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: David Price. There was a time when David Price couldn’t hit 96 with one pitch. But last night, his 100th pitch was 96 mph. That was just the most obvious example of how Price got stronger as the night moved along. It started with 2 walks in the first, in which 10 of his 19 pitches were out of the zone. But in the next 7 innings, he threw only 20 balls…Ralph Soriano. He didn’t have the good stuff to start the 9th. Of his first 11 pitches, only 1 was greater than 93 mph. The 11th pitch was smacked for a 1-out triple. But then MFIKY found an extra gear. The next 10 pitches were 94-96 as he fought back to retire the last 2 batters and seal the win.

THE BAD: New Faces. Joe Maddon decided to go with his triple-A lineup, by throwing Dioner Navarro, Brad Hawpe and Desmond Jennings straight into the mix. It was a rough night, as the trio went a combined 1-10 with 6 strikeouts, leaving 9 runners on base. Brad Hawpe went 0-4 with 4 strikeouts, including a curious situation in which Joe Maddon left Hawpe in with 2 outs in the 8th and the bases loaded against a lefty.

THE TELLING: Grant Balfour was activated from the DL…According to CoolStandings.com the Rays have a 98.3% shot at the playoffs. The Red Sox are at 2.7%.

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 82-51, 1 game behind the Yankees and 7 games ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card. After 133 games in 2008, the Rays were 82-51.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Joe Maddon on why the game-ending flyball was able to be caught by Carl Crawford: “I thought it was going to hit a catwalk…and because I think the building and I have made up since my last outburst…and for that reason alone, the ball avoided something.” [Sun Sports]
• Matt Moore is the first minor leaguer to strikeout 200 batters in a season since Francisco Liriano in 2005. [MiLB]
• Seth Livingstone points to Read the rest of this entry »

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: Magic Numbers. The Rays lost, and looked bad doing it. But the good news is, the Red Sox lost also, lowering the Rays’ magic number to 24 with 30 to play.

THE BAD: Jeff Niemann. Things looked promising for the first 5 innings. It looked as though maybe Niemann shed the rust that plagued him in his first start back from the DL. But then the 6th inning happened. Niemann faced 6 batters in the 6th and retired none of them. All 6 would eventually score…Over-Aggressive. Dan Johnson’s double in the 5th gave the Rays a 3-1 lead. But with 2 outs, we still have no idea why he decided to stretch the double into a triple, considering Johnson was rounding second just as Aaron Hill fielded the relay about 20 feet in front of Johnson (Ben Zobrist was going to score easily).

THE TELLING: Andy Sonnanstine was demoted to short-season Hudson Valley to make room for Brad Hawpe. Since the Renegades’ season ends Sunday, the Rays won’t have to wait 10 days to bring him back…Grant Balfour will throw a simulated game today…Stephen Vogt, Matt Moore, Joe Cruz and Zach Quate were named to the FSL post-season All-Star team…Elliot Johnson joins Dan Johnson and Jeremy Hellickson on the IL post-season All-Star team.

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 81-51, 1 game behind the Yankees in the East and 7 games ahead of the Red Sox in the AL East. After 132 games in 2008, the Rays were 81-51.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Joe Maddon on what went wrong with Jeff Niemann (Video). [Sun Sports]
• Matt Bush will have surgery on a nerve in his throwing arm. The move will require 6 weeks of rehab. [St. Pete Times]
• A scout on Jeremy Hellickson: “Minnesota, or whatever team they get [in the playoffs], would much rather see the kid [in the bullpen] than the prospect of seeing him start in a short series.” [SI.com]
• Peter Gammons is at it again. This time saying
  Read the rest of this entry »

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: Carlos Pena. This offense is different just when Carlos Pena is in it, whether or not he is hitting. He is that threatening presence that nobody else provides. But the Rays offense can be scary-good when Pena is clicking. And you know The Crime Cat is clicking when he is smacking oppo-field blasts like his 3-run home run Monday night…Wade Davis. Big Dub is now 5-0 in 6 starts since the All-Star break. And for just the third time this season he worked into the 8th inning, giving up just 2 runs in 7.2 innings…Chad Qualls. With the tying runners on and 2 outs in the 8th, Qualls came in to face Jose Bautista and his 42 home runs. Qualls got him to strike out swinging on a slider to end the Jays last threat.

