May 20
Joe is back with his post-game thoughts…
Sometimes, Joe has to doff his cap to the other guy. That “Other Guy” today was Braves hurler Tim Hudson. The guy was a simple Bulldog, keeping the Rays off the scoreboard as the Rays suffered their first shutout this season.
Of course, the way Carlos Pena has been playing, and played today, surely didn’t help. Pena is in a terrible slump at the plate, and judging by his play in the field and on the basepaths, Pena is in dire need of a short-vacation.
Pena hasn’t been playing his normal solid defense lately and today he dropped a ball. Sure, Will Rhymes got a throwing error on the play, but Pena still had his glove on the ball and didn’t secure it.
Pena’s bumbling baserunning in the eighth inning was simply inexcusable. With the bases loaded and two outs down by two runs, Wolverine blasted what appeared to be a potential game-tying two-run RBI single. Pena initially watched the ball come toward him near second base, then instead of trying to dodge the ball, began looking at second base and got hit by the ball for the third out.
Now if Pena was trying to shield the ball from Braves second baseman Dan Uggla, Joe could live with that. But Pena wasn’t even looking at the ball. That’s a Little League stunt.
Yes, Joe knows the Rays are razor-thin thanks to so many injuries. But it’s clear to Joe that Pena is in dire need of a couple of days off.
May 19
Joe is back with his post-game thoughts….
Joe just felt so damn good for Alex Cobb coming back and pitching brilliantly today to lead the Rays to a 5-2 spanking of the Braves.
The doctors carved open Cobb’s chest last year to untwist a giant vein that was all messed up and affected his pitching arm. And here he was today getting the call-up and going seven strong for the win.
Forget about the glory of the ridiculously deep Rays pitching for a minute, Joe just wants to raise a cold beer to 24-year-old Cobb for grinding back to the big stage and succeeding, especially after a rough start to his Durham season.
What can one say about Matt Joyce’s grand slam in the third inning? Excited expletives come to mind. It was desperately needed and really brought the Trop to near playoff decibels.
Joe’s not big on writing about attendance, but a Saturday afternoon crowd of 27,000+ without a wacky promotion is very solid. Mingling with people across the Bay area and running the again sold out No Excuses Tour, Joe feels confident saying there’s a new buzz and commitment in the air about the Rays.
But even if there wasn’t, a win like this is a reason to feel great about the good guys.
May 19
Joe is back with his post-game thoughts….
Joe’s not much of a stats geek by any stretch, but they do reflect reality pretty well sometimes.
The Rays have now scored four runs or less in 12 of 17 games in May. They’re 5-7 when plating those four or less, which is darn good. But it’s maddening to watch and it’s not winning baseball.
Friday’s night’s 5-3 loss to the Braves accentuated the often razor-thin margin of error the Rays’ pitching staff gets to work with. A nothing special Braves two-out rally in the fifth off James Shields put Altanta up 4-2 and that was the ballgame. The Rays’ seven singles brought home all they could.
Everybody knows the long list of injuries sucking runs from the lineup. No need to rehash that, but it’s been painfully glaring over the last three games.
Joe even found himself longing for Kelly Shoppach’s hitting prowess while watching Jose Molina last night. That was just a fleeting longing, but what Molina’s doing at the plate is freakin’ ugly stuff. It really has Joe wondering whether Molina has enough juice in those old legs to to recover.
Yet another reason the Rays need Evan Longoria and Desmond Jennings back in a big way.
May 17
Joe is back with his post-game thoughts…
Sure, Joe knew when Dirtbag went down with his knee injury the Rays offense might take a step back or two. That’s understandable. But for the Rays to cower and run away when there are runners in scoring position as bad as they did tonight, well, there really is no excuse.
Good grief, just tonight alone Wolverine stranded six runners, and he’s supposed to be the Rays big RBI guy.
Rather than just losing Dirtbag, it’s a series of players the Rays have lost to injury that may be catching up to them. Desmond Jennings’ absence doesn’t help. Guess Rays fans are seeing all of these injuries starting to creep up.
Not an awful night for Matt Moore, but without some offense, unless Rays pitchers pretty much hold opponents scoreless, Joe guesses this is what fans may expect from the Derek Sheltons in the near future.
May 16
Joe is back with his post-game thoughts…
Now this is Joe’s kind of a game. Hellboy and the bullpen, capped by the crooked cap-wearing, Kung Fu Fernando Rodney, who held the BoSux to one run while wrapping up a 2-1 win.
This is the type of game the Rays are going to need from their pitching staff, and are capable of getting night in and night out, short of whoever is now the No. 5 pitcher.
