Rays Blog

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 Tampa Bay Rays are in risk of dropping out of first place for the first time in weeks after losing their sixth straight game.  The Rays lead over the second place Red Sox is now only a half game.  They lost on Friday 5-0 and on Saturday 8-4.  Both losses came to the Cleveland Indians.  The Rays are now 55-38.

On Friday James Shields started for Tampa and did not pitch one of his better games of the season.  Shields lasted six innings but did give up all five runs to the Indians.  He walked one ans allowed 10 hits as he got hit around pretty hard.  The Rays also had a tough time getting anything going against Cliff Lee of the Indians.  The Tampa offense did manage eights hits but they also struck out ten times.  Carlos Pena and Ben Zobrist each had two hits.  While Longoria and Iwamura each collected a double.

Saturday saw Matt Garza start for the Rays and he got rocked very early in the game.  Garza went five innings and gave up seven runs but all of the runs came in the second and third innings.  Garza gave up 11 hits and walked two batters.  On offense the Rays got all four runs in the 8th inning.  Eric Hinske led the Rays with three hits.  Cliff Floyd and Dioner Navarro each had two hits and two RBI to help put some runs on the board.

The Rays will wrap up their series with the Indians on Sunday as they will try to avoid the sweep.  Scott Kazmir is scheduled to start for the Rays.  Game time is 1:05pm.

The Rays traveled to Cleveland to take on the Indians and their 10 game losing streak, it did not go well.  The Rays fell to the Indians 13-2 as they had very little go right for them.  The loss drops the Rays to 55-36.

Andy Sonnanstine started for the Rays and got hit around pretty hard.  Sonnanstine managed to get through 5.1 innings and gave up six earned runs.  He struck out none, walked none, and gave up nine hits.  Gary Glover struggled even more as he got only two outs and gave up seven earned runs.  Sonnanstine took the loss to drop to 10-4 on the season.

On offense the Rays managed only two runs so it would have been a tough win to get even they got solid pitching.  The Rays got their only two runs in the third inning on a Jonny Gomes two run homer that actually gave the Rays a 2-0 lead.  BJ Upton struggled as he went 0-4 with 2 Ks and Dioner Navarro also went 0-4.

The Rays will look to get back on the winning track against the Indians Friday night.  James Shields is scheduled to start for Tampa Bay.  Game time is 7:05pm.

After a very impressive run, the Tampa Bay Rays have lost three straight games.  The Rays lost a mini series to the Yankees as they were swept over two games.  The Rays lost 5-0 on Tuesday and 2-1 in 10 innings on Wednesday afternoon.  The Rays are now 55-35.

Scott Kazmir started on Tuesday and got bounced early by the Yankees line up.  Kazmir lasted only five innings after throwing 97 pitches.  While Kazmir struck out nine batters he gave up two runs and was hit the the loss.  Gary Glover didn’t do the Rays any favors as he gave up three runs in only one inning of work.  The Rays offense just couldn’t get it going.  They managed only four hits all game and two of those were by BJ Upton.

On Wednesday the Rays got a very strong start from Edwin Jackson but the offense sputtered again.  Jackson went 6.1 innings and gave up only one run.  He struck out three batters and walked two batters while throwing 100 pitches.  Grant Balfour took the loss for the Rays as he gave up a walk off double to Bobby Abreu.  The Rays only run of the game, and the series, came on a Carlos Pena solo homer in the sixth inning.  Akinori Iwamura led the Rays with two hits.

Ten Game winner Andy Sonnanstine will start for the Rays on Thursday as they start a series with the Cleveland Indians.  Game time is 7:05pm.

The Tampa Bays couldn’t finish a sweep of the Kansas City Royals but still had a very strong weekend.  They won on Sunday 9-2 but lost an afternoon game on Monday by a score of 7-4.  The Rays are now 55-33 this season.  They are still in first place in the American League Central.

James Shields started and got the win for the Rays on Sunday in Tampa.  Shields lasted seven innings and gave up only 2 ER while striking out eight batters.  Shields upped his record to 7-5 this season.  Gary Glover and Trever Miller threw the last two innings.  At the plate the Rays were led by Carlos Pena and BJ Upton.  Pena went 3-5 with a pair of RBI while Upton went 2-4 with two RBI.  Evan Longoria and Gabe Gross each homered for Tampa Bay.

On Monday, Matt Garza started and pitched pretty well but got a no-decision.  He went 6.2 innings and gave up three runs while striking out five batters.  With the game tied at 3-3 in the tenth inning Dan Wheeler came on to pitch for the Rays.  Wheeler has been lights out this season out of the Rays pen, today however, was not his day.  Wheeler went 10 innings and gave up four runs, three of them earned.  He picked up his fourth loss of the season.  The Rays were down 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning but tied the game on a Carlos Pena solo homer.  The Rays got three hits and a homer from Eric Hinske in defeat.

The Rays will start a two game series at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday.  Scott Kazmir is scheduled to start for Tampa Bay.  Game time is set for 7:05pm.

After an impressive sweep against the Boston Red Sox, the Tampa Bay Rays have kept up their hot play.  They took two games against the Royals this weekend with wins of 11-2 and 3-0.  The two wins moved the Rays to 54-32 on the season.

Edwin Jackson started on the hill on Friday night in the Rays 11-2 victory.  Jackson went 8 strong innings, giving up two runs.  He struck out only two batters but gave up only one walk and four hits.  Jackson is now 5-6 this season.  Jason Hammel threw a scoreless ninth inning to cap off the victory.  The Rays went up 7-0 in the fifth inning after a three run homer by Carlos Pena.  Pena went 2-5 with 5 RBI while Carl Crawford went 3-5 while scoring three runs.  Evan Longoria had three hits and Dioner Navarro added two hits.

Andy Sonnanstine started on Saturday and was very sharp.  Sonnanstine threw seven shutout innings to pick up his tenth win of the season, he is 10-3 on the season.  JP Howell struck out the side in the 8th inning and Grant Balfour struck out two in the ninth inning to pick up his third save.  The Rays got two runs in the second inning on an Akinori Iwamura double.  They added their third and final run in the seventh inning on a Ben Zobrist solo home run.  Navarro, Cliff Floyd, and Crawford each had two hits.

On Sunday the Rays will go for their third straight against the Royals.  James Shields will start for the Rays.  Game time is 1:40pm.