Hello Tampa Bay Devil Rays

In the aftermath of one of the worst losses in franchise history, we are joining the cause over at Rays Index in no longer referring to this team as the Rays until they begin playing like the Rays. They are now (or have been) the Devil Rays. Tonight’s game is a true example of past Devil Ray teams. The offense scores a lot of runs early only to watch it disappear by terrible, terrible relief pitching. All too many times during the 2006 and 2007 campaigns have we seen such atrocities, which would force us to stop watching as soon as the starting pitcher is pulled just to save us the agony of witnessing such terrible pitching.

It isn’t only tonight’s game that has us doing this, it has been a season long trend, for instance the slow start in April. Now while the Devil Rays have played much better in May, they still haven’t put it all together to make a serious run. For example, last week when the Devil Rays took three of four from the Indians only to turn around and drop three of four to a last place Oakland team. Dan Wheeler has had a habit of giving up important runs and enough has already been said about Troy Percival.

Do we think the Devil Rays can shed the Devil? Absolutely, but until they prove it, they will be known as the Devil Rays.

*Disclaimer: we hear-by refuse to pay any fines inflicted.

Game 47: Rays 10 Indians 11

Why couldn't it have been anyone else? (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

In an absolute nightmare of a game, the Rays continue their losing ways in Cleveland. After getting out front and spotting starter David Price a 10-0 lead, the Indians scored 11 unanswered runs, nine coming the the final two innings. The bullpen imploded tonight and deserved the loss after tonight’s performance. Now we know why Rays Index has been referring this ballclub as the Devil Rays (don’t hold us to paying any foundations though) as the pitching was sadly reminiscent of the 2006/2007 squads. Off we go.

What Went Right:
The offense continues to produce and lead the Majors in runs scored. They also continue to grind out at bats and draw walks as they drew nine overall. Carlos Pena, Ben Zobrist, and Dioner Navarro led the way with two hits each as every starter except Evan Longoria and Willy Aybar had at least a hit and an RBI. Longoria did draw three walks though and Gabe Gross connected on his third homerun on the season in the third.

What Went Wrong:
Pitching. Pitching this season has been the big problem for the Rays as the starters continue to struggle and the bullpen stays streaky. However it all came undone tonight. David Price’s 2009 debut can’t be really labeled as a success even though he only gave up two runs on four hits and striking out six. The reason is that it took him 100 pitches to get through 3.1 innings and did issue five bases on balls. His inability to finish hitters is what did him in and it didn’t help that he struggled to get first pitch strikes. Of the 19 hitters Price faced, he was only able to get a first pitch strike on nine of them, a ratio he’ll have to improve if he hopes to go deeper in games.

Even if the Rays would have won, it still could have been considered a loss in the fact that Joe Maddon had to use seven pitchers in a game which the Rays led 10-0. While Price was unable to go deep thus forcing Maddon to break into the bullpen early, the last four men are what did them in. They combined for five walks and six earned runs. Dale Thayer was unable to close out a game with a six run lead, Randy Choate was the victim of a Reid Brignac throwing error, Grant Balfour left a fastball up to a fastball hungry power hitter, and Jason Isringhausen couldn’t throw a strike. The result: a lot of walks and a seven run rally.

Stat of the Night:
The Indians scored seven runs in the ninth…on three hits.

What’s Next:
The Rays will have to put this nightmare behind them especially the pitchers. They’ll need Matt Garza to go deep and the hitters will need to continue their patient approaches against Carl Pavano. Hopefully Jason Bartlett will be back and ready to go as well. I really don’t want to think about this game anymore so that’ll be all.

Box Score

Series Preview: Cleveland Indians

David Price makes his debut tonight. (A/P)

We are going to try something a little different for pre-games here at Trop Talk. Instead of a daily pre-game we are going to try series previews to see how that goes. Tell us if you like this style or would rather see the old daily pre-games by either leaving comments or reaching us through one of the contacts on the contact page.

So without further ado, lets take a look at the next opponent, the Cleveland Indians.

Daily Links

It has been a busy 24 hours for the Rays as we have had roster changes, new park issues, and Ben Zobrist. Read all about it.

Read about Kazmir, Percival down, Brignac, Thayer up

Read about Monday’s possible starter: David Price

Read about Troy Percival’s possible retirement

Read about Rays abandoning Al Lang site

See the proposed sites

Read the Tribune’s praise of the great Ben Zobrist

Read the Times’ praise

Game 43: Athletics 5, Rays 6

(AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

This is all you need to know about today’s game.

Other quick notes:
-Troy Percival sucks
-Dan Wheeler sucks
-Joe Nelson…..
-Dioner Navarro possibly back?
-B.J. Upton’s back
-Domes are awesome
-Jason Bartlett is on his way to St. Louis

Box Score

Game 42: Athletics 7, Rays 6

Our thoughts exactly. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Ryan Sweeney is a destroyer of worlds. Another awful Scott Kazmir start has the rays down big and yet, the offense battles back to possibly save his rear end. Down 7-6 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and Ben Zobrist on first, the hero from Kazmir’s last horrendous outing steps to the plate. B.J. Upton connects on a well hit ball to left-center where a ridiculously deep-playing Sweeney awaits. Here was my thought process, see if you can tell when the ball was caught: B.J.!!! HE DID IT AGAIN!…….No way…no way…no way…NO WAY C’MON ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? That was the transition of a sure RBI triple to an ESPN Top Play nominee.

