All the News Fit to Print on a Slow News Day, Part II

Here are a handful of updates ahead of the start of the symbolic second half of the season.

All the News Fit to Print on a Slow News Day

There isn’t much to write about today. Sure, I’m sure I could whip up something on the All-Star Game, though I cannot help but feel that there is a far greater narrative embedded within the Rays’ battle to stay relevant going into the symbolic second half of the season. That is, I’m more concerned with my team making it to the playoffs in the first place, than I am with which league will receive home field advantage in the World Series. Nevertheless, I was able to cull together a few Rays-centric, newsworthy items bulleted below.

Looking Backward While Moving forward: Kiermaier and Odorizzi Lead the Rays to 10-3 Win

The Tampa Bay Rays once again found themselves with a tally in the win column, after they blasted the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 10-3, Saturday. Led by Kevin Kiermaier’s hitting and Jake Odorizzi’s solid pitching, the Rays reclaimed fourth place from the Red Sox (who lost to Houston), and start the day just 5-1/2 games behind the third place New York Yankees. Odorizzi got the start in place of scheduled starter David Price, who was feeling ill. Price will take the mound this afternoon, opposite of RA Dickey, in series finale.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Shields, Royals Blank Rays, 6-0

I tried bargaining with the baseball gods, ahead of the series opener last night. My bargain: Allow Tampa Bay to win a close game, and let James Shields to walk away from The Trop with a quality seven inning, no-decision under his belt. The plan seemed like a win/win to me. However, neither the baseball gods nor James Shields accepted my very reasonable bargain. In the end, despite the very good start by Jake Odorizzi, Big Game James was downright dominant in his seven inning homecoming, slashing 7 IP/3 H/0 R/1 BB/10 K on 103 pitches (64 strikes). Truth be told, with a pair of winnable games remaining in the series, I’m not that broken up over the loss — well, with the exception of Juan-Carlos Oviedo’s fart-on-a-snare-drum worthy two innings of work.