X-Rays Spex

A Below Average Rays Fan Blog

LBWMF: Rays move into sole possession of second place with 2-1 win over the Angels

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A dominant outing by Alex Colome capped the Rays seventh extra inning win Friday night. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The Tampa Bay Rays picked up right where they left off Friday night, beating the Los Angeles Angels in extra innings, 2–1. The Rays moved five games over .500 for the first time this season with the their seventh extra-inning victory this season. Moreover, with the Rays’ win and the Yankees’ loss, Tampa Bay now claims sole possession of second place in the AL East.

Tampa Bay struck first in the first inning when Evan Longoria hit a solo no doubter to left, his 13th homer of the season.

Longoria’s solo home run

Evan Longoria connects for a solo home run to left-center field to open the scoring for the Rays in the top of the 1st inning

However, Los Angeles countered in the bottom of the second when Albert Pujols homered to center — a long ball that just eluded the glove of a leaping Mallex Smith at the wall.

Nolasco settled in against the Rays from there, allowing just one base runner over the next five innings on a Smith walk in the third.

In the Rays corner though, Faria was also tough even without his best stuff. The rookie stranded runners in scoring position in the second, third and fourth innings — holding the Angels to 0-for-6 wRISP in those spots.

Faria did receive some help in the third inning, when Wilson Ramos gunned down Cameron Maybin as he attempted to swipe second. Ramos’ throw almost sailed past Adeiny Hechavarría, who somehow was able to simultaneously save the ball from hurling into centerfield, and tag the foot of Maybin as he slid.

(Screen Shot Credit: FoxSports Sun)

It was a highly improbable play that Hechavarría made look routine.

Brad Miller, on the other hand, had the opportunity to do the same against Mike Trout as he stole second after reaching on a single to center. Miller made no attempt of a tag on a throw from Ramos that beat Trout to the bag. It was a lackadaisical play by the infielder, and the first of three gaffes on the night.

Faria finally settled down at the end of the fourth inning, after he coaxed a bases loaded popper from Maybin that ended the frame. That started a stretch where the cool-as-a-cucumber right-hander retired seven consecutive batters, and nine of his final ten.

When all was said and done, Faria gave up just a run, struck out four, scattered five hits, two walks, and hit a batter. He now has thrown quality starts in the first seven outings of his MLB career. Faria went the first 6-2/3 innings, and Tommy Hunter got the next four outs. That set the stage for Brad Boxberger, who plowed through the Angels on just 12 pitches in the ninth inning.

The Rays were able to break the deadlock in the top of the 10th against Cam Bedrosian, the fourth Angels hurler. The Buffalo started the rally with a rocket to left, before Miller hit a towering double off the wall in right-center — scoring Ramos from first as he was off on contact with two outs.

Up by a run, Alex Colome finished off the contest with a perfect bottom of the tenth, punctuated by a three pitch strikeout of Trout to end it. Don’t look now, but the beleaguered Rays bullpen has given up just one run in the last 14-2/3 innings.

The New What Next

The Rays and Angels will play the second game of three on Saturday. Alex Cobb (7-6, 3.75 ERA, 4.12 FIP) gets the start opposite Jesse Chavez (5-10, 4.99 ERA, 5.25 FIP).

Cobb was brilliant over 7-2/3 innings, relinquishing just two singles, while not allowing a runner beyond first. He struck out three. The right-hander didn’t have his whiffy stuff, although the split-change (the Thing) was more prevalent this time than last — throwing it for strikes 11 of 19 times, with four swings-and-misses. The Thing had a decent 6.68 inches of break, which is a positive, although he relied heavily on his fastball and knuckle-curve to great effect. Cobb used his repertoire to pitch to contact and miss barrels. His two best outings of the season have come over his last three starts.

Chavez allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks over five innings in his last start, absorbing the loss Saturday against Texas. He struck out six. This season, he has relied primarily upon a kitchen sink repertoire of pitches — a 92 mph four-seam fastball and an explosive 91 mph cutter, while also mixing in a firm 86 mph changeup with arm side fade, a 92 mph two-seam fastball/sinker that results in a fair number of fly balls, an 84 mph worm-burner of a slider, and a 77 mph curveball with slight glove-side movement. The 33 year-old right-hander is 0-1 with a 3.52 ERA in eight appearances (one start) against the Rays. Key Matchups: Taylor Featherston (2-2), Logan Morrison (6-19, 3 HR, 3 HR, 7 RBI), Jesus Sucre (2-7)

You can read about the series in our preview.