THE BAD: Attendance. We hate pointing it out, but 11,968 last night was just the third time this season the Rays failed to crack 12,000. That’s not good…Official Scoring. Anybody else think that Carl Crawford was going to beat out that slow roller in the 3rd inning anyway? We thought it should have been a single, not an error. Nitpicking, but still…Randy Choate. You are absolutely right. It is not fair to put Choate in “The Bad” when he came in and retired both batters he faced. But c’mon, admit it. You were a little nervous with Choate in the game, even with a 4-run lead in the 9th. And that is not good. Jake McGee and/or RJ Swindle can’t get here fast enough.

THE TELLING: The Rays and Yankees have now been tied atop the East for 7 straight days and 12 days in August…The Rays magic number is now 25 with 31 to go…Matt Moore was named the FSL pitcher of the week…Alex Torres was named the Southern League pitcher of the week.

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are now 81-50, tied with the Yankees for first place in the AL East and 7 games ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card. After 131 games in 2008, the Rays were 80-51.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Wade Davis talks about last night’s effort. [The Heater]
• Did the Red Sox block the Rays from picking up catcher Mike Napoli from the Angels? [NESN]
• Noah Pransky feels the ugly situation Read the rest of this entry »

The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.

RAYS 5, RED SOX 3

THE GOOD: Red Sox Roadkill. According to CoolStandings.com the Red Sox still have a 6.2% shot at making the playoffs. That’s being generous. In reality, the Red Sox season ended this weekend. Dan Johnson put them on life-support and Carl Crawford and James Shields pulled the plug last night. Even if the Rays go just 16-16 in their final 32, the Red Sox would have to finish 22-9 just to tie. How unlikely is that? The Rays still have 13 games against the Orioles, the Mariners and the Royals. Meanwhile, the Red Sox still have 16 games against the Yankees, White Sox and Rays. Yes, it is safe to say, the Red Sox are roadkill…Dan Johnson. It was shades of 2008. DJ just knows how to raise his game against the Red Sox when the Rays need it more. And now, 3 of his 4 home runs in a Rays uniform have come against the Red Sox. Let’s just hope that he doesn’t turn back into a pumpkin until after next week’s series in Fenway…BJ Upton. He was 0-4 last night, but we didn’t want to go without mentioning his home run from Saturday night which has been overshadowed by Dan Johnson’s big blast. If not for Upton double-clutching and then crushing a Clay Buchholz curveball, Johnson may never get a chance to recreate his role as Red Sox killer. Upton now has 5 home runs in August. That is his biggest single month since October, 2008.

THE BAD: Attendance. There were only 23,438 tickets sold for last night’s game, and there were probably less than 20,000 in The Trop. Of course, much of that can be blamed on ESPN moving the game to 8pm on a school night. The rest can probably be blamed on bandwagon Red Sox fans that have never even been to Boston and have now jumped ship.

THE TELLING: Carl Crawford is just the 8th big leaguer with 100 home runs, 100 triples and 400 steals…Yesterday was James Shields’ 145th career start and 56th career win. Both broke Scott Kazmir’s franchise records…The Charlotte Stone Crabs extended their minor league affiliation with the Rays through the 2012 season…Catcher Nevin Ashley was promoted to Durham.

