Rays Index

Postgame Shot Of Joe: Fernando Rodney Was Set Up To Fail

Joe Rays Fan — Wed, 22 May 2013 23:59:19 +0000

Joe is back with this postgame thoughts…

What is it about Merlot Joe just wanting certain Rays killers to kill the Rays?

Bad enough that Merlot Joe continues to pitch to Chris Davis of the Orioles. Now it’s Jose Bautista.

The Jays right fielder has pounded the Rays over the years. And sure enough, he hammered the Rays again today, driving in all four Jays runs in a 4-2 win over the Rays.

Just what is going through Merlot Joe’s mind (other than what wine he is going to guzzle) with a one-run lead in the ninth inning and Bautista steps to the plate? “You know, this guy hits us like Ted Williams and Albert Pujols combined. I think I will pitch to him, yeah!” Yup, you guessed it. Homer!

Maybe Merlot Joe hasn’t noticed, but his bullpen is struggling. Help the guys out, don’t set them up for a fail! Man!!! Poor Hellboy who pitched (aside from facing Bautista) really strong today. And props to Dirtbag who did a fine job of taking a pitch the other way for a double down the line to set up what should have been the winning run.

Joe will leave his readers with this: Merlot Joe pulls Fernando Rodney (after Merlot Joe set him up to fail). This could get very interesting.

Tailgating With The Rays: Discussing A Rare Hot Rod Sighting And Projecting Evan Longoria For Game 46

Cork Gaines — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:15:21 +0000

Playing A Little Pepper…

Sean Rodriguez is starting today. It will be the first game he has appeared in since May 16th…Evan Longoria is DHing. With tomorrow’s off-day, this will give Longo’s legs two straight days off…Even with the 3 errors in this series, the Rays have committed just 21 on the season. That is 20 fewer errors than at the same point last season…In his last 162 games, Evan Longoria is hitting .298 with 39 home runs, 118 RBI, a .387 OBP and .944 OPS.

Game Graph…

[Will be up at game time]

Source: FanGraphs

Lineup…

Flash Jennings, CF
Ryan Roberts, 3B
Ben Zobrist, 2B
Evan Longoria, DH
James Loney, 1B
Sean Rodriguez, RF
Kelly Johnson, LF
Jose Molina, C
Yunel Escobar, SS
Jeremy Hellickson, SP

Now Booking For This Weekend’s Yankees Series — Catch The Rays In Style For Only $9.95

Cork Gaines — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:51:36 +0000

Tampa Rays fans can head to Tampa Lee Roy Selmon’s locations and get on board a chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field. It’s only $9.95 roundtrip!!!

The hated Yankees are in town Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This is a stunning deal! Why waste money on parking and gas, especially when you can ride in style with an adult beverage in hand on a Paradise Worldwide Transportation luxury bus?

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[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss A James Shields Clone, Peralta’s Heat, And More On Yunel-Gate

Cork Gaines — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:05:21 +0000

The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.

RAYS 4, Blue Jays 3 (boxscore)

THE GOOD: Alex Cobb. It is getting scary just how similar Cobb is to James Shields. Cobb did not have his A+ changeup yesterday (only 2 swing-and-misses), but he still worked into the 7th inning and he still allowed just 1 run. And how did the Jays score their run off Cobb? A home run of course. And like Shields, the home runs are going to come. So far this season, 9 of the 19 runs (47.4%) Cobb has allowed have come off home runs. In 2011, James Shields’ best season, 38 of the 83 runs (45.8%) of the runs he allowed came off home runs. But the key for Cobb is that he needs to make sure they don’t happen with runners on base. And he is doing that this season. Those 9 home runs include 8 solo shots and one 2-run shot…Fernando Rodney. Things got a little shaky in the 9th inning. But before that, Rodney did something that few closers do these days. He came into the game with runners on base. In the 8th inning, the Jays loaded the bases after an error by Ryan Roberts. Rodney came in, and on the first pitch, induced an inning-ending double-play.

THE BAD: Joel Peralta. Yes, Ryan Roberts’ error didn’t help matters. But even before that, Peralta had allowed two single and a walk. And part of the problem may have been that he was overthrowing. Peralta, who’s fastball is normally in the 90-91 range, was sitting 93-94 last night.