Rays 7/15/17 Starting Lineup

Smith CF
Dickerson DH
Longoria 3B
Morrison 1B
Souza RF
Miller 2B
Hechavarria SS
Peterson LF
Sucre C
Cobb RHP

Noteworthiness

— At 13-8 since June 8 (a .619 clip), the Rays have improved their odds of a postseason berth from 25% to 36.2% (per FanGraphs). Since it will likely take somewhere between 87 and 90 wins to earn a spot in the postseason, Tampa Bay will have to win 40 of the remaining 71 games; i.e. the Rays would have to perform at a .563 clip, which is feasible if they can continue to rack up series wins.

(Credit: FanGraphs)

— By way of BaseRuns, the Rays should have an overall 50-41 record — one prospective win better than the AL East leading Boston Red Sox.

Tampa Bay Rays 7/14/17 starting lineup and pregame notes

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A photo of the 1962 Los Angeles Angels of the PCL. There is no direct relationship to the modern day Angels ball club. (Photo Credit: Unknown)

Following the well needed four-day break, the Tampa Bay Rays kickoff a weekend series tonight against the Los Angeles Angels. At 47-43, Tampa Bay can reach a new high-water mark with a victory tonight.

Rays 7/14/17 Starting Lineup

Smith CF
Dickerson DH
Longoria 3B
Morrison 1B
Souza RF
Ramos C
Miller 2B
Hechavarria SS
Peterson LF
Faria RHP

Noteworthiness

— LHP Jonny Venters has been assigned to Class-A Charlotte Stone Crabs, another step in what would be a great comeback story for the hurler.

— Tampa Bay is expected to have Tim Beckham (left ankle) activated on Sunday, the last game of this series. Rickie Weeks Jr. is to start a rehab assignment with Triple-A Durham next week.

— Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) updated the short-term post-Rasmus situation with the Rays: Brad Miller can take some of the DH at-bats when not in the field, and Corey Dickerson can play left and has done so fairly well. In addition, Kevin Kiermaier is eligible to come off the DL on August 8th, and Kevin Cash indicated yesterday the hope that Kiermaier will return on that date, or fairly close to it.

— You can read about tonight’s pitching matchup, and so much more, in our series preview.

LBWMF: Alex Cobb, Rays defense stifle first place Red Sox, 1-0

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Adeiny Hechavarria with an excellent flying grab on a liner off the bat of Hanley Ramirez in the second inning of Saturday’s ball-game. (Photo Credit: Will Vragovic/Tampa Bay Times)

Alex Cobb was excellent on Saturday, while the Rays’ defense put on a leather flashing clinic. Cobb and Alex Colome combined to three-hit Boston, as the Rays won 1–0 over the first place Red Sox. Tampa Bay starts the day at 46–43, looking to close out the ceremonial first half of the season four games over .500.

Cobb was brilliant over 7-2/3 innings, relinquishing just two singles, while not allowing a runner beyond first. He struck out three. The right-hander didn’t have his whiffy stuff, although the split-change (the Thing) was more prevalent this time than last — throwing it for strikes 11 of 19 times, with four swings-and-misses. The Thing had a decent 6.68 inches of break, which is a positive, although he relied heavily on his fastball and knuckle-curve to great effect. Cobb used his repertoire to pitch to contact and miss barrels.

The right-hander was helped by web-gems from shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria in the second and fifth innings.

In fact, the whole team joined in on the fun. Evan Longoria robbed Mookie Betts in the first, Mallex Smith ran down a ball in the triangle early in the game, and Shane Peterson made a sliding catch in left in the sixth. Even Brad Miller, who later allowed a base runner to reach on an error, made a sharp play on Xander Bogaerts in the fourth.