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 80-50, tied with the Yankees for first place in the AL East. They are 6.5 games ahead of the Red Sox in the wild card (7 in the loss column). After 130 games in 2008, the Rays were 79-51.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• We are traveling today. RI will return a normal schedule tomorrow.
• Dan Johnson talks about his walk-off home run Saturday Night (Video). [The Heater]
• Here is video of Dan Johnson getting the shaving pie treatment after is big blast on Saturday night (Video). [Sun Sports]
• Durham pitching coach Xavier Hernandez will join Houston Baptist University next season as an assistant coach. Hernandez had previously coached at HBU. [Houston Baptist]
• The Biz of Baseball explains how the Rays are an example of how Read the rest of this entry »

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

Here is today’s GBT: Jeff Niemann suuuuucccckkkkked. Nothing else as we are making our last trip to The Trop before October. Unfortunately, my sister will be joining me. She was born in Boston, likes the Red Sox. Even has a tattoo. So if anybody wants to come join us in making fun of her…

THE TELLING: Jeremy Hellickson is scheduled to pitch in relief today for Charlotte…John Jaso played first base for the first time in the big leagues. He had previously played the position in the minors, but not since 2005.

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 78-49, tied with the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Both teams are 5.5 games ahead of the Red Sox (6 in the loss column). After 127 games in 2008, the Rays were 78-49.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• The Red Sox shuffled their rotation moving Jon Lester back to face the Rays on Friday. [NECN]
• Marc Topkin writes about John Jaso’s move to first base and the Red Sox playoff hopes. [St. Pete Times]
• Manny Ramirez went on waivers yesterday and now there is some speculation that Read the rest of this entry »

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: Wade Davis. You worry about a pitcher being rusty in their first start off the DL, especially if there was no rehab stint. Davis looked well-rested, hitting 95 with his fastball (92.4 mph avg). But as expected, he struggled with the touch on his breaking pitches, throwing only 9 of 19 for strikes and not getting any swinging strikes. Still, working into the 6th inning and giving up only 2 runs is a solid effort…Matt Joyce. He singled during the Rays 4-run rally in the second and his home run in the 6th may have been the final nail. It was just his 2nd home run in August after hitting 5 in July…Evan Longoria. As good as we have ever seen Dirtbag. Three more hits last night, including his 41st double and 19th home run. He now has 10 extra-base hits in the last 8 games, including 4 home runs. A lot of guys would be happy just to get 10 hits.

THE BAD: Something To Prove. Joe Maddon was ejected for the 15th time in his career. It was his 6th in 37 career games against his former team, the Angels. In other words, he is ejected once every 6 games versus LA, and once every 82 games (9 ejections in 736 games) against everybody else. That is not a random deviation.

THE TELLING: Dale Thayer was sent back to Durham to make room for Jeff Niemann who will start this afternoon…Joe Maddon’s ejection tied him with Larry Rothschild for the most ever by a (Devil) Rays manager (15)…According to CoolStandings.com, the Rays have a 95.3% chance of making the playoffs. That is greater than the Yankees (93.3%). The Red Sox are at 9.8%…If the Rays play .500 in their last 36, they will finish 96-66. The Red Sox would have to go 24-12 just to tie.

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 78-48, tied with the Yankees for first in the East, and 6 games ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card. After 126 games in 2008, the Rays were 77-49.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Wanna know why Evan Longoria grew a mullet. Watch this video. Apparently Longoria is supporting his buddy and fellow Long Beach State Dirtbag, Troy Tulowitzki. [MLB]
• The Dodgers still haven’t put Manny Ramirez on waivers, but Ken Rosenthal says the Rays
  Read the rest of this entry »

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: Follow MFIKY, He Knows The Way. Rafael Soriano came in a shut down the Angels 1-2-3 in the 9th for his 38th save. But even more impressive was how he did it. 9 pitches. 3 strikeouts. He is the first pitcher to accomplish that feat this season…Bossman. BJ Upton stepped up to the plate against the guy that was his best friend on the Rays, Scott Kazmir. Upton didn’t waste any time, hitting the first pitch of the game for a home run…James the Better. Two runs and 8 hits got his pitch count up there (103) and he had to be pulled after 6 innings. But he did have his good stuff at times striking out 10 and walking just 1. His changeup spent a little too much time in the strikezone (20 of 25) but he did get 4 swinging strikes on the change. And that is what he needs to be successful…Chasing 95. The Rays now need only go 18-19 in their final 37 games to reach 95 wins. In the Wild Card era, every AL team that has won at least 95 games, went on to the playoffs.

