Rays Blog

The Tampa Bay Rays ran into a buzz saw last night in AJ Burnett.  The Blue Jays hurler absolutely shut down the Rays offense and helped lead the Jays to a 3-1 over their AL East rival.  The Rays record is now 61-44.

James Shields started for the Rays and pitched pretty well, even though he ended up with a loss.  Shields lasted 7.1 innings and gave up three earned runs.  Shields showed off his trademark control as he allowed only five hits and walked no one.  Shields is now 9-7 this season.

The Rays took the lead early in the third inning on a Carlos Pena ground out.  It would be their only run of the game.  Burnett went seven innings and struck out 10 batters.  Akinori Iwamura, BJ Upton, and Carl Crawford all struck out twice.  Every Rays starts struck out at least once except for Eric Hinske and Jason Bartlett.

The Rays and Jays will play again on Tuesday night in Toronto.  Game time is 7:07pm.  Matt Garza is scheduled to start for Tampa Bay.

After splitting the first two games with the Royals the Rays split the last two games of the series as well.  They won on Saturday 5-3 but fell victim to the Royals pitching on Sunday 6-1.  The Rays are barely holding onto first place in the AL East and have a record of 61-43.

The Rays got a decent start on Saturday from All Star Scott Kazmir.  Kazmir didn’t factor in the decision as he lasted only five innings.  He gave up only two runs and struck out five batters.  However, he needed 91 pitches to get through the five innings.  Al Reyes got the win for throwing a scoreless seventh inning.  Troy Percival gave up a run in the ninth but still picked up his twenty-second save.  Tampa Bay got two hits each from Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena.  Crawford’s two hits were both triples and Pena smacked a home run.

Andy Sonnanstine pitched on Sunday and took the loss.  Sonnanstine went deep into the seventh inning and went 6.2 innings.  However, Sonnanstine gave up five runs and got hit with the loss.  The Rays only run came in the sixth inning on a Carl Crawford single.  Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena each had two hits for the Rays.

The Rays will start a series on Monday night against the Toronto Blue Jays.  James Shields is going to start for the Rays.  Game time is 7:07pm.

The Rays responded from their latest loss to the Royals with an impressive win on Friday night.  Tampa Bay got a few run in the ninth inning and got a strong pitching performance from Edwin Jackson as they won 5-3.  They are now 60-42.

Edwin Jackson made one of his better starts of the season, even though it was a bit short.  Jackson lasted only five innings but gave up only two hits.  Both hits surrendered were solo home runs.  Jackson got the win and upped his record to 6-7.  Grant Balfour and Dan Wheeler were terrific in relief.  Troy Percival gave up a run in ninth inning but still picked up his 21st save.

The Rays were up 3-2 heading into the ninth inning with help from a RBI single from Evan Longoria and a BJ Upton sac fly.  In the top of ninth with the score 3-2, Carlos Pena crushed a two run homer to give the Rays some breathing room.  Akinori Iwamura and Dioner Navarro each had two hits.

The Royals and Rays will play again on Saturday night.  Scott Kazmir is set to start for the Rays.  Game time is 7:10 pm.

The Tampa Bay Rays continued to struggle on Thursday night.  They lost to the hapless Kansas City Royals 4-2.  The Rays record has now fallen to 59-42.

Matt Garza started on the mound and really struggled.  He lasted only five innings and allowed 12 base runners (8 hits, 4 walks) and gave up all four runs.  The bullpen helped keep things close as they worked three innings of scoreless ball.

The Rays were down 4-0 in the 8th inning until BJ Upton plated Jason Bartlett on a ground out.  In the ninth inning Cliff Floyd hit a sacrifice fly to score the second run of the game.  Jason Bartlett went 3-3 from the ninth spot and Evan Longoria added two more hits.  Sadly, the rest of the team combined for only three more hits.

The Rays will look for some revenge on Friday night in game two of the series.  Edwin Jackson is scheduled to start for Tampa.  Game time is 8:10pm.

The Tampa Bay Rays split their last two home games with the Oakland Athletics.  Even though the A’s have traded off some main pieces they remain a very competitive team.  The Rays lost on Tuesday 8-1 but responded with a 4-3 win on Wednesday afternoon.  The Rays are now 59-41 through 100 games.

Andy Sonnanstine started on Tuesday and actually pitcher much better than the final score shows.  He did take the loss, however.  Sonnanstine lasted seven innings and gave up only three runs.  Trever Miller came on in the 8th and coughed up three runs, a pair of another relievers gave up two more runs as the game out of hand.  The Rays actually had a brief lead.  Carlos Pena hit a sacrifice fly in the third to give the Rays a 1-0 lead.  Carl Crawford led the way for the Rays with two hits.  Not a single Tampa player had an extra base hit.

