A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words, Rays vs. A’s, 5/5/12 (Starting Lineup Included)

Carlos Mencia lookalike, Bartolo Colon (3-2, 2.53 ERA) takes to the mound tonight to take on a very confident Tampa Bay Rays, who are on a six game winning street. The Rays are 9-1 in their last 10 games, and 13-1 at home so far this season, as they attempt to add another tally in the W column tonight.

Colon is having a resurgence of sorts following the A’s acquisition of the rather swarthy right handed pitcher, posting a 2.53 ERA/34 H/12 R (all earned)/3 HR line, while giving up only three home runs and six walks, and striking out 26 in 42.2 innings of work. However, the Rays have had his number over the years, hitting .350 including 10 home runs. Carlos Pena, Sean Rodriguez, Luke Scott, BJ Upton, and Ben Zobrist, in particular, have an heaps of success against Colon, hitting a combined .373 with eight of the 10 Rays homers. Be looking for them to play a big role in tonight’s game.

Expect par for the course against Colon, who typically tosses the Rays fastballs.

Will Rhymes gets the start at third today, while Elliot Johnson takes over the duties at short-stop. Rhymes has posted some fairly good numbers since his call-up earlier this week. Rhymes has gone four-for-eleven, with three runs while striking out twice in the three games he’s appeared in. He will play an integral part in the lineup today with Rodriguez, who’s had some success against Colon, getting the day off.

Jeremy Hellickson (3-0, 2.51 ERA) gets the start for the Rays tonight. Helly has been very tough on opposing teams at the Trop, and poses an imminent threat to the A’s tonight. Young Jeremy is coming off of a 7 IP, one run performance on the 30th against the Mariners, where he struck out seven. Incidentally, Tampa Bay is 10-0 at the Trop when Hellickson is on the mound, one game shy of a team record. Wouldn’t it be lovely to see the Rays beat the A’s in the same manner as last night?! The starting lineup is below. As always, Go Rays!

Tampa Bay Rays (19-8) Starting Lineup:

Jennings LF
Upton CF
Pena 1B
Joyce RF
Scott DH
Zobrist 2B
Rhymes 3B
Molina C
Johnson SS
Hellickson RHP

Noteworthy musings: Local ESPN commentator, Dick Vitale, tweeted yesterday, “Need a new Stadium TROP. does not get it done Let’s go Rays!” As inclined as I am to find fault in his sentiment, I can’t. Why? He’s a local and he understands, more or less, the nuts and bolts of the Tampa Bay area…unlike some of his ESPN contemporaries. John Kruk on the other hand? That talking sausage needs to lay off.

Victor Crist, Are You Out of Your Mind??? Swapping Hits For Ships…Really?!

Swapping hits for ships, Victor Crist

Those crack reporters over at ABC Action News reported yesterday that Hillsborough County Commissioner, Victor Crist, has a reasonable (read: har-har) solution for the Rays stadium conundrum: Move the Rays to Tampa, and build a new port in St. Petersburg/Pinellas County. Wait, what?! Are you out of your damn mind, Crist? You can read the full report below.

If I may ask a question, WHERE IN GODS NAME WOULD YOU BUILD A NEW PORT IN THE FIRST PLACE?!

Would you build it in St. Petersburg? Good sir, if the idea is to build a port in a place where these new mega cruise ships could avoid traveling beneath the relatively shallow Skyway channel, cough…wouldn’t building a new port in St. Petersburg DEFEAT THAT PURPOSE?! Wouldn’t these ships STILL have to travel beneath the Skyway to get to one of the two already established ports in the eastern portion of St. Petersburg/Pinellas County?

Fine, let’s assume that it could be built on the western portion of the Pinellas peninsula. Where would you do so? John’s Pass? Ft. De Soto? Must I really remind you that, unless you’re planning on gutting already established smaller ports, that are already in redevelopment, there really is no place to build it? Do I really need to debate the intrinsic stupidity or lack of wisdom in building a mega port at Ft. De Soto?

Are you really that narrow sighted, to think your constituents would be excited by the prospect of losing potential jobs to another county, in lieu of building a new stadium in downtown Tampa? Call me crazy, but I cannot see any wisdom in such a move, predicated on an assumption that the attendance will miraculously be comparable to that of the other successful smaller market teams, or teams in economically strapped markets like Milwaukee or Detroit.

You can find Victor Crist’s Hillsborough County Commission page, including means of contact, below. Get in touch with this chap, and let him know how ridiculous of an idea he has proposed.

Victor Crist, Hillsborough County Commission

TAMPA –

The Sunshine Skyway Bridge seems tall enough, but today’s mega cruise ships are so gigantic, they don’t fit underneath.  That means the port of Tampa could lose millions of passengers to someplace else, possibly Pinellas County.
But Hillsborough County Commissioner Victor Crist has a solution: Allow a new port in Pinellas in exchange for the Tampa Bay Rays.
“If baseball could survive better and grow and be a stronger economic engine in Hillsborough, why not?” Crist asked. “If the cruise industry, expanded over to Pinellas County, could grow, why not?”
Crist argues that Pinellas County can better accommodate the cruise industry as it trends towards more massive ships, while the rays would get a new facility and better location.  But so far, the conversation is one-sided…
“We are separated, separated by 12 miles of water.  There is no talking.  There is no dialogue.  There is no creative thinking.  We need to start doing,” Crist said.
The idea of moving Tampa Bay’s team across the bay angers St. Pete businesses and divides fans.
“it’s much more convenient for us here.  We’ll still go to games, but just not as many,”  St. Petersburg resident Dean Meyeran said.
And some fans believe a move for the rays won’t ultimately solve their biggest problem — attendance.

Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc.

