Lawson (2010-29) hit his 2nd home run.
Related posts:
- [THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Another Blank By Shields, Crawford’s Return, And Youk’s Dirty Play
- [THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Jaso’s Up-And-Down D, Napoli’s Revenge And Bossman The Third
- [THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Davis’s Needed Performance, The High-Water Mark And Rocco’s Debut
Three things:
1. Thanks, Cork, for linking the MFIKY transcript. Typing that may have been the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my blogging career.
2. The Rays would really miss Davey Martinez if he went to the Cubs. I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that the Rays started turning it around when he arrived.
3. The great CC cup debate is quite interesting. It never dawned on me that any professional baseball player would forgo wearing a cup. However, it makes sense if you think about it. Those guys are looking for any speed advantage and if a cup makes them uncomfortable.. then they’ll take a chance. Plus, I pose this question: How many of you softball warriors wear one on softball night?
1. transcribing interviews is always a pain in the arse. And when it is Soriano, that just makes it worse.
2. I’m sure it has always been too much to hope that Martinez would still be around when JoeMa leaves
3. I was a catcher so obviously I would always wear a cup. But when I pitched there was no way. Still, i remember one coach that would go around to position players with a fungoe bat and hit them in the groin area to make sure they were wearing their cups. not hard, but enough that you wouldn’t forget to wear your cup.
I think a lot of outfielders go cupless, because when diving for a catch it actually does more harm than good?
I’m sure that is something they consider.
Also, when I was catching, there were a couple of years when I would take out the cup before I would bat. I just didnt like how it felt when I swung the bat and when I was running (not that it helped that much).
If we could just bring back the former Rays, we’d be okay. Not that we need them but they are killing us. Wiggington, Lugo, Delmon Young, Edwin Jackson….
I don’t think fans can really appreciate a transcript of Soriano talking to TK. They needed to have seen/heard the real thing. I love Soriano even more after that. I had no idea what to expect from him in an interview.
There’s a link inside the transcript article to the video of the interview. But, you’re right, the emotion definitely showed during the interview. The transcript helps break down what he said a little. I completely missed the apologizing to Garza thing the first time.
Enough of “Big Game” James title…he has been terrible. At this point, he is “5th Starter” James along with his 91 MPH fastballs that are hittable. During the offseason, Shields is tradable for for a middle reliever or mid level prospect. Down the road the rotation should be Price, Niemann, Garza, Davis and Hellickson….NOT BAD!!
Its funny how a few bad months out of a season and people act like James Shields is the worst thing to ever happen to this team. No matter how much he pisses you off he has talent and a track record to boot. Jamie has always given up his share of homers and hits. He doesn’t walk many people and he strikes people out at a decent rate which makes this year that much more confusing. He’s on a pace for a career high in strike outs and his walks are around the same rate. So what happened between his career numbers/the beginning of the year and his recent bad stretch? Is it just bad luck? After his May 30th start against Chicago he has just collapsed.
Just remember he’s had 3 straight years with an era under 4.14 and 215 ip. Give him time. Fans like to cut their throats and pull out their hair way to fast with guys. There’s a reason the Yankees don’t cut Texiera when he struggles, or Bos with Papi, or Houston with Pence. They have track records. Just like Jamie.
But Shields’ salary is $2.5 and goes to $4.5M next year. I suspect he’s on the Scott Kazmir express if he doesn’t turn it around.