And, man, was Rodney mowing down the BoSux. Fantastic.
But this injury bug is really going to Read the rest of this entry »
May 16
Joe is back with his post-game thoughts….
Joe watched Ben Zobrist’s seeing-eye, bloop double, all those Jays errors, and Brett Lawrie’s almost justifyable temper tantrum, and Joe couldn’t help but sit back and contemplate after the Rays’ 4-3 win that destiny really is on Tampa Bay’s side this season.
And for this latest victory we got to soak in another big night for Will Rhymes, Elliot Johnson and old man Crooked Cap.
It has to make you laugh.
Every fan knows the long list of injuries and surprises associated with the 2012 roster. The Rays being on pace to win 101 games is nothing short of stunning considering its schedule.
Joe was glad to see David Price bounce back with a strong outing and another W. He needed the confidence jolt.
The hot and hated Red Sux come to the Trop tonight. Joe gets the feeling they don’t realize what they’re running into.
May 14
Joe is back with his post-game thoughts….
Was Matt Joyce out diving head first into first base?
Probably. But Joe will file that safe call away so he’s not as angry about the ones that inevitably will screw the Rays later this season. Joyce’s two-out fortune — and hustle — opened the flood gates for the Rays’ sixth-run fifth inning enroute to the 7-1 victory against Toronto.
What clutch, quality strokes by Luke Scott and Sean Rodriguez to blow the game open. Very impressive stuff, considering how hot Jays starter Brandon Morrow was entering this game.
Cesar Ramos gets a gold star and the win after coming in for Jeff Niemann, who got plunked on the ankle by a line drive in the first inning. What a way to seize an opportunity. Ramos hadn’t pitched in eight days. Starting in the fifth inning, Wade Davis, Jay Howell, Burke Badenhop and Jake McGee brought the victory home flawlessly.
It was about time the Rays had an easy one. Those late rallies in Baltimore were too hard on the nerves.
May 13
Joe is back with his post-game thoughts….
Joe thought this game was in the bag.
Finally seeing some offense in this Dirtbag-less, Desmond Jennings-less lineup, the Rays handed Big Game a six-run lead in the fourth.
Cool. Game’s all but won with the Rays’ No. 1 starter on the mound.
Not so fast. Partially thanks to Rays nemesis Matt Wieters, the Orioles climbed back twice and appeared about to win the game in the ninth. But this game was not saved by Shields or even Kung Fu Fernando Rodney, but by the glove of Sean Rodriguez.
Playing third base today, Rodriguez made a couple of plays with the leather that would have made Brooks Robinson nod in approval. If not for SRod diving all over the infield and making crazy plays, the Rays lose this game.
Props to Zorilla for breaking out with the bat and Elliot Johnson putting a pitch over the fence in left field as well. But if not for SRod’s defense, those homers are lost in a loss.
May 12
Joe is back with his post-game thoughts….
Perhaps the most disturbing realization out of this heinous 5-3 Rays loss is that Baltimore looks like it won’t be taking its rightful place at the bottom of the AL East this season.
The Orioles sort of out-Rayed the Rays tonight, befuddling them with their defensive shifts and serving up superior pitching.
After five Rays errors, five, led to three unearned runs, Joe couldn’t bear to tune in to the mighty skipper’s talk after the game. There was no way to spin this defensive performance and more poor clutch hitting, and Joe didn’t want to hear Joe Maddon try.
Without going all negative, some congratulations are in order for Burke Badenhop’s three strikeouts in the eighth inning, Luke Scott’s two-out, two-run single that made it a ballgame, and for Elliot Johnson hustling out an infield hit on a pretty routine grounder to third. But the sad thing is it feels like Johnson is one of only a few Rays who still believe in running hard to first.
For those keeping score, it’s now a 5-6 record without Evan Longoria.
May 10
Joe is back with his post-game thoughts….
Joe has nothing against David Price. But one of the most talented pitchers in baseball sometimes is a big tease. Just when Joe thinks the guy has turned the corner to be a dominant starter, Joe is quickly slapped in the face just like some hottie at Hooters does on a regular basis.
Price is simply not a big-game pitcher. Not yet. When the Rays really, really, really need him to be a lockdown stopper, he comes up short.
Sure, against the Oaklands of the world Price looks like the second coming of Steve Carlton. Tonight when the Rays sorely needed a win in Gotham to lock up a series win … blech.
A pair of homers did Price and the Rays in tonight. And 11 hits in seven innings? That’s not the stuff of an ace.
Until Price can regularly lock up opponents’ bats, and bats of strong teams like the Yankees, he will be no better than the Rays’ No. 3 pitcher behind Big Game Shields and Hellboy.
