Tampa Bay Rays' Carlos Pena watches the flight of the ball after hitting a grand-slam home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees in St. Petersburg, Fla., Friday, April 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

I’m not really sure how to start this piece beyond just saying wow…I mean, wow! What a game!

As with game 162, it was nice to have seen the batters doing whatever they could to assure a victory, when the starting pitcher looked less than ace-like. And they did just that today in front of a sold out crowd at the Trop. Overall, I have more good to say than bad. Though there are some criticisms to be noted. Let’s start with the good.

Welcome home, Los! Talk about a grand re-introduction to the Rays fans. Carlos Pena went 3-5 with five RBI’s and one run scored, including a first inning grand slam against Grimmace…urm, CC Sabathia, and the game winning single in the ninth to score Ben Zobrist. Pena easily had the most applause during the pre-game player introductions. I don’t know if that had a palpable effect on him, though it’s easy assume it did after the numbers he put up. Evan Longoria, too, had a big day at the plate, going 3-3 with one RBI and a run scored, after a third inning blast to left field, again off of Grimmace. This certainly isn’t to overshadow Ben Zobrist’s contribution in the least.

Though Zobrist went 1-5 overall, his ninth inning triple that scored Desmond Jennings framed up a win that will go in the books as another hard-fought, memorable victory. It could be argued that he was the unsung hero of the game. In the end, it’s easy to focus on that fact that the Rays did strand a few guys on base, some of which were in scoring position. Stranding runners in scoring position is a too common occurrence for the Rays. However, they were able to drive in runners in clutch moments when they ultimately mattered the most.

Box score, courtesy of ESPN

The game wasn’t without some unnecessary drama, and watching “Big Game” James revert to “All Fields” Shields was a tough pill to swallow. To be fair, Sabathia didn’t look too Cy Young award-winning himself. I’d love to chalk it up to opening day jitters. Here’s to hope that Shields will return to form in his next start, presumably against Verlander and the Tigers. Sabathia? I could give two craps if he returns to form, but I digress.

Shields didn’t look sharp. Yes, he threw a lot of strikes today, 66 out of 104 pitches to be exact. But those strikes weren’t exactly quality pitches. Watching him earn a 10.80 ERA in only five innings of work, all the while giving up six earned runs on nine hits, made him seem more like 2010 Shields instead of the 2011 beast that we had the privilege of watching last season. He was the most consistent starter in all of last season, not to mention this spring, and lord knows that I’m probably just blowing things out of proportion based off of one crappy start. Ask me again in a week.

James Shields pitch location, courtesy of Brooksbaseball.net

On the other hand, the Rays bullpen, which has been thrust into a bit of a state of disarray recently, did a knock-up job. Howell, Davis, Badenhop, McGee, Peralta and Rodney held the Yankees to four scoreless innings to keep the Rays in the game. I’ve got to hand it to Howell, who looked really good. Working 2/3 of an inning, Howell was able to induce two poorly hit pop-flies to get the two batters he faced out. Davis followed Howell and performed fairly well too, giving up one walk and no hits.

I’ve got to be honest, Fernando Rodney scares me. I’ve seen how poorly located some of his pitches can be. But I’ve got to hand it to him, his performance in the ninth really put my mind at ease. Pitching in place of Farnsworth, Rodney went three up-three down, including a strike out. Nine of his 16 pitches were in there for strikes, and he really seemed to locate his mid 90’s fastball well. Only time will tell if he can follow-up this outing similarly. Assuming and the Rays pen can, I can’t help but feeling like Tampa Bay will be a force to be reckoned with this season.

Box score, courtesy of ESPN

PS: ESPN, tomorrow’s game is already sold out, and Sunday’s game is in line to do the same. Kruk and Co., chew on that one for a few.

Leave a comment