Not to be outdone, even Cobb joined the party (see at :16 in the video below):

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay got on the board against Rick Porcello in the second inning. Steven Souza Jr. and Miller singled to start the rally. Hechavarria grounded into a 6–4 fielder’s choice that was originally ruled a double play, but was overturned upon review. After Shane Peterson was hit by a 1–2 pitch, which consequently loaded the bases, Jesus Sucre plated the only run of the game on a sacrifice-fly to deep center, scoring Souza.

The Rays had other chances against Porcello, who previously allowed 13 runs against Tampa Bay this season. The reigning Cy Young Award winner stranded Smith at third base in the first and seventh innings; and Longoria at first in the third, and third in the fifth innings. All told, he scattered six hits.

Their best chance of plating an insurance run came in the seventh inning with Smith in scoring position, yet Xander Bogaerts robbed Corey Dickerson of a run-scoring hit, ending the frame.

With his start coming to a close in the eighth, Cobb walked Sandy Leon with one out. Sam Travis pinch-ran, yet Tsu-Wei Lin was robbed of a hit by Souza. in right for the second out of the frame. At 111 pitches, and having fallen behind the last three hitters, Cobb was lifted.

Acknowledging the crowd that gave him a standing ovation, the right-hander made his way to the dugout, as Alex Colome took the mound.

Colome quickly fell behind Mookie Betts 3–0, before getting him to fly out to center.

Colome started the ninth and got Dustin Pedroia to ground to short, yet Bogaerts walked with one out after falling behind 0–2. Mitch Moreland followed.

The right-hander got ahead of Moreland 0-2, then went for the punchout on a good cutter in the dirt. Moreland appeared to go around with his swing, however, Jerry Meals ruled it a check and therefore a ball. With new life, Boston’s first baseman lashed a double off the wall in right. Souza barehanded the carom and quickly fired it back in, holding Bogaerts at third. After Ramirez struck out, and Andrew Benintendi was intentionally walked — loading the bases — Chris Young popped out to short, preserving the win.

The New What Next

The Rays and Red Sox wrap up the four-game series on Sunday with a marquee matchup between Chris Archer (7-5, 3.95 ERA, 3.02 FIP) and his former mentor, David Price (4-2, 4.02 ERA, 4.45 FIP).

Archer not only collected his 11th quality start of the season on Tuesday, but also tallied his first career hit and RBI. The Rays have won in four of Archer’s last five starts, while he’s posted at least six innings over his last nine. He did put an uncomfortable number of men on base in this one, but he escaped several jams and limited the damage, which amounted to three runs total. And though he labored through an inefficient 116 pitches over six innings of work, Archer he threw an impressive 69% for strikes, including 24 whiffs.

Price blanked the opposition for the first time this season on Tuesday against the Rangers, while striking out nine. The former Ray scattered six hits, yet he held Texas scoreless as the BoSox raced to an early lead. Price left the game in the seventh inning because of an apparent injury to his pitching hand, although John Farrell said afterward that he was removed because of a high pitch count and long sixth inning. The Rays have had a lot of success against their former ace, tagging him for 23 runs (21 earned) over seven starts and 45 innings of work. They’ll try to keep it rolling in the final game before the All-Star Break on Sunday. Key Matchups: Corey Dickerson (1-3), Adeiny Hechavarria (2-6), Trevor Plouffe (9-25, 2 2B, 3 RBI, BB)

You can read about the series in our preview.

Rays 7/9/17 Starting Lineup

Souza RF
Dickerson LF
Longoria 3B
Morrison 1B
Ramos C
Plouffe DH
Miller 2B
Hechavarria SS
Bourjos CF
Archer RHP

Noteworthiness

— We’ll be off the grid from Monday-through-Thursday morning, then back again on the interwebs at some point thereafter.

— Tropicana Field, Saturday, July 22, #BaseballForever Night at the Trop 2017, do it! I’ll bring an extra special mixtape for all of you. Come to think of it, that’s a really great bad idea – I’m going to start a SoundCloud of terrible songs to share with everyone! I digress. You can find out more information about the event here.

— The attendance at the Trop for the life of this series has been around 24,000 people per game. Not bad!

Still, this bears mentioning:

Rays fans, it was incredible to witness an average of +40,000 fans turn out the last two days to watch the Rays battle the Cubs at Wrigley Field. It was loud and raucous, and it made me wish our home games were again like that. Guess what? The Tampa Bay Rays are in contention, and they deserve your support.