Oh well, that’s baseball. The Rays have only themselves to blame, or more specifically Kazmir. Although one could find fault in Aki Iwamura trying to tag on a very shallow fly ball Fernando Perez style. Oh well, it was good to see Carlos Pena mash, Willy Aybar get hot and the bullpen look good again (for the most part). Keeping it short today as I get ready to make my way out to Tropicana Field this afternoon. A loss here would be serious regression as the Rays would drop three of four to a last place team after taking three of four from another last place team.

Box Score

Line-Up

Upton, cf
Crawford, lf
Longoria, 3b
Pena, 1b
Bartlett, ss
Aybar, dh
Iwamura, 2b
Kapler, rf
Navarro, c
Kazmir, p

Can we get are super utility king of all Zorilla on the field please?

Rays Take Three Of Four From Tribe For The First Time

Iwamura slides past Martinez for the winning run. (AP Photo/Reinhold Matay)

Things are starting to look up in Tampa Bay. The Rays had been fairly inconsistent through the first few months and had to deal with Indians, who have dominated the Devil Rays/Rays since it’s inception (60-28 Cleveland advantage coming into the series). After a crappy James Shields start and loss, Scott Kazmir followed suit and had his team down seven. Then we witnessed the largest comeback in franchise history, followed by a vintage win yesterday with good pitching and timely hitting. Tampa Bay needed a victory today to take the series from Cleveland, and to pull within a game of .500. They got just that with a complete team effort.

Instead of doing our usual breakdown, let’s take a look at how the Rays are starting to turn it around. It all starts with the resurgence of B.J. Upton. Although he only went 4-16 in the series, he was vital in getting on base and putting himself in scoring position, stealing five bases. His steal in game one when the Rays were down nine, sparked a rally that made the game respectable (and also awarded him two brushback pitches from Kerry Wood today). Then his three hits on Friday capped the great comeback, including his first homerun of the season which was the game winner. Upton followed up with another homer on Saturday and walked and scored today in the first to get the Rays on the board early. Bossman is starting to catch up to those fastballs and you can see him starting to swing the bat with more authority. Add his ability to walk and steal bases and there should be a growing fear around the league.

Game 36: Indians 11, Rays 7

The Tribe bashed the Rays staff for 18 hits. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

The Rays drop the opening game of this eight-game homestand to the Cleveland Indians. James Shields couldn’t get out of trouble, the defense had a costly error and the offense couldn’t catch up. With the loss, Tampa Bay is tied with the Orioles for most losses in the division but remain two games ahead in the wins column. Let’s take a quick look.

What Went Right:
The offense hit the ball fairly hard all night, often times though right at a fielder. They weren’t able to break through until the sixth inning, but it wasn’t enough. Gabe Gross went 2-4 with an RBI and Ben Zobrist had a three-run homer but that would be the closest they would get.

What Went Wrong:
The pitching. James Shields gave up ten hits but only two earned runs. With the score 2-0 in the fifth and two outs, Shields induced a grounder to second that appeared to be the third out but the ball was booted by Akinori Iwamura. Then Shields would surrender back to back doubles, a walk, and an infield hit to score three runs and essentially end his night. We know it’s tough on a pitcher when the defense gives the opposition extra outs, but it happens and there’s really no excuse for the onslaught that ensued, Shields simply didn’t execute his pitches.

The bullpen didn’t help much either as Joe Nelson couldn’t get out of the sixth giving up four more runs and Grant Balfour was tagged for two more.

What’s Next:
Scott Kazmir (4-3, 5.92) will look to get the Rays back on track as he faces Anthony Reyes (1-1, 7.20). Hopefully all that cotton candy Kazmir downed in Baltimore won’t effect him tomorrow. Look for the return of Carl Crawford and possibly Pat Burrell, however it’ll be interesting especially with Willy Aybar starting to heat up.

Box Score

One Big Mashup

We’re a little behind schedule so here’s last night’s thoughts, today’s preview, daily links, and lineups all in one post. Don’t get used to it.

I couldn’t catch much of last night’s game, but it seemed pretty typical. Carlos Pena had a good day at the plate, along with B.J. Upton who had three hits. The story offensively was Jason Bartlett who is the best hitter in the bottom three of any order. Barty continues to mash and hit his fifth homerun of the season in his first at bat. Let the debate for J.B. leading off over Upton continue.

Jeff Niemann had a typical start, going five innings and working in and out of trouble all night. And Troy Percival also had a typical night for himself which is giving up a lot of runs quickly and efficiently: that’s four runs, on four hits and two jacks on 19 pitches. Luckily the Rays were up by a good amount and were able to escape Baltimore with a W (as sad as that sounds).