Ugh. Two more errors, 0-5 wRISP, four left on base…SSDD. I’m not quite sure what to say. The Rays really need to win today, limp back to the Trop, and try to put something together in their upcoming seven game home stand against the Tigers and the Yankees. The errors, again, bit the Rays in the ass last night. They have now committed more errors than any other team in the AL with 64. However, the lack of offense inevitably took the wind out of their sails.
But that’s nothing new.
Tampa Bay started June on a positive note. But, it’s become obvious that the peak in production at the beginning of the month has leveled out. That the Rays have a higher OBP than their opponents, in June, seems to be the only real positive production stat. All that really tells me is that the Rays are reaching base more often. They’ve out walked their opponents by 19. However, they’ve been outscored, out hit, out slugged, and generally bested across the line.
June has given us flashes of what the Rays are capable of. However they have cooled down considerably. And the addition of Luke Scott and Matt Joyce to the DL has only exacerbated the lack of production conundrum. It would be easy to point the finger of blame on the big boppers on the roster. Consider though that Jennings, Pena, Upton, Johnson, and Zobrist have accounted for over 48% of the RBI and over 60% of the runs scored in the month of June. It’s more of a problem that the team, as a whole, cannot consistently produce…especially in those pivotal situations with men in scoring position.
Note: You may want to press play on the Soundcloud player (below) prior to reading the next paragraph.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/16480666″ iframe=”true” /]
The errors have again hampered the Rays. Consider that the starters have given up 17 unearned runs while the defense has committed 15 errors. See the chart for the breakdown. Four of those errors alone have counted for Archer’s three unearned runs. Imagine if half of those errors were never committed, and half of those unearned runs were never given up. We could be talking about a different story.
In short, Moore has got to give the Rays a good start today, and the Rays will have to give him some run support.
Rays 6/26/12 Starting Lineup
Upton CF
Pena 1B
Keppinger DH
Conrad 3B
Zobrist RF
Rodriguez 2B
Jennings LF
Molina C
Johnson SS
Moore LHP