Personally, I traveled from St. Petersburg to Chicago — almost 2,000 miles, mind you — to attend the series. From there, it took me 45 minutes to travel from Bucktown (where I stayed) to Wrigleyville, by rail, and then back again. I didn’t complain when I was cramped like a sardine on the Blue and Red CTA Lines. Matter of fact, I hate being touched by strangers, although I remembered where I was and why, and I was thankful for the opportunity to watch may favorite baseball team take on the World Series champions some 2,000 miles from home — give or take 30 miles.

I wasn’t alone.

Friends, Steven Souza Jr. is right! The upcoming series against Boston is HUGE, and the good guys can make up some ground in the AL East and postseason standings going into the break. They want need it rockin’ and loud under the big top this weekend.

Not to pat myself on the back, but if I can literally stand on my feet for the better part of seven hours, from Tuesday morning into the late afternoon — including the ingress and egress into and out of the Friendly Confines, as well as the time spent standing in the bleacher section, under the centerfield scoreboard — then you can make the short or longer trek from wherever you live (be that in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, etc) to the Trop, to root on our team.

Boo-hoo, the bridge is long.

Suck it up, and show up late if you have to.

But the traffic is terrible!

No shit! But it’s not Rays fault that the City of Tampa and/or FDOT designed an intentional bottleneck on the east side of the Howard Franklin Bridge, which makes it hard to get into and out of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties during rush hour. Pro tip: show up a little late, or take the Gandy Bridge, which has been made much quicker on the Pinellas side.

In the end, the players shouldn’t have to deal with the embarrassment associated with an apathetic fanbase. Quit making excuses, and get out to the Trop!

The New What Next: Rays 7/8/17 starting lineup and pregame notes, etc

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The photographer’s caption says it all: “I have no words. Just hearing “Careless Whisper” on repeat.” (Credit: Will Vragovic/Tampa Bay Times)

After an 8-3 loss against the Boston Red Sox on Friday, the Tampa Bay Rays will look to get on the winning side of the ledger against the top team in the AL East.

Tampa Bay (45-43) starts play today 5-1/2 games behind Boston in the AL East. In the wildcard, the Rays are a game behind the New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins for the top wild card, and a half game behind the Kansas City Royals for the final playoff spot.

One positive from last night’s ball-game: 2B Brad Miller, who was batting .194 prior to his activation from the DL, returned to the fold with a bang. Miller doubled in his first at-bat and singled home a run in his second.

One negative from last night’s ball-game: Jake Odorizzi continues to give up home runs. Opposing batters have gone yard at least once in a team-record 13 straight starts, and 20 of his past 21 — five of those games were multi-homer affairs, like last night. Because of it, Odorizzi’s ERA has ballooned 3.14 to 4.39 overall, and he has performed to a 6.69 ERA over his last seven starts (extending back to June 2) that have lasted just 35 innings. In that time, he has allowed 59 baserunners, racked up a 1.66 WHIP, and has given up 11 homers.

It just got away from me, Odorizzi said following the game. Just one of those games that’s a (bad) game. I know I’ve been going not so good, so it stands out a little bit.

The fifth inning, when the right-hander retired the leadoff hitter then allowed the next four to reach, summed up his season thus far.

(I was) just trying to get a double play earlier on, just trying to make the perfect pitch, he said. I just need to do a better job of executing, and that’s kind of the first half in a nutshell.

The New What Next

Alex Cobb (6-6, 4.01 ERA, 4.22 FIP) will get the start in the penultimate game before the All-Star Break, opposite of Rick Porcello (4-10, 5.01 ERA, 4.21 FIP).

Cobb was done in by early home runs by the Orioles in his last start Sunday at Baltimore, although he managed to give Tampa Bay a bullpen saving 6-1/3 innings of work. Aside from that start, the right-hander has given up more than three runs just three times since the start of May (totaling 78-2/3 innings). Cobb’s usage of his split-changeup continues to evolve, as he leaned on it 16.05% of the time in June (up 8% from May), while it’s depth has improved — dropping an average of 7.37 inches before it reaches the plate. He’s 1-0 with a 5.56 ERA in two starts against Boston in 2017.