Rays vs. Mariners, 5/3/12

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Beach day for Peralta! He did earn it, to be fair. Photo courtesy of Steve Carney

The Rays have already taken this series, and will attempt to sweep their opponents for the third time this season, at 1:10 PM. Today’s lineup doesn’t include Ben Zobrist or BJ Upton. As you may recall, Upton was removed from the game early last night because of tightness in his quad. He was reportedly feeling up to snuff, yet he’ll miss today’s game. He should be back in the lineup tomorrow. Zobrist is simply getting the day off. Also, don’t expect to see Joel Peralta in the game today either. Maddon is giving him a day off, telling him to spend time at the beach.

Jeff Keppinger gets the start at third today in place of Evan Longoria. This is his first time starting at third since the ’09 season when he was with the Astros. Get used to hearing ______ will be filling in for Longo. D’oh! The starting lineup is below. Let’s Go Rays!

Rays 5/3/12 Starting Lineup:

Jennings CF

Pena 1B

Joyce RF

Scott DH

Allen LF

Rhymes 2B

Keppinger 3B

Gimenez C

Rodriguez SS

Niemann RHP

Another Win, Another Series; Rays Win 5-4

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – MAY 2: Infielder Will Rhymes #10 of the Tampa Bay Rays is called out at the plate against the Seattle Mariners May 2, 2012 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

Update: “Maddon says Upton had only “cramping” and “tightness” and it is not a “serious” issue…Upton looked to be walking fine and said “no big deal.” But w/day game Thursday he’s unlikely to be in lineup,” tweets Marc Topkin regarding the status of BJ Upton.

The Rays took their 11th home victory of the season tonight against the Mariners, 5-4. To say that this was a bit of an odd game would be like saying water is wet. Nevertheless a win is a win is a win. Tampa Bay also improved it’s record to 17-8 on the season, and has now won its sixth series. The Rays will go for the sweep tomorrow afternoon before they start another home series Friday against the A’s.

Box and line scores, courtesy of Yahoo Sports.

Let’s break this game down into the good, the bad, and the weird.

The good:

(Offensively) Luke Scott, Jose Molina, and Will Rhymes each went 2 for 4 on the night. The three of them scored four of the five Rays runs. Also, both Scott and Sean Rodriguez went deep tonight; Rodriguez to left and Scott to deep center. Luke, buy the Mariners center-fielder, Michael Sauders, a beer for helping that ball make it over the center-field fence. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give credit where it’s due to both Molina and Rodriguez, who both drove in two runs a piece.

(Defensively) Big Game James struck out 11, giving the Rays the third 10+ strikeout game in a row. He improves his record to 5-0 on the season. The bullpen (I’m looking at you JP Howell, Wade Davis, and Joel Peralta) again came up huge, giving up only two hits and one walk in three innings of work, all the while striking out three. Peralta also got a 1-2/3 IP save, his first of the year.

Notable mentions: It was great watching Rhymes being aggressive on the base paths. And though neither Carlos Pena or Matt Joyce got a hit, they both made solid contact, coming within a only few feet of a couple of dingers themselves.

The Bad:

Big Game James was pulled out of the game after the fifth inning after throwing 100+ pitches, and giving up two home runs to Kyle Seager. The Rays also left six men on base, including two in the sixth following the Luke Scott one run homer. Tampa Bay could have blown the game open had they driven in Molina and Rhymes. Finally, BJ Upton was pulled between the fifth and sixth innings, reportedly with tightness in his quad. There’s no official word on Upton yet.

The Weird: 

James Shields lasted all of five innings, yet he still struck out 11, and had a 62% to 38% strike to ball ratio. The 38 pitch first and 26 pitch fourth really sapped him.

Rays vs. Mariners, 5/2/12 Starting Lineup AKA, Welcome Will Rhymes

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Will Rhymes gets his first start in a Rays uniform tonight at third base, in place of Evan Longoria who’s currently on the 15 day DL because of a partially torn hamstring.

The speculation over who would be taking Evan Longoria’s place at third was quelled a bit today, as INF Will Rhymes, who was just called up from triple-A Durham, got penciled in at third base, hitting seventh in the lineup. Rhymes will be wearing number 10.

Tampa Bay (16-8) attempts to win their fourth game in a row, as well as their seventh series of the 2012 season, against a Mariners (11-14) team that isn’t, well…so hot.

The Mariners are on a four game losing streak, having won only four games out of their last 10. The Rays are now 10-1 at home. It would be incredible to see them win this and the next series, waltzing into New York on a dominating high note. They need to do what they can to continue to win games in the absence of Evan Longoria. Interestingly enough, the Rays are 32-22 without Longo. Perhaps that statistic could help calm people down; those that would have you believe that a loss of Longo equals the end of the world. Don’t get me wrong, this injury royally sucks. But it’s not the end of the world, nor will it be the end of their success.

Rays ace, James Shields (4-0, 3.31 ERA) toes the rubber against Blake Beaven (1-2, 3.60 ERA) in tonight’s match up. Shields will attempt to bounce back from a so-so six inning, 11 hit, four earned run start against Texas where he struck out eight. Shields is 3-4 with a 4.04 ERA in his career, and 0-2 with a 8.21 ERA in his last three starts against the Mariners.

Beaven, on the other hand, has given up three earned runs in each of his last three starts, though he has pitched very well in those starts. The right-hander lasted only 5-2/3 IP in Beaven’s last start on the 27th, in Toronto. Beaven has very good control of his pitches, posting a 1.39 walks per nine innings ratio. The young righty hasn’t faced many of the Rays hitters, but the two that have (Molina and Allen) have had some success against him (see below). The starting lineups are also below. As always, Let’s Go Rays!

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Players on the roster with experience against Beaven.
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Starting lineups, courtesy of Rotoinfo.com