THE BAD: Letting Kazmir Off The Hook. Once again the bats went cold. After getting 3 runs off of Scott Kazmir in the first, the Rays let the Angels off the hook, allowing Kaz to work into the 6th inning. In the Rays last 25 plate appearances, the Rays went 1-21 with 4 walks.

THE TELLING: The Rays magic number is 32 with 37 left to play…Mike Ekstrom was sent back to the minors to make room for Wade Davis who will start tonight…Evan Longoria was named AL Co-Player of the Week, sharing the award with Robinson Cano….For the first time this season, Joe Maddon used the same lineup for the 3rd consecutive game…Look for Manny Ramirez to be placed on waivers today by the Dodgers.

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 77-48, tied with the Yankees for first place in the AL East. They are 5.5 games ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card (6 in the loss column). After 125 games in 2008, the Rays were 77-48.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Johnny Damon was claimed off waivers by the Red Sox, blocking the Rays from making a claim. But Damon does have a no-trade clause to Boston and is still deciding whether to accept the move. [The Heater]
• The best question to arise from the leaked MLB financial documents is: Read the rest of this entry »

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: Matt Garza continues to roll, holding the A’s to 1 run in 7.2 innings. It was the the 5th time in his last 8 starts that Garza allowed 0 or 1 run. His ERA since the All-Star break is 2.66…Evan Longoria. Dirtbag is doing what great players are supposed to do. He has picked this team up and is carrying them to October. His 2-run double in the 6th broke a 1-1 tie. It was his 8th extra-base hit in the last 6 games.

THE BAD: Ben Zobrist. Another 0-4 including a strikeout with one out and a runner on base and an inning-ending double-play in the 4th. He is hitting just .175 in the second-half (.308 OBP).

THE TELLING: As expected, Jeremy Hellickson was sent back to the minors (single-A Charlotte). He was replaced by Dale Thayer. Hellickson will work out of the bullpen in anticipation of returning to the Rays next week…Wade Davis will start tomorrow and Jeff Niemann will start Wednesday…Jake McGee picked up his first career save for the Durham Bulls. McGee is likely to be a September addition to the bullpen and many consider him a closer-in-waiting…The Durham Bulls clinched the South Division title this weekend…According to CoolStandings.com the Rays have a 93.3% chance of making the playoffs. The Red Sox are at 10.5%.

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 76-48, 1 game behind the Yankees and 5.5 games ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card (6 games in the loss column). After 124 games in 2008, the Rays were 76-48.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Manny Ramirez came off the DL on Saturday. This is important because he can only be traded if he is exposed to waivers. And he can only be exposed to waivers if he is on the active roster…Marc Topkin examines the Rays interest in Manny. [St. Pete Times]
• Evan Longoria discusses yesterday’s game (Video). [The Heater]
• Former Rays manager Lou Piniella retired after 23 seasons as a manager. [Chicago Tribune]
• In happier news, Vin Scully will return next year to the Dodgers broadcast booth. We have said this before, but other than being able to see the Rays anywhere we are, the best part of the baseball TV packages is that Vin Scully tells us a bedtime story every night. [Bright House Sports]
• The Rays spent the 7th most ($21.1 million) on Read the rest of this entry »

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: Hellboy IV. Tonight, the immovable object meets the unstoppable force. The Rays are 2-13 in their last 15 Friday games. But the Rays will send Jeremy Hellickson will take his 3-0 record to the mound. Great pitchers prevent losing streaks. It’s time for Hellboy to be great…Evan Longoria. Dirtbag continues to rake, picking up 2 more hits and his 17th home run. He now has 8 hits in the last 3 games and 17 in the last 10.

