Rays Blog

The Tampa Rays pitching has been terrific all season but last night they needed the offense to bail them out.  The Rays staff gave up nine runs but managed to hang on and beat the Baltimore Orioles 10-9 on Saturday.  Their record is now 83-51.

Andy Sonnanstine made the start on the mound and got hit around pretty hard.  Sonnanstine threw 3.1 innings and gave up six runs before he was pulled from the game.  Four Rays relievers through the rest of the game and gave up three runs over the final 5.2 innings.  Wheeler ended up getting the win.

The Rays won the game in walk off fashion in the bottom of the ninth on a Rocco Baldelli RBI double.  Akinori Iwamura led the Rays with three hits and scored three runs.  Carlos Pena went 1-3 with three walks and scored three runs, including the game winner.  Tampa Bay had 13 hits in the game and seven of them were doubles.

The Rays and Orioles will finish their series on Sunday afternoon.  James Shields will start on the mound for Tampa Bay.  Game time is 1:40pm.

The Tampa Bay Rays feasted on Baltimore Orioles pitching on Friday night as they cruised to their 82nd win of the season.  The Rays got seven runs in the fourth inning as they won 14-3.  Their record is now 82-51 on the season.

Scott Kazmir started on the mound for the Rays.  Kazmir needed to go only 5.1 innings since Tampa Bay had such a huge lead.  He allowed no runs and struck out 6 to pick up his tenth win of the season.  Juan Salas and Jason Hammel finished the game and allowed all three Oriole runs.

Cliff Floyd led the Rays offense with three hits and drove in five runs.  BJ Upton and Gabe Gross each had three hits as well for Tampa Bay.  Ben Zobrist hit a grand slam while Gabe Gross and Shawn Riggans also homered.  Upton and Akinori Iwamura each scored three times as Tampa Bay had no trouble getting on the board.

The Rays and Orioles will play again on Saturday.  Andy Sonnanstine is scheduled to start.

The Tampa Bay Rays topped the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday in an old fashioned pitchers duel.  Matt Garza and the Rays came out on top as they won in Florida by a score of 1-0.  The Rays upped their record to 80-51.

Matt Garza got that start for Tampa Bay and picked up his 11th win of the season.  Garza lasted 7.1 innings and obviously didn’t allow any runs.  Garza allowed only six hits and struck out five batters.  Dan Wheeler threw a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his ninth save of the season as he continues to fill in for Troy Percival.

The Rays scored the only run of the game in the fourth inning when Carlos Pena hit a solo home run, his 27th of the season.  Pena also added another hit and was the only player on the team with more than one hit.

The Rays and Jays will play again on Thursday night.

The surging Toronto Blue Jays got in the way in Tampa Bay on Tuesday night.  Roy Halladay out-pitched James Shields to help lead the Jays to a 6-2 win.  The loss drops the Rays to 79-51 this season.

Shields got the start for the Rays and took his eighth loss of the year.  Shields managed to get through 6.2 innings but did allow four runs.  Shields allowed nine hits and struck out four batters.  JP Howell and Jason Hammel each allowed a run in relief for Tampa Bay.

Ray Halladay threw six innings and allowed only two runs to the Rays offense.  Both Tampa Bay runs game on an Eric Hinske single in the sixth inning.  Hinske had two hits and was the only player on the team with more than one.  All seven of the Rays hits were singles.

The Rays and the Jays will play again on Wednesday night.  Matt Garza is scheduled to start the 7:10 game.

The Tampa Bay Rays had rough Sunday in Chicago against the White Sox.  The White Sox won the game after trailing in the bottom of the ninth inning.  The Sox were also on the right side of a controversial call that helped lead them to a 6-5 victory.  The loss drops the Rays to 79-50.

Andy Sonnanstine started for the Rays and was far from perfect.  He worked into the seventh inning and left with one out in the inning.  He gave up four runs (all earned) and allowed nine hits as he got a no decision.  Dan Wheeler blew a save in the ninth by allowing the game tying run and Jason Hammel took the loss in the tenth inning.

The Rays took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a Rocco Baldelli two run homer.  They scored again in the second inning on a RBI single from Akinori Iwamura.   With the game tied at 4 in the seventh inning, Carlos Pena smacked an RBI double to put the Rays up 5-4.  Iwamura, Pena, and Baldelli led the Rays offense with two hits each.

The Rays will take the day off on Monday as they head back home to start a series with the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday.

The Tampa Bay Rays completed their latest comeback win on Saturday against the Chicago White Sox.  The Rays scored four runs in the top of the 8th to help finish their 5-3 win.  The win moves the Rays closer to a playoff spot and upped their record to 79-49.

