ST. PETERSBURG – AUGUST 04: Outfielder Sam Fuld #5 of the Tampa Bay Rays catches a fly ball against the Baltimore Orioles during the game at Tropicana Field on August 4, 2012 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images)

A short post today because I’m hungover. The Rays look to turn their fortunes around after getting shutout 4-0 by a masterful Wei-Yin Chen and the Orioles. The big O didn’t look so hot last night. The Rays hitters reached base safely eight times, yet they squandered every scoring opportunity they had. Let’s look at things a bit.

  • Five Rays went 0-fer last night: Will Rhymes (0-1), Ryan Roberts (0-3), Sean Rodriguez (0-3), Carlos Pena (0-3, BB), and Desmond Jennings (0-4). Hey Pena, Roberts, SeanRod, etc. I’m not sure if you knew this, but you’re in the middle and back end of the lineup to drive in runs. You can’t drive in runs if you don’t get a hit!
  • Everyone in the lineup last night, with the exception of Jose Molina and Will Rhymes, had an opportunity to move runners over, or drive in runs. They however didn’t. Hey, at least Upton, Zobrist, Keppinger, Fuld, and Molina did their jobs by getting on base.
  • Sam Fuld made web gem numero tres last night. Will Rhymes came in number five, however he get web gemmed.
  • Pitching pitching pitching…JP Howell, Burke Badenhop, and Wade Davis gave up only two hits while striking out eight and walking none in their five combined innings of work.

Tampa Bay looks to bounce back in the rubber match of this three game series with David Price on the mound. Get it? Bounce back…rubber match! Is this thing on? Ahem.

Anyway, what better person is there to toe the rubber today than David Price? The Orioles have posted a combined .232 BA/.277 OBP/.330 SLG/.607 OPS line against Price in 203 career at-bats, with only 14 extra base hits including just two home runs. He, on the other hand, has struck out 64 of those batters, while walking 14.

Rays 8/15/12 Starting Lineup

Jennings LF
Upton CF
Joyce RF
Zobrist 2B
Keppinger DH
Pena 1B
Roberts 3B
Lobaton C
Johnson SS
Price LHP

Noteworthiness:  Yes, the mayor and city council have kept their conversations, with concern to the stadium debate, under wraps. While Hillsborough county business leaders and elected officials have played the part of carpetbagger by openly courting the Rays, the efforts in trying to save the Rays by business leaders and elected officials on this side of the bay have gone largely unnoticed by the local media outlets in this area. When is that narrative going to change?

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