- Rays 5, Yankees 3 (click image for boxscore)
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
THE GOOD: Sweet Swingin’. With what may have been the biggest home run for the Rays since 2008, Matt Joyce erased a 7th inning 3-2 deficit with a 3-run home run (HERE IS THE RADIO CALL). And just when you thought the Rays might going into the final day of the season trailing by a game, the Rays won. And now it is tied…Triple Your Pleasure. Before Matty Joyce went deep, defense kept the game close. With one run in already and the Yankees threatening to add more with no outs and the bases loaded. Jeremy Hellickson induced a pitcher’s BFF, the 5-4-3 around-the-horn triple play (HERE IS THE RADIO CALL).
THE BAD: O’s No Go. The Red Sox held off a late rally and beat the Orioles 8-7.
THE TELLING: Johnny Damon passed Lou Gehrig on the all-time hits list and received a standing ovation…Rays now have 90 wins for the third time in franchise history. Of course, the Rays have never won 90 games and missed the playoffs. Just sayin’…The Rays magic number is now 2. A win and Red Sox loss tomorrow, or a win tomorrow and Thursday and the Rays are in the playoffs…The Rays and Red Sox are the first teams to ever start 0-6 and win 90 games.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- All tests were negative on Casey Kotchman and he was released from the hospital last night. No word yet on whether he will be available for tonight’s game.
- Thursday’s one-game playoff would be at 4:07pm. [The Heater]
- James Shields was named the #Rays MVP by the local media. Jeremy Hellickson was named the top rookie. [The Heater]
- Kelly Shoppach has been inducted into the Baylor University Athletics Hall of Fame. [BaylorBears]
- Who is to blame for the Red Sox collapse? [Business Insider]
Matt Joyce (via TampaBay.com)
33 Comments
I think Maddon deserves some credit for walking Posada prior to Matin’s triple play and for letting Joyce swing away instead of bunting.
good points!
Maddon always gets points.
Epic game. I got a little worried when the Yankees took the lead, but my mood changed when the triple play happened. LET’S FINISH THIS!
Anyone wonder whether Soriano was saying “thanks, Rays, for a great 2010?” Clearly he wasn’t taking this appearance all that seriously — it was a tune up for the playoffs. I just wasn’t sure whether he didn’t much care at all about the outcome, or whether he was actually trying to do the Rays a favor.
But I’ll admit — I did not imagine that a limping Matt Joyce, who has shown absolutely no power lately, was going to win this with a homerun.
anyone else think that the time of the potential playoff is a complete joke? i know, we don’t get the ratings that other teams do when MLB schedules playoffs, but this is a big deal and it’s against the red sox. you’d think we would get a small bone thrown our way.
Hopefully we won’t have to worry about it.
Scheduling the potential playoff game at 4 p.m. almost guarantees some nice “empty blue seats” shots for TV.
The time is hardly ideal, but in fairness, one of these two teams will then have to get on a plane to Texas or Detroit and be ready to play Friday evening. Do you really want to have a one game playoff that ends at midnight?
True. do we know what the start time of those games are, or are they waiting to see if it’s the Rays or the sox to determine which is more worthy of the later time?
Rays or Sox would play in the afternoon game, 4:00 or so. Yanks will host the evening game.
I know it is getting ahead of ourselves, but I would think Moore would start tomorrow if needed. Just seems like Maddon would go that route. Anyone have any idea who the Sox would have? When did Becket last go?
Lackey or Wakefield for the play in game!
Lackey or Wakefield would go on Thursday, no doubt. Beckett pitched on Monday, so it is likely that he will be out of commission. Lester is tonight, so he’s gone. Expect to see Albers, Aceves, and the A-bullpen though.
I would love to see Moore on the mound for the Rays. More likely, it will be Niemann with a short leash, with Moore and Torres ready for relief duty.
what i want to know is who is throwing for the Yanks tonight…
it sounds like we wont know until a couple of hours before game time. It appears that this is because Girardi doesnt want to use any of his regulars. that means 5-6 relievers tonight. And the one that gets the start and maybe 2-3 innings is going to be the one that feels the best. Just a guess. But it seems to be the way Girardi is leaning.
so its not gamesmanship then… thats all i was truly wondering.
Back to the post… i would hope that Moore goes if there is a game tomorrow.
I think the Rays should schedule a nice, long “Johnny Damon passes Lou Gehrig” pre-game ceremony for the yankees to sit through tonight. How many tired ceremonies have the Rays had to sit through in NY?
The 4pm start for tomorrow is because whoever wins will be playing an afternoon road game on Friday in Game 1 of the ALDS. The winner has to travel after the game, if they played it at 7 they’d be getting into Detroit or Dallas at like 4AM.
Exactly why it was stupid, myopic MLB scheduling to have the ALDS game 1 with only ONE flexible day after the last regular season game.
My recollection is that they are trying to compress the postseason a bit so that the chances of the World Series being decided in a driving sleet storm on a cold November evening are a little less. (Of course if EVERYONE had a dome we wouldn’t have to worry about these things!)
But Sarah, remember the Trop is a dump. There’s no room for domes in baseball! (dripping with sarcasm)
Just wanted to point out that Jake McGee is throwing the ball extremely well as of late. I would feel confident giving him the ball in a late-inning situation at this point in the season. We need that lefty flamethrower, not a junk-thrower like Howell or a wild card like Ramos.
Are you available to pitch for the Yanks tonight. We sure could use you.
No, but Jim Mecir and Rick Creek are.
Amen! McGee (shoulders) has been getting it done lately. He’s a perfect reliever… as long as he keeps his control and doesn’t dip below 94 with his fastball.
Damn you Matt Joyce! Still can’t change my underwear.
Just a warning to anyone who will be in section 129 tonight.
Cork, did you see Damon tipping his helmet after he crossed home plate on Zobrist’s home run? (I think that’s when he did it.) Any ideas on who he was giving a nod to? I think he was facing directly behind the plate.
I missed that. will go look.
I saw that, too. Very clear in the replay. I would be interested in knowing the story…
i saw it too. maybe Zim was sitting there?
Of course its a complete joke. Probably asked for by Sternberg so if it doesn’t sell out, he has some more ammo to use…
1. 4:00 start is a nice advantage for the Rays, should it end up there. Boston has to travel from Baltimore should both teams win (or both lose) tonight. Not good for fans, but a competitive advantage if it gets to that.
2. If Boston fans keep carping about the Yankees laying down, it should be noted (a) Girardi skipped CC’s Sunday start for them; (b) he gave them Sunday night’s game with Scott Proctor and the refusal to pinch hit his starters and (c) the rain-out DH was a total excuse to skip all of his starters for one game, something the Rays may not get. Now the Rays get Giardi matching lefty-right relievers like he did last week. I’d much rather see AJ. At the least, I demand equal time with Scott Proctor.
3. Have you ever heard of a team getting a player wheeled out of the clubhouse an hour before the biggest game of the year? Scary, remarkable, and largely forgotten in the coverage of the game. Hope he is okay. Need the Power of Kotchman on offense and defense.
4. Why is the freakin SPTimes running an attendance story on the day of potetnially the most historic comeback in baseball history? Tone deaf to what is news.