Rays Blog

This was pretty ugly, and you wonder why Fossum was left in there for so long.  His already high ERA is even higher after giving up nine runs on nine hits and three walks in five innings.  The pen didn’t fare much better as Ruddy Lugo was hammered for three run in two innings of relief.

Jonny Gomes drove in two of the Rays three runs in the 12-5 loss.  Elijah Dukes went three for five and B.J. Upton finished with three hits and three runs.

Scott Kazmir throws tomorrow in the rubber game.  I like our chances in the finale.

The Devil Rays took their series against the A’s and they did it behind a great start by Scott Kazmir.  He gave up just two runs on six hits and two walks with one strikeout in seven innings.  The win pushed him to 2-1 on the season.

The Devil Rays scored all of their runs via the long ball.  B.J. Upton hit a three run shot and Elijas Dukes and Rocco Baldelli each hit solo shots in the 5-3 win.  Carl Crawford also had a nice game and despite not getting a hit, he drew three walks and he scored a run.

Next up is three against the Twins.  Edwin Jackson gets the start in the opener on Tuesday.

James Shields threw eight great innings yesterday as the Devil Rays took care of the A’s 4-1.  He gave up just four hits with one walks and he struck out nine and the win improved his record to 2-0.

B.J. Upton was the only Devil Ray with two hits and he drove in one of the four runs.  Carl Crawford just about did it all.  He doubled, drew a walk, scored a run and drove in one run.

The Rays are out of the cellar so that’s some consolation.  Casey Fossum will try to make it two in a row this afternoon in an late afternoon game.

I’m not sure what’s worse, 9-1 or 11-3.  Either way, Jae Seo was pounded for six runs and he was gone before the second inning was finished.  Gary Glover was also hit hard and he gave up five runs in 2 2/3 innings.

Carlos Pena provided most of the offense for the Devil Rays.  He finished with two hits and one of them was a two run shot.  Rocco Baldelli also had a nice game and he was two for two.

Next up is three against Oakland as the Devil Rays continue their little west coast swing and hopefully this weekend goes better then this later part of the week.

Edwin Jackson dropped to 0-3 yesterday in the Devil Rays 9-1 blowout loss.  He gave up six runs (three earned) on eight hits and a walk with four strikeouts in six innings.  Juan Salas had a tough time as well and he gave up three unearned runs in the seventh to match what Edwin Jackson gave up that inning.

Delmon Young drove in the only run of the game for the Devil Rays.  He singled home Carl Crawford in the sixth inning.  Young finished with three of Devil Rays eight hits in the game.

The finale is this afternoon.  Jae Seo will matchup with former Cy Young winner Bartolo Colon.  That’s going to be a tough game to pull out to avoid the sweep.

Normally, a trip to Fenway doesn’t cure any ailments but the Jays went to Boston and swept the Red Sox on their home turf in a quick three game series. And unlike the previous week, the Jays got both some nice hitting and some solid pitching.

Frank Thomas and Vernon Wells were the stars in the Monday’s 7-3 win. Thomas went yard and drove in two runs while Wells had two hits, a walk and three runs. Tomo Okha picked up his first win as a Blue Jay and he gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits and three walks with four strikeouts in five innings.

Tonight, it was Roy Halladay who got a ton of run support in the Jays 10-3 win. Halladay was touched up for three runs early, but he buckled down and struck out ten and pitched eight innings to pick up his third win. Vernon Wells had a huge day at the plate. He went four for five with a homerun, three RBIs and four runs.

Next up is two games at Yankee Stadium against the struggling Yankees. It’ll be A.J. Burnett against the Andy Pettitte tomorrow.

There, Rays fans don’t get to use the words sweep and Yankees in the same sentence to much and even though it was just two games, a sweep is a sweep.

Today, Carl Crawford had the big hit.  His first career grand slam in the seventh inning turned a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 lead as the Rays finished off the Yankees today 6-4.  Crawford finished with four hits and two runs to go along with the four RBIs from the slam. 

Scott Kazmir had a nice start and had he gotten just one more batter out, he would have picked up the win.  He gave up three runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.  Juan Salas picked up the win and Al Reyes saved it with a shutout ninth.

The Rays are now out of the cellar because the two wins pushed them a half game ahead of the Yankees.  Now the Devil Rays have to hop on a plane for a two game series in Anaheim against the Angels.  Edwin Jackson gets the nod in the series opener tomorrow.

The bad news in this one is the Devil Rays gave up eight runs to the Yankees.  The good news is, the Rays got their sticks working and picked up ten runs themselves to win it 10-8.  Rocco Baldelli hit a big three run homer and Akinori Iwamura had two hits, two walks and three runs.  B.J. Upton led the way though and he homered and drove in four runs.

Casey Fossum actually picked up the win in this one despite a mediocre start.  He gave up six runs on ten hits and a walk with two strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.  Al Reyes gave up two runs in the ninth but he was given a four run cushion so there was no blown save.

Scott Kazmir gets the start tonight and he’ll throw against Chien-Ming Wang in his season debut.  Hopefully the Rays hitters can give him a proper home coming.

James Shields really it done today. He gave up two runs on just two hits and a walk with an impressive 12 strikeouts in eight innings of work.  Unfortunately, he was taken out and Brian Stokes imploded to blow the game.  He gave up four runs in the ninth and a 4-2 lead turned into a 6-4 loss.

Carlos Pena hit his third homerun of the season.  In all, the Rays picked up just five hits and other then Pena’s homerun, the rest were singles.

So the series loss drops the Rays to 7-11 and they’re in last place in the AL East.  Next up is a two game series against the Yankees.  Casey Fossum will have the unenviable task of trying to hold back that Yankees lineup in the opener tomorrow.

Jae Seo was handed a 5-2 lead and despite blowing it, the Devil Rays still walked away with the win.  The big hit was a sixth inning RBI ground out by Ben Zobrist that made it 6-5 and that turned out to be the game winner.  Zobrist finished with two RBIs and Ty Wigginton, B.J. Upton and Delmon Young each scored two times in the win.

Seo actually picked up the win despite giving up five runs in six innings.  Four relievers held the Indians scoreless in the final three frames with Al Reyes finishing it out and picking up his sixth save of the season.

James Shields gets the start tomorrow and he’ll lock up with Jake Westbrook in the rubber game.  A win would push the Rays to 8-10, which while not great, is something I would have probably taken had I been asked at the open of the season.