Porcello held the Rangers in check for most of his start against the Rangers Monday night before Craig Kimbrel blew the save. Be that as it may, the reigning Cy Young Award winner has given up at least three earned runs in seven consecutive starts, and has been treading water for most of the season. Tampa Bay finally figured the right-hander out, and has pounded him for 13 runs (11 earned) over 10-2/3 innings this season. Key Matchups: Tim Beckham (2-5, 2 RBI), Peter Bourjos (2-7), Corey Dickerson (8-25, 4 2B, HR, 3 RBI), Evan Longoria (13-50, 5 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 BB), Logan Morrison (10-27, 3 2B, HR, 5 RBI, Shane Peterson (1-2, HR, 2 RBI), Steven Souza Jr. (7-23, HR, RBI, BB)  

You can read about the series in our preview.

Rays 7/8/17 Starting Lineup

Smith CF
Dickerson DH
Longoria 3B
Morrison 1B
Souza Jr. RF
Miller 2B
Hechavarria SS
Peterson LF
Sucre C
RHP Cobb

Noteworthiness

— Tropicana Field, Saturday, July 22, #BaseballForever Night at the Trop 2017, do it! I’ll bring an extra special mixtape for all of you. Come to think of it, that’s a really great bad idea – I’m going to start a SoundCloud of terrible songs to share with everyone! I digress. You can find out more information about the event here.

— Fuck racism, and fuck anyone who says that confederate monuments are a celebration of (a failed) history, and not racism. If you’re too damned thin skinned to get past that opinion, kindly bugger off and don’t read this blog. Confederate monuments = monuments to scumbags and thieves.

— Because I’m as much fan of consistency as Odorizzi*, I’m again posting the following sentiment.

Rays fans, it was incredible to witness an average of +40,000 fans turn out the last two days to watch the Rays battle the Cubs at Wrigley Field. It was loud and raucous, and it made me wish our home games were again like that. Guess what? The Tampa Bay Rays are in contention, and they deserve your support.

Personally, I traveled from St. Petersburg to Chicago — almost 2,000 miles, mind you — to attend the series. From there, it took me 45 minutes to travel from Bucktown (where I stayed) to Wrigleyville, by rail, and then back again. I didn’t complain when I was cramped like a sardine on the Blue and Red CTA Lines. Matter of fact, I hate being touched by strangers, although I remembered where I was and why, and I was thankful for the opportunity to watch may favorite baseball team take on the World Series champions some 2,000 miles from home — give or take 30 miles.

I wasn’t alone.

Friends, Steven Souza Jr. is right! The upcoming series against Boston is HUGE, and the good guys can make up some ground in the AL East and postseason standings going into the break. They want need it rockin’ and loud under the big top this weekend.

Not to pat myself on the back, but if I can literally stand on my feet for the better part of seven hours, from Tuesday morning into the late afternoon — including the ingress and egress into and out of the Friendly Confines, as well as the time spent standing in the bleacher section, under the centerfield scoreboard — then you can make the short or longer trek from wherever you live (be that in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, etc) to the Trop, to root on our team.

Boo-hoo, the bridge is long.

Suck it up, and show up late if you have to.

But the traffic is terrible!

No shit! But it’s not Rays fault that the City of Tampa and/or FDOT designed an intentional bottleneck on the east side of the Howard Franklin Bridge, which makes it hard to get into and out of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties during rush hour. Pro tip: show up a little late, or take the Gandy Bridge, which has been made much quicker on the Pinellas side.

In the end, the players shouldn’t have to deal with the embarrassment associated with an apathetic fanbase. Quit making excuses, and get out to the Trop!

*You know, because Odo consistently gives up homers.

LBWMF: Rays topple Chris Sale and the Red Sox, 4-1; Chris Archer is an All Star; Miller activated from DL

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Logan Morrison scores on the double by Wilson Ramos in the fourth inning Thursday night. (Photo Credit: Will Vragovic/Tampa Bay Times)

Jacob Faria battled through six innings to earn his sixth consecutive quality start on Thursday, while the Tampa Bay Rays came from behind to beat Chris Sale and the Red Sox 4–1. Wilson Ramos doubled, homered, drove in three of the Rays’ four runs, and threw out two runners on the bases.

