Another day, another disappointing performance on both sides of the plate. Tampa Bay continues its 10-game road trip Friday, making the trek north to Seattle to take on the Mariners in a three-game set, following a 6-2 loss against the Angels in the series finale. The late night loss hurt, but the opportunity to bounce back against Seattle is promising. The Mariners are another sub .500 team, and a series win would give Tampa Bay an opportunity to come home on a wave of momentum. Then again, the Angels also are rocking a sub .500 record as well, so…
Category Archives: The New What Next
Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Hellickson Sharp in His Return to the Mound
Suffice to say, at this point in the season Jeremy Hellickson needed to string together a good start. With all of the external factors effecting the probability of the Rays finding a postseason berth, compounded with the fact that Boston absolutely blew out the Tigers in an earlier game, the pressure was on Hellickson and the Rays to win. After a six start stretch where Hellickson relinquished (on average) 4.1 earned runs, while averaging only 4.1 innings per outing*, it would be safe to say that no one knew what we’d see out of Jeremy upon his return to the mound. But Hellickson came out of the fog Wednesday night, putting together a solid 5.1 inning shutout outing.
Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Strike Back Against LA, 7-1
Don’t call the EMT’s just yet. Tampa Bay showed signs of life Tuesday night in the 7-1 win, and return to the mound of Matt Moore. The Rays All-Star lefty spent the better part of 36 days on the DL with a sore elbow, prior to his 5-1/3 inning start. And granted this may not have been his sharpest start (with Moore posting a 57% K%) of the season, Moore helped ignite the spark that allowed the Rays offense to explode — ultimately tagging Jason Vargas and Anaheim for seven runs on 15 hits and seven walks. Roberto Hernandez came on in relief in the sixth and put together 3-2/3 innings of perfect baseball, striking out seven along the way.
Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Angels Throttle Rays 11-2
Tampa Bay found themselves on the wrong end of an 11-2 loss against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Monday night. The game was ugly — filled with missed scoring opportunities, bad pitching (especially in the sixth and seventh innings), and lethargic ball play overall. The Rays start the day 5.5 games behind the Red …
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The New What Next: Rays and Angels, A Four Game Set on the West Coast
awbreaker, the relatively famous melodic punk band from the 90’s, coined the phrase, “When it pains it roars.” I could be wrong, but I believe Blake, the former singer and guitarist of Jawbreaker, was referring to the Rays with his Nostradamus like prophecy. After all, the pain really is roaring at the moment following their three-game sweep at the hands A’s — a series in which Tampa Bay scored all of five runs (a 1.6 run per game average), converting only 19% of RISP situations. Mind you too, prior to their most recent — ill fated — series, the Rays came off a lackluster series against the Angels — who they’re facing this week. Tampa Bay wasn’t much better in their last series against the Angels, taking only one game while averaging three runs per game.