James Shields got the start on Wednesday afternoon and pitched very well.  Shields pitched into the ninth inning and lasted 8.1 innings before getting pulled.  Shields was charged with all three Oakland runs and struck out seven batters.  Troy Percival got the last two outs of the game to pick up his twentieth save of the season.  The A’s had an early 2-0 lead in this game before the Rays came charging back.  They got two runs in the fifth on a Jonny Gomes two run homer.  Ben Zobrist gave the Rays the lead in the fifth on a solo home run and tacked on an RBI single in the seventh.

The Rays will now hit the road to play the Kansas City Royals on Thursday.  Matt Garza is scheduled to start on the mound.  Game time is 8:10pm.

Scott Kazmir showed no ill signs after pitching in last weeks All Star game even though he wasn’t scheduled to.  Kazmir and the Rays pen held the A’s to only two hits as they won on Monday night, 4-0.  The Rays record is now 58-40.

Kazmir was the story for the Rays on Monday.  He lasted seven strong innings and gave up two hits while walking four batters.  However, he did miss a lot of bats as he struck out nine batters.  Kazmir bumped his record up to 8-5.  Grant Balfour and JP Howell each threw an inning to wrap things up.

Evan Longoria and Akinori Iwamura each singled in a run.  While Longoria and Wily Aybar each added solo home runs.  Aybar’s HR was his fourth while Longoria’s was his 19th blast of his impressive rookie season.

The Rays and A’s will play again on Tuesday night.  Andy Sonnanstine will start for the Rays.  Game time is 7:10pm.

After two straight wins, the Tampa Bay Rays lost in Toronto to the Blue Jays.  The Rays couldn’t keep the Jays off the board and struggled to get much going themselves.  The 9-4 loss drops Tampa Bay to 57-40.

Edwin Jackson started for Tampa Bay and took the loss. He lasted only 4.1 innings and gave up eight hits and six earned runs.  He coughed up two home runs and walked a couple of batters as his record dropped to 5-7 on the season.  Troy Percival returned from injury and threw a scoreless ninth inning.

The Rays took a 4-3 lead in the third inning on a Carlos Pena solo home run.  Evan Longoria also hit a solo shot in the third inning, his 18th homer of the season.  Even though they had a brief 4-3 lead, the Rays offense could manage only six hits all game.

The Rays will stay in Tampa as they start a series with the Oakland Athletics on Monday night.  Scott Kazmir is scheduled to start for the Rays.  Game time is 7:10pm.

The Tampa Bay Rays are trying to put their recent seven game losing streak well behind them.  Two straight wins in Toronto will help them with that.  The Rays won their second straight game in Toronto on Saturday by the score of 6-4.  The Rays are now 57-39 this season.

Matt Garza started for the Rays and got his 8th win of the season as he was dominant.  Garza went 7.2 innings and gave up only two hits as he allowed zero runs.  He also struck out six and walked no one.  This was one of Garza’s better starts of the season.  Trever Miller and Al Reyes each gave up two runs to help make things interesting late in the game.  Dan Wheeler got the last two outs of the ninth inning to pick up his fourth save of the season.

The Rays didn’t get on the board until the sixth inning, but then they really piled on the runs.  After a Carlos Pena single scored a run, Evan Longoria hit a grand slam off of Roy Halladay and the Rays were up 5-0.  Cliff Floyd added a solo shot in the 8th to put the Rays up 6-0.  Floyd’s HR was his seventh of the season while Longoria’s was his 17th.

The Rays and Jays will finish up their series this afternoon in Toronto.  Edwin Jackson will start on the mound for the Rays.  Game time is 1:40pm.

The Tampa Bay Rays broke their seven game losing streak by defeating the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.  The win put the Rays back in first place in the American League East after they lost the lead right before the All Star Break.  The 2-1 win moved the Rays to 56-39 on the season.

James Shields started for the Rays and was very sharp as he picked up the victory.  Shields lasted seven innings and gave up only one earned run.  He struck out four batters while walking two and allowing only four hits.  Shields is now 8-6 this season.  Grant Balfour came on in the eighth inning with two outs and got the final four outs of the game, striking out three batters.  He has four saves on the year.

The Rays batters could not figure out the Blue Jays starter, AJ Burnett.  They got both of their runs in the seventh inning on a two run homer from Ben Zobrist.  Akinoria Iwamura was the only Rays batter with more than one hit as he picked up two hits.  BJ Upton struggled as he went 0-4 with three strike outs.

The Rays and Jays will play again on Saturday night.  Matt Garza will go up against Roy Halladay of the Jays.  Game time is 6:05pm.

The Rays are on top of the roost and they kick off their best season in the franchises’ history with a second half showdown against the Blue Jays and I’m going to make it to Tropicana Field.  Even through the Rays attendance hasn’t caught up with their success, the good seats are hard to come by and the selection at the Rays box office was pretty mediocre.  Thankfully, you have baseball ticket brokers and with them, I was able to find what I needed.