Joyce and Upton unload, Rays take the series, and other random bits of ephemera (starting lineup included)

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – AUGUST 11: Matt Joyce #20 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates a solo home run against the Minnesota Twins during the first inning on August 11, 2012 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

The Rays won their fifth game in a row last night, edging out the Twins by a score of 4-2. They’ve now won five games in a row, and the last two series. The Rays, behind James Shields, will go for their second sweep in a row this afternoon in Minnesota.

Tampa Bay got all of the offensive oomph they needed thanks to Matt Joyce (1-4, R, RBI, HR) and BJ Upton (2-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR), who were responsible for driving in all of the Rays four runs on the back of three blasts. Teaming up for a pair of first inning blasts, Upton and Joyce were the first Rays to hit back to back homers since game four of the 2008 ALDS, in Boston.

And though not as sharp as he has been, David Price was still able to suppress the Twins, posting a 7 IP/7 H/2 ER/5 K/1 HR line, pitching seven or more innings for the 15th time this season, and the 10th start in a row. Let’s go bullet by bullet before we move on.

  • The Rays were able to get their third nine plus hit game in a row, their fourth out of five games.
  • Upton smashed two bombs, one for 425 feet and the other for 433 feet.
  • How about Joyce going yard for the second day in a row?!
  • Ryan Roberts finally seems to be coming into his own. Following an 0-fer streak which extended into last week, Roberts has started to put together more consistent at-bats. After going 2-4 with a pair of singles last night, Roberts has now improved his slash line to .170 BA/.304 OBP/.277 SLG/.581 OPS. Those aren’t stellar numbers, but they’re much better than what he was posting just a week ago.
  • Sure, Longoria and Pena went 0-7 with a walk last night. And well, that’s uh…yeah. Look at the bright side; they were both able to work good at bats, eating up 46 of the total 127 Twins pitches.
  • Ben Zobrist: 3-4 with a double. If anyone deserves to be the Rays MVP, it’d have to be Zo!
  • After going 7-11 wRISP Friday, the Rays regressed a bit by going 0-7 wRISP and stranding five last night. Ouch.
  • Desmond Jennings has nine first pitch hits with six since July 25th. Jennings has posted a .465 BA/.455 OBP/.837 SLG/1.292 line with three doubles, two triples, and three homers, while driving in seven RBI when stepping to the plate with an 0-0 count.
  • Fernando Rodney: 35 saves in 36 opportunities, twenty consecutive saves, and a 0.84 ERA. Wow!
  • The Rays allowed 36 unearned runs in the first 67 games, and just seven over last 46. See what happens when you don’t continuously make stupid errors?
The New What Next

James Shields (10-7, 4.08 ERA) will take on the Twins undisputed ace Scott Diamond (10-5, 2.91 ERA) as the Rays attempt to win their sixth consecutive game. The Rays enter the game with sole possession of second place, sitting six games behind the AL East leading Yankees, and tied with Oakland for a wildcard berth. (if the season were to end today) Woot woot! Tampa Bay has never gone up against the Twins RHP. Diamond is a strike thrower, leaning on his fastball, change-up, and slider against righties, while attacking lefties with his fastball and slider. The rookie LHP tends to be a ground ball pitcher, having given up only 10 homers in 114 innings of work. Here’s to hope that the Rays can force the issue on this tough righty.

Scott Diamond vs. righties.
Scott Diamond vs. lefties.
Rays 8/12/12 Starting Lineup

Jennings LF
Upton CF
Zobrist RF
Longoria DH
Keppinger 3B
Pena 1B
Roberts 2B
Rodriguez SS
Lobaton C
Shields RHP

Noteworthiness: Longo is hitting fourth again. Zobrist will get the start in right field while Sean Rodriguez gets the start at short. As always, Let’s Go Rays!

Looking backward while moving forward, Rays vs Twins 8/11/12 (starting lineup included)

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – AUGUST 10: Ben Zobrist #18 of the Tampa Bay Rays congratulates Matt Joyce #20 on scoring against the Minnesota Twins during the second inning on August 10, 2012 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

The Rays bats showed up in grand fashion last night, scoring 12 runs on 13 hits and four walks, while handing the Twinkies a 12-6 throttling. It’s a good thing Tampa Bay was able to score those runs, because Helly didn’t quite show up with his A-game. Posting a 5 IP/7 H/ 3 ER/2 BB/3 K/1 HR line, Hellickson had to be taken out of the game at the end of the fifth, after throwing 98 pitches. (63 for strikes) Beyond another scoreless inning for JP Howell (his 22 consecutive) the pitching wasn’t what drove the narrative last night, it was what the Rays did at the plate. Let’s break it down a bit:

  • Almost everyone in the lineup showed up to the party for the second game in a row. Eight Rays got at least a hit, with four Rays having a multi-hit night: Desmond Jennings (3-4, 2B, RBI, 3 R), Matt Joyce (2-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R), Jeff Keppinger (2-4, 2b, 2 R), and Jose Molina (2-4, 3 RBI, 2 R).
  • Tampa Bay went 7-11 wRISP, while leaving only four men on base.
  • Three Rays had a multi-RBI night: BJ Upton, Molina, and Joyce with two, three, and four RBI. (respectively)
  • Don’t be fooled by Ben Zobrist’s 0-5 showing at the plate. Zobrist was able to work some decent at-bats, seeing some 22 pitches. Zobrist and Evan Longoria (1-3, RBI, BB) combined saw almost a third of the Twins 154 pitches.
  • Put this in your pipe and smoke it: Since Longoria’s return, the Rays have posted a .328 BA/.469 SLG/.394 BABIP line with 26 runs on 42 hits, including one home run and 15 doubles. That’s an average of 6.5 runs and 10.5 hits a game.
  • It’s interesting, the Rays have been able to BABIP the opposing pitching to death lately. 26 of their 42 hits in the last four games have been singles. …Oh the power of constantly pressing the issue, and consistency at the plate.
  • With Evan Longoria’s return, the Rays have started to perform to their ability. I say started because a few Rays haven’t put up the greatest of numbers, while others are starting to get hot. Sure, Longoria has had at least a hit and an RBI in every game (that is with the exception of Tuesday) and that’s big. But when you look at the performance of the players around him, you see how important his presence is in the lineup.
  • How about Zo at SS? Zobrist made a pair of excellent plays in the first inning, retiring Ben Revere on slow grounder, followed by getting Justing Morneau while ranging to his left out of the shift. Zobrist and Roberts also paired up for what turned out to be a great play, getting Revere in the fifth inning as he slid past the bag.
The New What Next

David Price (14-4, 2.49 ERA) and the Rays will take on Nick Blackburn (4-7, 7.42 ERA) and the Twins tonight in game two of this three game set. Tampa Bay has posted a .350 BA/.393 OBP/.520 SLG/.913 OPS against Blackburn in 100 career at-bats. Ben Zobrist, BJ Upton, Sean Rodriguez, Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria, Sam Fuld, and Matt Joyce have all wreaked havoc on Blackburn, touching him up for 26 hits, including four doubles, a triple, and three homers. Blackburn has also posted an 8.04 ERA while losing three straight starts to the Rays.

Rays 8/11/12 Starting Lineup

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

Noteworthiness: Molina is catching for the second day straight, while Longoria takes on the DH duties for the fifth day straight. Interestingly enough, though Joe Maddon said he’d put Zobrist in at short stop on days when a fly ball pitcher was on the mound, he is in there for the third day straight at short even though Price is more of a ground ball pitcher.

Rays 8/10/12 starting lineup

Rays 8/10/12 Starting Lineup:

Jennings LF
Upton CF
Joyce RF
Longoria DH
Zobrist SS
Pena 1B
Keppinger 3B
Roberts 2B
Molina C
Hellickson RHP

Noteworthiness: The Rays enter tonight’s game with a 59-52. They’re six games out of first, and a half out of second in the AL East. They are also a half game behind Detroit, Oakland, and Baltimore who are tied in a very tight wildcard race. Tonight promises to be the start of a very fun three game series.

Longo is batting fourth as the DH for the fourth day in a row. Can you blame Joe for wanting him in the lineup after amassing three RBI on four hits over the last three games? Maddon also has Zobrist at shortstop and hitting fifth, and Keppinger at third base and hitting seventh. Let’s see if the Rays can make it a four game winning streak. Let’s Go Rays!

A Rays vs Twins series preview of sorts…among other things.

Alright ladies and gentlemen, another edition of the series preview. This time we are broadcasting to you live from Minneapolis…by way of my couch in hot and humid St. Petersburg, FL. My oh my I do declare, there are so many possibilities for streaming audio at the bottom of the page this time around. Do I got for the tried and true Replacements or Husker Du? Do I give a shout out to some of my favorite hardcore and crust bands, and err in the direction of Civil Disobedience or Man Afraid? What about Dillinger Four or Atmosphere? So many tempting choices!

