Rays Index

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!!!

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?

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.

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Odorizzi’s Inconsistencies, Lueke’s Big Chance, And Briggy In A Yankees Uniform

Cork Gaines — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:43:56 +0000

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

Blue Jays 7, RAYS 5 (boxscore)

THE GOOD: Jake Odorizzi. Overall, not a bad first outing. Not great, but not bad either. The big thing I noticed is he lacked consistency with his pitches. For example, he had fastballs anywhere from 87 to 95 mph. And the movement on his pitches, which is likely related to the speed, was also over the place. Sometimes there was a lot of movement and sometimes the pitch was straight. When a pitcher lacks consistency, it is hard for them to command their pitches in the strikezone and hit spots. Maybe it was first start jitters. But there is upside and at the same time there is a lot of work to do…Evan Longoria. He’s on pace to hit .331 with 33 home runs and 107 RBI. That’s what Longo should be doing every year. Maybe we’ll finally get one.

THE BAD: Josh Lueke. I don’t know if going to Josh Lueke was a bad move. But it does say something about the lack of bullpen depth when a guy that was in AAA last week is called into a tie game in the 7th inning. Was it just a bad day? Was Lueke not ready for a high leverage situation? Lueke faced 7 batters. He walked 4 (1 intentional). One was out on a sac bunt. And one hit a bases clearing double. Not good…Umpiring. Bad calls happen. And the Rays are not the only team to get screwed by a bad call this season even if it feels like it. But usually these things even out. I can think of 4-5 horrendous calls that went against the Rays this season. And I can’t recall a single incident this year in which I went “woah, we got away with one there.” That doesn’t mean I think there is a conspiracy. But the Rays have been very unlucky so far. Hopefully things start to even out…Reid Brignac in a Yankees Uniform. ?? (above)

THE TELLING: The Rays are now 23-21…Alex Colome was named the International League pitcher of the week…Josh Lueke wears interesting hats. And by interesting, I mean awful…Both Ben Zobrist and Jose Lobaton batted righty against the right-handed knuckleballer, RA Dickey…Sounds like it will be a while before Brandon Gomes is ready to come off the DL.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

If you think nobody was offended by Yunel Escobar’s home run celebration, you don’t know anybody in Toronto or read Toronto newspapers. [Toronto Sun]
Here is more of the reaction from both the Rays and Jays to Yunel Escobar’s celebration. [TampaBay.com]
BASEBALL ANARCHY! Typical Joe Maddon. The umpires gave the Rays a home run and he is still upset, saying he would have played Sunday’s game under protest if Matt Joyce’s home run was changed from a double to a foul ball since fair/foul is not a provision of the replay rule. [TampaBay.com]
The Marlins are a mess. They are on pace for 115 losses and now one of their pitchers was caught cheating. [BI Sports]
Can Miguel Cabrera catch Pete Rose? Probably not, but also not as crazy as you’d think. [BI Sports]
The Bucs have a starting quarterback. That’s a good thing. Because I would hate to see them play a game without one. [JoeBucsFan]

DOWN ON THE FARM…

DURHAM. no game scheduled

Huntsville 3, MONTGOMERY 0. Enny Romero tossed 6 shutout innings, striking out 6. He walked 3 and allowed 4 hits…Mikie Mahtook went 0-4.

Clearwater @ CHARLOTTE. postponed

West Michigan 7, BOWLING GREEN 6. After giving up just 5 runs TOTAL in his first 7 starts, Jeff Ames gave up 5 runs in just 5.1 innings on 10 hits, including 2 home runs. He struck out 3 and his ERA is now 2.13…Andrew Toles went 2-6 with a triple.

A New Pitcher, A Blown Call, BA’s Sympathy Face, And Other Images From Last Night’s Game

Cork Gaines — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:30:24 +0000

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

Meet Jake Odorizzi, the Rays' 17th pitcher since 2008

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Here’s The Yunel Escobar Home Run Celebration That Everybody Is Talking About

Cork Gaines — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:12:37 +0000

In the top of the ninth inning of today’s loss to the Blue Jays, Yunel Escobar hit a 2-run home run that pulled the Rays within two. But it is what he did after the home run that left some people angry.

Escobar, as he was crossing home plate, made the “safe” sign in the direction of the fans. It was a move that Escobar makes after most home runs. However, this one felt a bit more emphatic considering the score and probably done in response to the boos he heard all afternoon.

The move may have been justified. But it is also easy to see why the Blue Jays, and even Joe Maddon, would not appreciate the move. And what you don’t want is for the wrong person or team to be offended and seek retribution. Because even if they are out of line, that is little consolation when a Rays player is on the DL with a broken wrist.

In the end, it just seems like a bit of a show-boat gesture that didn’t need to be done. In fact, Maddon told the media after the game that he would talk with Escobar and that we won’t see the gesture again…

Postgame Shot Of Joe: Too Much Lueke

Joe Rays Fan — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:21:57 +0000

Joe is back with his postgame thoughts …

Josh Lueke walked three batters in the seventh today and somehow Joe Maddon thought was in the best interest of the Rays to let him keep struggling and face Edwin Encarnacion with the bases loaded.

Bases cleared. Game over. Bad decision. Reboot the computer.

The peaceful optimist in Joe says this was a game the Rays had little chance to win anyway, with Jake Odorizzi facing R.A. Dickey in Toronto, but that wasn’t the case by the seventh.

The bullpen collapsed again, wasting opportunistic hitting by the Rays in the 7-5 loss and choking enough to make a horrendous call against the Rays not even matter.

On the upside, Blue Jays fans’ vocal hatred of Yunel Escobar made Joe feel better about the Rays shortstop.

Ben Zobrist Nearly Breaks Matt Joyce’s Hand [audioGIF]

Cork Gaines — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:09:46 +0000

Earlier we showed you a blown call in which it Ben Zobrist clearly tagged a runner before he reached second base. That play cost the Rays a run and the normally mild-mannered Zobrist was visibly upset.

Well, the very next inning, Zobrist scored on an Evan Longoria double, and after crossing home plate, he nearly detached Matt Joyce’s hand from the rest of his arm with a violent high-five…

Another Blown Call Costs The Rays A Run [PICTURE]

Cork Gaines — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:54:57 +0000

With one out in the second inning, Henry Blanco hit a ball into the leftfield corner. Sam Fuld made a strong throw back to the infield that appeared to easily beat Blanco to the bag.

But after Ben Zobrist tagged Blanco, umpire CB Buckner inexplicably called Blanco safe. And it wasn’t even close. Blanco would later score on a basehit to put the Jays up 3-1…