Boston an early lead in the third inning after Tzu-Wei Lin, the number nine hitter, earned a leadoff walk against Faria to start the inning. Dustin Pedroia moved Lin to third on a one out single to center before Deven Marrero — who entered the game after Xander Bogaerts was hit by a pitch in the top of the inning — hit a sac fly to left.

Lacking pitch perfect command, Faria battled from that point forward, and kept the Red Sox off the board. The right-hander — who walked just five batters all season — walked four Red Sox, hit a batter, and posted just one perfect inning. And though Faria threw just 57 of 97 pitches for strikes (59% strike percentage), while notching just a pair of strikeouts, he buckled down when he needed to and held Boston’s productive offense to to 0-5 with runners in scoring position.

It doesn’t hurt that Faris was aided by Ramos, who threw out Andrew Benintendi trying to steal swipe second in the second, and then Lin trying to advance to third on a ball in the dirt to end the fifth.

Meanwhile, the Rays took the lead in the middle innings after Chris Sale stranded runners in scoring position in the second and third innings. Logan Morrison got things started when he blooped a one-out single to center in the fourth. Ramos followed with his first RBI of the night on a double to left-centerfield, scoring a rumbling Morrison all the way from first to pull even with Boston at one apiece.

Ramos’ RBI double

Wilson Ramos laces an RBI double to left-center field to plate Logan Morrison, knotting the score at 1 in the bottom of the 4th inning

Then in the fifth inning, Peter Bourjos gave the Rays a one-run lead when he homered into the left field corner, his fourth of the season.

Bourjos’ solo homer

Peter Bourjos drives a solo home run to left, giving the Rays a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 5th inning

Tampa Bay tacked on a pair of runs in the sixth, after Evan Longoria doubled down the left field line, then moved into third on Morrison’s productive groundout to first. Finally, Ramos capped the scoring by drilling a two-run missile into left-center for a 4–1 lead. It was Ramos’ third home run with Tampa Bay.

Brad Boxberger took over in the seventh and followed with a perfect frame. Boxberger has been excellent since his activation from the DL. He has commanded his pitches well, and his off-speed stuff looks crisp.

Tommy Hunter took over in the eighth and worked around a leadoff error of his own to pitch a scoreless frame.

Finally Alex El Coballo Colome, who previously allowed runs in five consecutive appearances (extending back to June 17), allowed just a two-out single in the ninth en route to his 23rd save.

The New What Next

Game two of the four-game set is tonight. Jake Odorizzi (5-3, 4.08 ERA, 5.51 FIP) will get the start opposite left-hander Drew Pomeranz (8-4, 3.64 ERA, 3.63 FIP).

Odorizzi has remained competitive in spite of a mechanical hiccup. He picked up his fifth win of the season on Saturday in Baltimore, where he allowed three runs over five innings. Odorizzi was provided 10 runs of support and easily cruised to victory while throwing an inefficient 111 pitches in just five innings (an average of 22.2 pitches per inning). Odorizzi has given up exactly three earned runs in five of his last six outings, although a rather beefy 5.51 FIP belies his overall 4.08 ERA. He is 3-2 with a 3.60 ERA at the Trop this season, where he’s averaged just over six innings of work per start.

Pomeranz held Toronto to one run over six innings in his last start. Pomeranz scattered baserunners throughout his start and never faced any real danger aside from a second inning sac-fly from Steve Pearce. Thanks to that outing, along with his previous start against the Twins, the southpaw has lowered his season ERA to the lowest point it’s been since early April. Pomeranz has gone at least five innings with two earned runs or fewer allowed in seven of his last eight starts. The Rays have had success against Pomeranz this season, tagging him for seven runs over two starts — a total of 7-1/3 innings of work. Key Matchups: Tim Beckham (2-4, HR, RBI, BB), Corey Dickerson (3-12, 3B, HR, RBI), Brad Miller (7-16, 2B, 3B, HR, 5 RBI, BB), Logan Morrison (2-8)

You can read more about the series in our preview.