Scott Kazmir started for Tampa Bay and got a quality start but failed to pick up the win.  Kazmir lasted six innings and gave up three earned runs.  He walked two batters, struck out seven, and allowed two homers.  Grant Balfour picked up the win as he pitched a scoreless seventh inning and Dan Wheeler picked up his eighth save of the season.

Akinori Iwamura walked with the bases loaded in the 8th inning to cut the White Sox lead down to 3-2.  BJ Upton followed him with an RBI single and Carlos Pena followed him with another RBI single to put the Rays up for good, 5-3.  Jason Bartlett lead Tampa Bay with three hits and BJ Upton had two.

The Rays and Sox will wrap up their series this afternoon in Chicago.  Anday Sonnanstine is set to start for the Rays.  Game time is 2:05pm.

The Los Angeles Angels came into Tampa Bay and lost the first two games of a three game series.  They fell behind early tonight against the Rays, but came back and won the finale of the series 5-4.  The Rays record fell to 77-49, they are a half game behind the Angels.

Matt Garza started on the mound for the Rays and didn’t have his best start of the season.  Garza lasted 6.2 innings and gave up four earned runs after the Rays took a 3-0 lead.  Grant Balfour got hit with the loss as he gave up a run in the top of the ninth that broke up the 4-4 tie.  Balfour’s loss drops him to 3-2 this season.

The Rays got three runs early in the second inning.  Gabe Gross and Shawn Riggans each singled in a run while Jason Bartlett tripled in a run.  The Angles came charging back to take a 4-3 lead heading into the 8th inning.  In the bottom of the 8th Carlos Pena doubled in a run to tie things back up at four.  Gross and Eric Hinske each had two hits to lead the Rays.

The Rays will take a day off on Thursday before heading to Chicago to start a series with the White Sox.  Edwin Jackson will start the opener.

The Rays continued their most recent hot streak with another win over the Los Angeles Angels.  Tampa Bay got a strong start out of James Shields and won their 77th game by a score of 4-2.  The Rays win moves them into a tie with Cubs for the best record in baseball.

Shields went 8 innings and gave up both runs that the Angels were able to score.  He gave up nine hits and struck out seven batters.  The win moves his record to 11-7.  Dan Wheeler came on to pitch the ninth inning and struck out two as he worked a perfect inning.

The Rays were down 2-0 heading into the sixth inning.  In the sixth BJ Upton reached base on an infield single that scored a run.  In the eighth inning Carlos Pena walked in a run and Wily Aybar followed that with an RBI single that scored two runs.  Aybar had two of the Rays five hits.

The Rays will try to finish the sweep on tomorrow night.  Matt Garza is scheduled to start on Wednesday night.  Game time is 7:05pm.

The Tampa Bay Rays continued their hot play on Monday night against the American League West leading Los Angeles Angels.  The Rays got a solid start from Andy Sonnanstine to help them pick up the 6-4 win.  The win moves Tampa Bay to 76-48 on the season.

Sonnanstine threw 5.1 innings and gave up three earned runs.  He gave up five hits and struck out three as he improved his record on the season to an impressive 13-6.

Dan Wheeler came on in the ninth and threw a perfect inning to pick up his sixth save of the season.  He struck out one batter.

The Rays took an early lead in the second inning on a two run homer from Eric Hinske.  Cliff Floyd hit add another two run homer in the third inning to put the Rays on top 4-1.

They went ahead 5-1 when Hinske singled in Wily Aybar.  With lead cut to 5-4 in the 8th inning, Gabe Gross hit a RBI single to put the Rays up 6-4.

Wily Aybar, playing for the injured Evan Longoria, lead the Rays with three hits.

The Rays and Angels will play the middle game of their three game series on Tuesday night.  James Shields is scheduled to start for the Rays.  Game time is 7:05pm.

The Rays won on Sunday night over the Texas Rangers during a nationally televised game.  The game drew some serious attention when Rays Manager Joe Maddon walked Josh Hamilton with the bases loaded to bring the Rangers to within three.  The strategy worked and the Rays won the game 7-4.

Scott Kazmir started on the mound for the Rays and got the win for his club.  Kazmir lasted six innings and gave up only two runs to the very potent Texas line up.  He struck out seven batters and upped his record to 9-6 on the season.  Dan Wheeler got the final out in the ninth inning to pick up his fifth save of the season.

A day after being benched, BJ Upton returned to the lead off spot and responded in a big way.  Upton went 3-5 with 3 RBI, he also scored two runs.  Upton singled, doubled, and homered in his successful return.  Carlos Pena hit his 25th homer of the season and had three RBI to help get the Rays  a win.

The Rays will start a huge series on Monday night as they welcome the Los Angeles Angels to town.  Andy Sonnanstine is scheduled to start.  Game time is 7:05pm.