Tampa Bay took another win, and inevitably another series, from the Blue Jays today in extra innings by a score of 5-4. There were lots of highlights to speak of…and unfortunately a few lowlights as well. Here’s a smattering of them. I’m sure I’m leaving something out. However, what do you want for nothing? Don’t complain, you jack-wagons!
Highlights
-James Shields reclaims the big game moniker, posting a 7.1 IP/7 H/3 R/2 ER/1 BB/10 K line. Of the 110 pitches he threw on the day, 81 were for strikes; a 74% to 26% strike to ball ratio.
-The pen performed well, giving up three hits and one earned run, while striking out four in 3-2/3 innings of work.
-Carlos Pena continued to show that the he might be a good fit in the lead off spot, reaching base four times on a hit and two walks. He was also hit by a pitch. ‘Los crossed the plate twice on the day.
-Andrew Sutton…yeah, he’s fitting in well in the lineup, going two-for-four with a walk, while driving in two RBI on a double.
-BJ Upton continues his hot hitting, going three-for-six with a run and the game winning walk off RBI double in the 11th. Upton improved his hitting streak to eight games in a row.
Lowlights
Oy vey, there were some, urm…rather unsavory moments. Imagine, if you will, that those unsavory moments could be personified by an analyst from everyone’s favorite network, ESPN. What analyst would be the human representation of unsavory? Rick Sutcliffe? Orel Hershiser? Terry Francona? I contend, the personification of unsavory would be the man-in-blood-sausage-form himself, Mr. John Kruk. Yes, those moments would look like John Kruk.
-The Rays only scored five runs while stranding 11 on the bags. This includes a bases loaded seventh that ended with an Andrew Sutton, swinging, strikeout and culminating in a wasted opportunity to score runs. All in all, Tampa Bay went 2-11 with runners in scoring position. Eek.
-The rays are now hitting .235 with RISP. The rest of MLB is on a downward trend for runs scored in general. Overall, the league average for hitting with RISP is some 15 points higher than Tampa Bay, at least at the moment. The Rays average will go up when Longoria and Desmond Jennings return to the roster. Yet, one could assume that the league average will increase over time as well.
-Elliot Johnson committed the 41st error of the year on a botched play in the fifth. That error inevitably resulted in a run.
-The Rays are now third, in all of baseball, for errors committed. The Giants lead all of baseball with 46 errors. That’s, uh…not so good, considering that the Rays pride themselves on being a pitching and fielding team.
There is a school of thought that a team’s batting average with runners in scoring position, ultimately, is irrelevant. To an extent, I agree. However, I also contend, that in order for that statistic to be irrelevant, a team cannot afford to give up an inordinate amount of runs, especially those that are directly attributed to an error or errors. Over the course of the last three games, Tampa Bay has given up at least five runs that can be directly attributed to the six errors that Tampa Bay committed in this series alone.
In the end, the Rays were able to improve their record to 27-18, pulling within one game of the Baltimore Orioles. I should also mention that Tampa Bay is sitting nine games over .500 while 10 men are on the DL. These are highlights in and of themselves. The errors and the lack of run support will eventually come to pass. I can say, if Tampa Bay is in this position with all of their warts and all, think how they’ll brutalize the AL when everyone is healthy, and the Rays aren’t playing with, for all intents and purposes, a 4-A team.