THE BAD: CooCoo Crisp. Damn we hate that guy. With 1 run already in and the Rays holding a 3-1 lead. Crisp robbed Matt Joyce of a 2-run home run that would have likely put the game out of reach…Going Cold. This offense sure picks some terrible times to go cold. After Oakland took the lead in the bottom of the 6th, BJ Upton led off the 7th with a single. Reid Brignac then swung at the first pitch without giving Upton a chance to steal second, and grounded into a double-play. Upton would end up being the Rays last baserunner…Dan Wheeler. We’re not going to rag on the guy too hard because usually he gets the job done. But you have to kinda expect the occasional implosion. You just hope those don’t cost the Rays wins. Last night it did…Dan Johnson. In 12 games, Johnson is now 4-35 (.114). He does have 14 walks which is nice. But we warned you not to get too excited.

THE TELLING: BJ Upton’s 10-game hitting streak matches a career-high…Jeff Niemann and Wade Davis will pitch in a simulated game today…Chad Qualls is absent from the team due to a death in the family…The Pepsi Refresh Project awarded the Rays a $5,000 grant for the Moffitt Cancer Center. The Twins won the big prize.

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 74-47, 1 game behind the Yankees and 5.5 games ahead of the Red Sox. After 121 games in 2008, the Rays were 74-47.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Brad Hawpe, a 2009 All-Star, will become a free agent on Monday. Ken Rosenthal lists the Rays as a potential landing spot. [Twitter]
• The Rays are not the only local team with attendance issues. [Joe Bucs Fan]
• Grant Balfour says he is Read the rest of this entry »

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: BJ Upton. Remember earlier in the year when we were all excited to see Bossman going the opposite way? And then we grew weary because he could no longer pull a good fastball? Well, it appears that Upton has fixed whatever problem Derek Shelton created with the oppo-approach. BJ went 2-4 with a walk including a no-doubt home run and a single. Both were to left field…Evan Longoria. Dirtbag is just crushing the ball right now. Yes, others are ahead of Longoria in the MVP discussion right now (eg Robinson Cano, Josh Hamilton) but MVPs are made in August and September. If Longoria can replicate a few more 3-4 with 2 doubles, a home run and 4 RBI games, and the Rays win the division, he will make himself a case for MVP votes…Pitching. The Rays did give up 11 runs in 3 games, but they held Josh Hamilton to 1 hit in 12 plate appearances. If the Rays do face the Rangers in the playoffs, they will have to beat Cliff Lee and keep Hamilton in check. This series gives the Rays a lot of hope…James Shields. It was nice to see the “Ace” of the staff pitch like one. 7 innings, only 1 run on 4 hits and a walk.

THE BAD: Lance Cormier. There is a reason he is the Rays “down 10-2 guy.” He shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a mound when the Rays are protecting a lead against a good offense. He faced 3 batters, walked 1 and gave up a 2-run home run. As a result, Joe Maddon had to go to Rafael Soriano on a day Soriano should have been given off. In addition, (correct us if we are wrong) but didn’t Soriano warm up earlier in the game? The only thing worse than having to work on an off-day is when your closer has to warm-up more than once.

THE TELLING: Elliot Johnson is now hitting .319 for Durham, good for second in the International League. He is also 5th with 25 stolen bases…Once again, Wade Davis and Jeff Niemann had successful bullpen sessions yesterday and appear on track to return next week…According to CoolStandings.com the Rays have a 91.4% chance of making the playoffs. That is higher than the Yankees (89.6%).

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 74-46, tied for first in the AL East and 5.5 games up on the Red Sox in the Wild Card (6 in the loss column). After 120 games in 2008, the Rays were 73-47.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• The Rays signed Ramon Ortiz to a minor league deal. Ortiz has played parts of 10 seasons in the big leagues, but hasn’t appeared on a big league roster since 2007. With the Durham Bulls losing three starting pitchers recently, this move may have just been about filling out their rotation. But certainly the Rays wouldn’t mind catching lightning in a bottle should the need arise. [MLB Trade Rumors]
• Evan Longoria talks about Read the rest of this entry »