Before I get started, I have to give a big shout out to a certain Rays blog that is already poo-pooing the idea of a new facility in Carillon. Then again, that’s what people that are hell bent on one idea, and only one idea, do when a solution pops up that may not fit their mold. It’s funny how they repeat the Rays respect the process mantra, without actually doing it themselves. I’ll agree, that the parking situation at a proposed Carillon site could be nightmarish. Then again, the group that put together the stadium proposal has reportedly “hammered out details for months”. How’s this for a novel concept, perhaps LeClair’s group should formally pitch their plans before we talk about the flaws.

Look folks, not every set of plans are going to be 100% perfect, and I’m certain that there would be parking concerns if a stadium were to be plopped down, smack dab, in the middle of downtown Tampa. LeClair and Co. are land developers that work on these types of problems all of the time. Give them a chance to explain themselves before you send them to the gallows. Opening day in a new park isn’t just around the corner. A new stadium probably wouldn’t open until 2016 at the earliest. There’s time to work things through. But then again, the infrastructure and traffic engineers over at the unnamed blog simply must have a greater perspective an understanding of these types of things since they were privy to the project plans before the city or the Rays. Wait…what’s that? They weren’t privy to the plans? Oh, hmm. Respect the process fools!

Rays and Twins series starters over the last 30 days
Rays and Twins hitting at home and away (respectively), and over the last 30 days
  • Well, the Twins offensive output can’t be to blame for their 49-62 record. Posting a team .264 BA/.331 OBP/.404 SLG/.735 OPS line, the Twins  have scored 51 more runs than the Rays. Compare that to the Rays .231 BA/.313 OBP/.368 SLG/.680 OPS line.
  • So what’s the problem then? Simply put, the Twins pitching isn’t very good. The Twins pitching staff has posted a 4.77 ERA/.273 BAA/.296 BABIP/4.69 FIP/1.39 WHIP line. Yeesh.
  • Tampa Bay went 4-2 on this home stand, and 8-3 in their last 11 games with a 1.19 ERA. Even more spectacular, the Rays pitchers have posted a 0.70 ERA in their last 10 wins.
  • The Twins are 6-4 in their last ten games, going 5-2 on their most recent road trip.
This series preview is brought to you by the Twin-Cities own Banner Pilot. Sure Collapser is older, but it’s still pretty damn great!

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Rays win 7-1, and sweep the Jays

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Matt Moore delivers to the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Brian Blanco)

Sheesh, what a difference a few days make. The end of the Orioles series left most of us on pins and needles, following a disastrous two runs over the course of three days offensive collapse. Compare that the most recent series where Tampa Bay scored 14 runs, and held the Blue Jays to just four.

The Rays even looked like a real offensive juggernaut today. Everyone in the lineup reached base, while Sam Fuld was the only Ray to go hitless. All told, Tampa Bay went 5-10 wRISP (woo-hoo, a 50% conversion rate), scoring seven runs on 13 hits, four walks, and one hit batsman. Most impressive, offensively speaking, the Rays had men on the base paths in every inning, scoring in the second, third, fourth, fifth, and eighth innings. They kept the pressure on from the get go, and never let up. A bulleted synopsis is below.

  • To be fair, the Rays would have handed it to the Jays today even if Longoria wasn’t in the lineup. However, Longo going 3-5 and driving in two runs certainly doesn’t suck. I think it’s safe to say that Longoria’s bat is a welcome addition to the lineup. Longo went 4-12 with four RBI in the series.
  • Oh Jose Lobaton, I love when you have multi hit, multi RBI days. Lobaton went 2-4 with three RBI following a pair of singles in the second and fifth innings. I’d imagine that he’d have more consistent at-bats if he were an everyday player, ahem.
  • Keppinger again had another big day at the plate, going 3-4 and scoring a run in the second inning on Lobaton’s first single.
  • The Rays were 10-28 wRISP during this series following a lackluster 0-10 wRISP showing against the Orioles.
  • Matt Moore had a scary 34 pitch first inning, allowing a double, a walk, two stolen bases while balking in Toronto’s only run. Moore was almost flawless from then on, finishing of the day by posting a 6 IP/2 H/1 ER/2 BB/6 K line.
  • JP Howell pitched another scoreless inning and has now gone 21 innings without giving up a run.
  • Tampa Bay went 4-2 on this home stand, and 8-3 in their last 11 games with a 1.19 ERA. Even more spectacular, the Rays pitchers have posted a 0.70 ERA in their last 10 wins.
  • Oh yeah you may not have heard, this happened!