The end is nigh. Six road games separate the Tampa Bay Rays from a long off-season – the death knell of their first non-winning season in six years. First stop Boston, where they’ll take on the Red Sox in the sixth and final series against the two AL East foes.
Author Archives: Schmitty
Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Fall in Home Finale, 10-5
I had it all planned out. Going into The Trop under the assumption the Rays would win the home finale and take the series from the White Sox, I scribed a rough draft on how the last game of the season is bitter sweet. Yet I left Tropicana Field yesterday feeling, well…just bitter. Watching Tampa Bay get no hit into the sixth inning — while also simultaneously getting pounded into submission — surely wasn’t what I envisioned en route to the ballpark. If anything, the final pitch of the game made me happy that the 36-45 nightmare, that was the Rays at home this season, was over.
Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Archer, Rays Beat White Sox 3-1
As this disappointing season winds to a close, it certainly is an odd feeling to be watching the Rays play irrelevant baseball. Hell, even in their last season of irrelevant baseball (2012), Tampa Bay was playing for something up until the very end. Still, if you subscribe to the idea that a fair number of those on the roster are making their case for 2015, these final games are pretty interesting. And while the infield of the future looked all but settled a few days back, Nick Franklin entered the picture and is making a pretty good case for himself.
Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Hellickson, Rays Fall 4-3
I’m not certain if the headline to ESPN’s piece on the Rays 4-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox is funny, ironic, or a combination of the two. It reads, “White Sox eliminate Rays from playoff contention,” and while the four runs put up by Chicago nailed the coffin shut, the Rays sealed their own fate a long time ago. But fine, I’ll take the bait and argue that if we’re looking at Tampa Bay’s elimination from the postseason on the micro level, then it was the lackluster performance by Jeremy Hellickson that sealed the teams fate, not the White Sox. After all, he’s the one who delivered the very hittable pitches.
The New What Next: Rays vs. White Sox — the Final Home Stand
Tampa Bay is set to start its final home series of the 2014 season, a three game set against the Chicago White Sox, starting Friday. The Rays’ meager three-game winning streak was snapped in the 3-2 loss against the Yankees, Wednesday. And while they won’t play the role of spoilers against Chicago, the Rays still need to win at least eight games to end the season with a plus .500 record.