Our correspondent Jordi Scrubbings was at the game last night. Here is his report. You can also here Jordi tonight on “The Sully Baseball Show” which can be heard HERE…
When I was a younger, I rooted heart and soul for the New York Mets. My dad was a Mets fan and I followed in his footsteps. One of my fondest memories of my dad and I’s shared fandom was when Mookie Wilson’s grounder rolled through Bill Buckner’s legs in Game 6 of the World Series. Being young and skinny, my dad gave me a big hug and swung my around the living room. Although I was a happy new fan, he was overjoyed. The Mets lived to see another day.
Here I am today the roughly same age my dad was in 1986. The Rays have in many ways replaced the Mets as my true heart’s desire. The Mets are my first fan love and I will never forget them, but since 2007 day-in and day-out I’ve ridden with the Rays.
With the Rays win last night, coupled with some late-inning heroics from the Red Sox in their night-cap against the Yankees, the Rays and Yankees are now tied at 95-66 with one game to go. With the Rays holding the tie-breaker over the Yankees, that means the Rays will win the AL East with either a win over the Royals or a Yankees loss to the Red Sox this afternoon.
And if the Rays do win the division, they would also clinch home-field advantage in the American League. With the Rays holding the tie-breaker and a 1-game lead over the Twins, the Rays win last night eliminated the Twins from contention for the #1 seed.
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: Rays Clinch Tie. Sure we would have rather seen the Yankees lose putting the Rays closer to a division title. But no matter who lost, one of the Rays’ magic numbers was going down. And with the Sox losing, The Rays have clinched at least a tie for the Wild Card. A win today at home versus Baltimore or a Red Sox loss at the White Sox and the Rays are officially in the playoffs…Desmond Jennings. This just in, he’s fast. Jennings hit the first of what will likely be many triples for the Rays. That drove in a run. He also walked.
THE BAD: James Shields. Yes, James Shields leads the AL in home runs allowed. But Josh Wilson? C’mon Jimmy. It was just Wilson’s 2nd home run of the season and just his 7th home run in 290 career games.
THE TELLING: Rocco Baldelli started in RF for the second time. Also, Carl Crawford and Ben Zobrist were given the day off…The Rays’ magic number to clinch the division remains 6…According to CoolStandings.com the Rays have an 80.2% chance of winning the division.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 93-62, a half-game ahead of the Yankees and 7 games ahead of the Red Sox. After 155 games in 2008, the Rays were 93-62.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
James Shields talks about his latest poor performance (Video). [The Heater]
Dan Wheeler has been better since Joe Maddon has been getting him more regular work. [St. Pete Times]
With the Rays win tonight over the Mariners, Tampa Bay’s magic number to clinch a playoff spot is now 3. And with the Red Sox win over the Yankees, the Rays are now back in first place by a half-game. They are also tied with the Twins for the best record in the American League. With their tie-breaker over the Twins, the Rays would have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
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: Red Sox Loss. Another loss by the Red Sox and the Rays magic number is now 6 to clinch a playoff spot.
THE BAD: Pitching. We always say it. Winning is about 3 things: Pitching, pitching and pitching. And if things don’t change soon, this is going to be a very quick and a very ugly postseason for the Rays. The starting pitchers have a 5.30 ERA in September. They have only had one other month this season with an ERA over 4.00 (4.42 in June). And just for good measure, the relievers have had their worst month of the season also with a 4.84 ERA.
THE TELLING: Carl Crawford has reached base via catcher’s interference six time this season.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 89-61, 2.5 games behind the Yankees in the East and 6.5 games ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card. After 150 games in 2008, the Rays were 90-60.
The Rays lost (again), but our good friends to the north, the New York Roadkills put up a 19-spot on the Boston Pink Hats.
With Boston’s loss, the Tampa Bay Rays have done the impossible…The 2008 Tampa Bay Rays are the champions of the AL East.
First of all…congratulations to every member of the Tampa Bay Rays. From the lowest scout, all the way to Andrew Friedman, Matt Silverman, Gerry Hunsicker and Stuart Sternberg…congrats. You guys earned it.
And Thank You. From the bottom of our hearts. Thank you. To everybody. You guys did it! We are drinking champagne tonight. And we drink it in your honor. Thank You.
The Red Sox won at home against Cliff Lee and the Indians, but the Rays took both end of a double-header against the Orioles, reducing the magic number by 2.
Yes RAYSHEADS, the magic number is now 2 to complete the impossible and win the AL East, finishing ahead of both the Red Sox and Yankees.
Of course, the best news is the New York Yankees have now been officially eliminated from playoff contention. Yes. The Yankees are officially Roadkill.
Lots of goodness tonight…No walk-off heroics. An easy win despite David Ortiz hitting a ball that may or may not be floating in the Bay right now. And in case they didn’t notice, grab the nearest Pink Sox fan and remind them that the Rays have now won 4 of the last 5 between the two teams. And with the Twins loss in Cleveland, two more notches come off the magic number to clinch at least a Wild Card.
Yes RAYSHEADS, the Magic Number is now 3 to clinch a playoff spot.
In other words, even if the Twins win their last 10 games, the Rays would only have to finish 3-9 in their last 12 games to clinch a playoff spot.
On top of that, tonight’s win won the season series with the Red Sox 10-8. Now, if the Rays and Red Sox tie for the division lead at the end of the season, the Rays win the tie-breaker. So, in essence, tonight’s win took 3 off the magic number to win the division, which is now 9.
The Rays can clinch at least a Wild Card spot as early as this Friday.
Our correspondent Jordi Scrubbings was at the game last night. Here is his report. You can also here Jordi tonight on “The Sully Baseball Show” which can be heard HERE…
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
