The New What Next: Rays vs Indians, A Series Preview of Sorts

The Rays have made up an enormous amount of ground in the AL East — five games to be exact — in the last week, and they’ll attempt to take the series from the 29-24 Indians. The Tribe has struggled lately, having won only three of their last 10 games. However, Cleveland is 17-10 at home and has won their last two games. Furthermore, they’ve won 15 of their last 19 at home, outscoring opponents 105-64. All this is to say, it won’t be easy. Saturday marks the 2013 debut of Chris Archer, who is filling the void left in the wake of David Price’s DL stint.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Sweep Marlins In Four Games

Tampa Bay took game four of the Citrus Series from the Marlins by a score of 5-2, after rookie RHP Alex Colome put together a solid 5-2/3 IP debut. Giving up one run (un-earned) on five hits and two walks, Colome struck out seven, while becoming the eighth Rays pitcher to win his debut outing.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: The “How Good Was Hernandez Wednesday Night?!” Edition

Simply put, Roberto Hernandez was stellar in the Rays 3-1 win against the Marlins Wednesday night. Posting an excellent 8.2 IP/3 H/1 R/0 ER/0 BB/5 K slash line, Hernandez went 22-for-28 in first pitch strikes, induced 12 groundouts and nine fly-outs, and at one point retired 15 consecutive batters (26 out of 27) — all on 92 pitches.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Win 7-6 In Walk-off Fashion

One thing was evident upon entering the 2013 Citrus Series: The Rays needed to beat the Marlins. Without going into the why’s (editors note: I think the “why’s” are fairly obvious), the Rays have been successful thus far, snagging the first two games away from the Fish, while ending their most recent home-stand with a 3-2 record. The second half of the Citrus Series begins Wednesday at Carnival Cruise Lines Field…urm, Marlins Park.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Kelly Johnson Leads the Way to A 10-6 Win Sunday

Tampa Bay won the first game of a four game set against the Marlins Monday by a score of 10-6, in what could be construed as a (relatively) poorly pitched outing — at least as it related to Jake Odorizzi and Josh Lueke. The Rays persevered though, thanks to Kelly Johnson who had a huge two-homer, six RBI, day at the plate.