Stunning. The Rays walked in to the Trop tonight needing to win, well, pretty much every game from here on out. Had they lost, you may as well have called them carrion. After all, they’d have ended the evening 7.5 games out, all but mathematically eliminated from the wildcard race. And with an offense that looked to be dead 8/9 of the game, the following 12 games seemed more like the BJ Upton farewell tour, as opposed to a team hungry to make it to the postseason for the third straight year. However, those resurgent Rays pulled off a huge win over the Massholes, overcoming a three run deficit in the ninth to take down the Red Sox by a score of 7-4.
David Price pitched well enough to earn his 19th win of the year. Price really had only one bad inning, dominating the Red Sox through the front five. Posting a 7.1 IP/8 H/3 ER/1 BB/7 K line, the Cy Young contender threw 119 pitches, (83 for strikes) effectively shutting down anything Valentine could throw his way. Sadly though, the lefty gave up a pair of earned runs in the sixth, and one in the eighth, and with a Rays offense that seemed incapable of putting together anything against Clay Buccholz, all seemed lost. Buccholz went toe-for-toe with Price, posting a 7.o IP/4 H/0 R/2 BB/4 K line, inducing nine weakly hit ground balls, making the Rays hitters look damn well foolish. And truth be told, Tampa Bay looked like the fork had be stuck in them from the get-go.
But then the ninth happened, and that old time Rays religion returned. The Rays looked like, well, the Rays of old.
…And it all started with a Matt Joyce single. The screen shot (below) says it all.
Orestes Destrade summed up the Rays chances of making it to the postseason, “Probable? No. Possible? Yes.” I’d have to say that great English melodic punk band No Choice also put things into perspective with the title of their anthology CD, Try And You Might… Don’t And You Most Certainly Won’t. And that’s where we’re at. Joe Maddon set the bar for what needs to be done: win the next 12 games. Granted there are some very winnable games, especially with the upcoming series against the Blue Jays, it’s not going to be easy. Then again, is anything ever easy with the Rays?
- The Rays are 11-4 against the Blue Jays, and have won the last five meetings at Tropicana Field.
- Evan Longoria is batting .316 with a homer and nine RBIs in 10 games against Toronto. Ben Zobrist has a .403 on-base percentage with two homers and eight RBIs in 14 games. Zobrist has also been a major thorn in the side of scheduled starter Carlos Villanueva going 4 for 8 with three homers and four walks.
- James Shields has given the Blue Jays fits, going 4-0 with a 1.11 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 40-2/3 innings in five starts against the Jays since the start of last season. Yunel Escobar is batting .167 in 18 at-bats off Shields in that span, while Edwin Encarnacion is 1 for 12 and Adam Lind and Kelly Johnson are each 1 for 11.
- Escobar is eligible to return Friday from a three-game suspension he received for wearing eye-black displaying an anti-gay slur written in Spanish during a game last weekend against Boston. He apologized and said he meant it to be a joke.
- How are the Rays doing against the Blue Jays starters now? Let’s see.
- Carlos Villanueva: The Rays have posted a combined .333 BA/.419 OBP/.549 SLG/.968 OPS line against, in 102 total at-bats. Nine Rays have posted good numbers against Villaneuva: Desmond Jennings (3-10, 2B, 3B), Matt Joyce (4-10, 2B, BB), Jeff Keppinger (7-16, 2B, RBI, 3 BB), Jose Lobaton (1-2), Jose Molina (1-3), Carlos Pena (1-3, RBI, 3 BB), Luke Scott (4-13, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB), BJ Upton (3-12, 2B), Ben Zobrist (4-8, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 4 BB)
- Brandon Morrow: Not so stoked to see Morrow pitch. The Rays have posted a .215 BA/.327 OBP/.376 SLG/.704 OPS line against Morrow. Key match-ups: Desmond Jennings (5-11, 2B, 3 HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB), Matt Joyce (6-22, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB), Jeff Keppinger (2-6, 2B), Ryan Roberts (2-3, 2B), Sean Rodriguez (5-14, 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 5 BB)
- Chad Jenkins: Tampa Bay has had a level of success off Jenkins. Posting a combined .281 BA/.303 OBP/.438 SLG/.741 OPS line, the Rays have a couple of handfuls of hits off of Jenkins in his young career. Key match-ups: Ben Francisco (1-3, 2B, RBI), Desmond Jennings (1-2), Jeff Keppinger (1-2, RBI), Evan Longoria (2-4, 2B), Carlos Pena (2-3, HR, RBI), Ben Zobrist (1-3)
- The Jays starters, as per Rotowire.com: Morrow hurled six shutout innings Sunday, yielding but four hits and a walk while tallying three strikeouts, as Toronto collectively blanked Boston, 5-0. Villanueva didn’t factor into the decision Saturday in spite of a fine effort, limiting the Red Sox to two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out six in seven innings.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ-D4jmkUiQ]
Call it cautious optimism, but I still believe!