Author Archives: Schmitty

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Snap Their Skid, Beat M’s 4-0

If someone was to ask me what a Rays way win is like — say someone who may not be familiar with baseball, yet will be attending Saturday’s game for the Weezer concert — I’d use Friday’s 4-0, shutout win against the Mariners as a point of reference. After all, it had all the hallmarks of a Tampa Bay Rays win we’ve come to expect; strong pitching, solid defense, and timely hitting. And though I’m certainly not willing to proclaim “The Rays are fixed,” it was nice to see the team playing the way we know they’re capable of. The question begs, can Tampa Bay win like this consistently? Talk to me after they (if they) string together 14 more of those wins in the month of June.

The New What Next: Rays vs. Mariners — A Series Preview of Sorts

On the heels of their 10th consecutive loss — and third consecutive series sweep — the Tampa Bay Rays will start another four game series at the Trop, this time against the Seattle Mariners (31-28). Blame the pitching staff for Thursday’s loss; the Rays’ hurlers allowed three runs in each of the 5th, 6th, and 7th innings, and two more in the ninth. So far, on their all important “18-out-of-21 games at home in June” stand, Tampa Bay is 0-2. Ouch.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Goodbye, Don Zimmer

The Rays dropped their ninth in a row last night, falling to the Marlins 5-4 at the Trop. Yet, something happened to put things back in perspective — the passing of Don Zimmer. In lieu of a proper game recap (you can read my real time, blow-by-blow account of the game at our Tumblr page), what follows is my goodbye to Don Zimmer — may you rest in peace, Zim.