Rays 7/7/17 Starting Lineup

Souza RF
Dickerson LF
Longoria DH
Morrison 1B
Ramos C
Miller 2B
Plouffe 3B
Smith CF
Hechavarria SS
Odorizzi RHP

Noteworthiness

— It appears that Rays skipper Kevin Cash may play a larger role in this year’s All-Star Game. Per Zach Meisel (Cleveland.com), Terry Francona underwent a heart procedure at the Cleveland Clinic on Thursday to correct an irregular heartbeat. He will miss the All-Star Game, and is expected to rejoin the club after the All-Star Break. Indians bench coach Brad Mills, who has been filling in for Francona, will manage the American League team.

Joining Mills and the rest of Cleveland’s coaching staff will be Cash. Joe Torre, the league’s chief baseball officer, called Francona earlier this week and asked if he wanted to add Rays manager Kevin Cash to the mix.

I was like, ‘Hell, yeah,’ Francona said. He’s going to be on the staff, too. That makes it even more special because Cash knows all these guys and me.

The Rays’ manager served as the Indians’ bullpen coach from 2013-14.

— The Rays announced that Chris Archer will be joining Cash and Corey Dickerson in Miami.

Archer was added as a replacement player on Friday, which is an interesting move since he is starting Sunday, and most pitchers who work on Sunday are not available for the game Tuesday night. He, however, is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Tuesday, so the All-Star appearance will supplant that.

Archer sports a 7-5 record and a 3.95 ERA on the season, however, as Daniel Russell (DRaysBay) noted, a further look at the numbers reveal an All-Star season has been in the making:

Archer has the 4th lowest FIP (3.03), 3rd highest K/9 (10.75), and third highest overall strikeout rate (28.6%) in the American League. Best of all, his 3.2 WAR is 2nd only to Chris Sale in the American League.

— Brad Miller was taken out Durham’s lineup on Thursday, and he is headed back to St. Petersburg this evening. To make room on the active roster, the team in turn placed Tim Beckham on the 10-day DL retroactive to yesterday. As for Beckham, with the All-Star Break looming, he could miss only six games: the remaining three against Boston, and the first two against the Angels in Anaheim.

— I’ve posted this twice now, but in light of the +23,000 fans that attended last night’s ball-game, it’s worth a third time. Hell, I may post it twice more after this!

Rays fans, it was incredible to witness an average of +40,000 fans turn out the last two days to watch the Rays battle the Cubs at Wrigley Field. It was loud and raucous, and it made me wish our home games were again like that. Guess what? The Tampa Bay Rays are in contention, and they deserve your support.

Personally, I traveled from St. Petersburg to Chicago — almost 2,000 miles, mind you — to attend the series. From there, it took me 45 minutes to travel from Bucktown (where I stayed) to Wrigleyville, by rail, and then back again. I didn’t complain when I was cramped like a sardine on the Blue and Red CTA Lines. Matter of fact, I hate being touched by strangers, although I remembered where I was and why, and I was thankful for the opportunity to watch may favorite baseball team take on the World Series champions some 2,000 miles from home — give or take 30 miles.

I wasn’t alone.

Friends, Steven Souza Jr. is right! The upcoming series against Boston is HUGE, and the good guys can make up some ground in the AL East and postseason standings going into the break. They want need it rockin’ and loud under the big top this weekend.

Not to pat myself on the back, but if I can literally stand on my feet for the better part of seven hours, from Tuesday morning into the late afternoon — including the ingress and egress into and out of the Friendly Confines, as well as the time spent standing in the bleacher section, under the centerfield scoreboard — then you can make the short or longer trek from wherever you live (be that in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, etc) to the Trop, to root on our team.

Boo-hoo, the bridge is long.

Suck it up, and show up late if you have to.

But the traffic is terrible!

No shit! But it’s not Rays fault that the City of Tampa and/or FDOT designed an intentional bottleneck on the east side of the Howard Franklin Bridge, which makes it hard to get into and out of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties during rush hour. Pro tip: show up a little late, or take the Gandy Bridge, which has been made much quicker on the Pinellas side.

In the end, the players shouldn’t have to deal with the embarrassment associated with an apathetic fanbase. Quit making excuses, and get out to the Trop!