The New What Next: Rays vs. O’s, A Series Preview

The Tampa Bay Rays finished off the Blue Jays in grandiose fashion Sunday afternoon, with Jose Lobaton mashing his second career walk-off hit — a one run blast to right-field in the bottom of the tenth. Both career walk-offs came in this series. And what a series it was for Jose Lobaton. In the two games he started, Lobi went 4-8 with a triple, homer, run, and three runs batted in. The Rays overall production dropped between the Mariners and Blue Jays’ series, however we saw what could be construed as a return to form for Jeremy Hellickson (who’ll be pitching Wednesday night) and Chris Archer. Tampa Bay closed out its six game home stand with a 4-2 record ahead of their upcoming three-game road trip against the third place Orioles.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Walk-off For the Second Time This Week

For the ninth time this season, the Rays won in dramatic fashion, with catcher Jose Lobaton hitting the game winning one out RBI triple up the right field line. The icing on the cake? New York crushed Boston, allowing Tampa Bay to gain a game on the Red Sox, putting the Rays just a game out of first place in the AL East. The Rays 5-4 walk-off win was the second of the week.

The New What Next: Rays vs. Blue Jays, A Series Preview

The Tampa Bay Rays welcome the Toronto Blue Jays into the Trop Friday night for a three-game set on the heels of a big 7-1 throttling against the Mariners, Thursday night. Mired in a funk extending back 12-games, the Rays took the series from the Mariners after dropping two consecutive to the Diamondbacks and Dodgers. Tampa Bay upped their per game runs average back to 5.3, while the pitching — especially the bullpen — seems to be coming back around. In short, the series previous gave the impression that Tampa Bay is once again stabilizing, and none too soon — the Red Sox have dropped two in a row, and the Rays have been able to regain some ground in the AL East.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Do the Walk-off! Rays Win, 5-4

Despite stranding 12 men on the bags and David Price’s relative rough outing, the Rays came from behind to beat the Mariners in grand fashion Wednesday night — defeating Seattle by a score of 5-4 thanks to a game ending Jason Bourgeois walk-off single. This, my friends, felt like a Rays win. I live blogged the game from the $9.53 seats — you can read the blow-by-blow account at our Tumblr site. Otherwise, it’s time for another edition of The Good, the Bad, and the Argyle: A Bulleted game summary.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Drop Sixth Straight, 5-4

The Rays dropped their sixth consecutive game Tuesday night, losing to the sub .500 Seattle Mariners by a score of 5-4. Tampa Bay did not lose more than six games in the entire month of July. The Rays now sit four games behind the first place Boston Red Sox, and only a game and a half in front of Baltimore for the second wildcard spot.