THE TELLING: Matt Joyce left the game in the 7th inning with hamstring tightness. He wasn’t likely to play against the lefty today. We’ll have to wait and see if he returns tomorrow…Jose Molina has missed 3 straight games with his hamstring issue… The Rays are now 24-21, tied with the Orioles for third place and 4 games behind the Yankees. The Blue Jays have fallen to 10 games behind the Yankees…

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

After talking with Yunel Escobar, Joe Maddon has changed his tune and is now OK with the home run celebration. Maddon notes that the “safe sign” is just part of his routine. Of course, yesterday, we showed that is not true. It is only part of his routine against the Blue Jays. [TampaBay.com]
Joe Maddon backtracked on his comments about the umpires and the use of replay. Apparently it would have been OK for them to change a double to a foul ball. [TampaBay.com]
The bad call against the Rays on Monday weren’t as bad as the two bad calls against the Orioles. [BI Sports]
JP Peterson breaks down the Rays’ offensive turnaround. [TampaBaySportsCentral]
Josh Freeman is the 10th best QB under 25 in the NFL. Is that a good thing? [JoeBucsFan]

DOWN ON THE FARM…

DURHAM 3, Norfolk 2.

Huntsville 11, MONTGOMERY 7.

CHARLOTTE 4, Clearwater 2.

CHARLOTTE 3, Clearwater 1.

BOWLING GREEN. no game scheduled

Bob Gibson, Air Time, Bro Hug, And Other Images From Last Night’s Game

Cork Gaines — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:30:42 +0000

We’ve got the highlights you won’t see on SportsCenter…

Was trying to recall who Joel Peralta's follow-through reminded me of. Then it hit me: Bob Gibson

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Fernando Rodney Added A New Twist To His Shoot-The-Moon Save Celebration

Cork Gaines — Wed, 22 May 2013 02:33:47 +0000

After all the commotion caused by Yunel Escobar’s home run celebration on Monday, Fernando Rodney added a very similar gesture to his own save celebration. The bit of irony here is that Rodney used the non-Blue Jays version of Escobar’s celebration which is more of an over the head arm motion.. But was Rodney showing he had Escobar’s back, or was this just a coincidence and Rodney was trying to open the Rogers Centre roof? The latter would be odd since Honey Badger plays in a dome at home…

Tailgating With The Rays: Talking Hitting Streaks And Hitting Slumps For Game 45

Cork Gaines — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:01:31 +0000

Playing A Little Pepper…

The Rays are the only AL club and one of to be .500 or better on this date in each of the last 6 years. In the NL, the Braves and the Cards have also been .500 or better on this date 6 years in a row…Evan Longoria’s 14-game hitting streak is a career-high…James Loney is still 4th in the majors in hitting, but is just 3 for his last 19, dropping his average down to .342…

Game Graph…

[Will be up at game time]

Source: FanGraphs

Lineup…

Flash Jennings, CF
Matt Joyce, RF
Ben Zobrist, 2B
Evan Longoria, 3B
James Loney, 1B
Luke Scott, DH
Kelly Johnson, LF
Jose Lobaton, C
Yunel Escobar, SS
, SP

Escobar Says He Uses Same Gesture After Every Home Run, But We Have Video In 2013 And It Suggests Otherwise

Cork Gaines — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:41:22 +0000

Yesterday, Yunel Escobar hit a home run and then made a gesture towards the crowd that caused a mini-fire storm in some circles.

Joe Maddon said he would talk to Escobar and that we won’t see it again. Escobar claimed he uses the same gesture after every home run. But does he? Not quite.

But before we look at the video, here is that gesture once again…

Prior to that home run, Escobar had hit three home runs. The first came against the A’s (see full video HERE. He crosses home plate at the 0:22 mark)…He does make a similar motion, but the swinging arms are above his head and much less pronounced…

He hit his second home run the very next night against the Yankees. And once again, the arm motion is above the head towards the sky (see video HERE, 0:28 mark)…

Finally, here is Escobar’s third home run (see video HERE. He crosses the plate at the 0:24 mark). And well, well. This one looks a lot more like the one we saw yesterday in Toronto…

So he has done this celebration before. But wait. Who did he hit that home run against?

Coincidence? Probably not.

Rays To Wear Camo On Memorial Day

Cork Gaines — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:53:15 +0000

Via Uni-Watch.com, all Major League teams will be wearing camo caps and jerseys with camo logos and lettering on Memorial Day. This is what the Rays’ version will look like (click on image for a larger version)…

Now Booking For This Weekend’s Yankees Series — Catch The Rays In Style For Only $9.95

Cork Gaines — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:51:35 +0000

Tampa Rays fans can head to Tampa Lee Roy Selmon’s locations and get on board a chauffeured luxury bus to Tropicana Field. It’s only $9.95 roundtrip!!!

Click on through below to learn more about the best deal in Tampa Bay sports, the No Excuses Tour to Tropicana Field. Find out how nearly 1,000 fans have enjoyed Rays games since 2011.