Tag Archives: AL Wildcard Race

The New What Next: Rays vs. Yankees — A Series Preview of Sorts

I can distinctly recall the mantra of the 2011 season being “Impossible? No. Improbable? Yes.” The Tampa Bay Rays put themselves into a hole that no other team, historically, had been able to dig themselves out of — yet they did. Then last season, with their playoff hopes quickly slipping away, they put together a season ending run which found the Rays in the postseason for the fourth time in six years. This year is different, and I’d imagine that the lyrics, “All I know is that I don’t know, all I know is that I don’t know nothing,” would be an apt maxim for the remainder of the season.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Archer, Rays Dominate Rangers in 10-1 Shellacking

Had you asked Joe Maddon or Jim Hickey what they hoped for out of Wednesday night’s game, they would have said a win, and the opportunity to allow the tired relievers some rest following Tuesday night’s 14-inning marathon. Two pitchers, 13 strikeouts, and two hours and 51 minutes later, the Rays not only met Maddon and Hickey’s expectations, they exceeded them. Tampa Bay put together a 10-1 shellacking of the Rangers, thanks to a masterful seven IP start by Chris Archer, and a 12 hit/10 run offensive charge (which included three early home runs) led by Matt Joyce, Sean Rodriguez, and Brandon Guyer.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Misplays and an Unproductive Offense Spoil Smyly’s Start

In May I wrote about just wanting to see the Tampa Bay Rays play consistent baseball, back when it seemed like a postseason berth was both improbable and impossible. Yet toward the beginning of June, the Rays started playing uber consistent, .700 ball, and the impossible almost seemed within reach — the odds of Tampa Bay making the postseason jumped from a sub 1% chance to a 15% chance over the course of a month and a half. But after dropping four of their last five, including last night’s disappointing 3-o loss to the Athletics, the Rays have dropped back down to a 3.9% chance of making the playoffs (per Fan Graphs).

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Fall in 10 Innings, 3-2

I’d like to think there was a risk/reward like situation afoot last night. I went through the effort of connecting my laptop to my television (I mean, who wants to watch baseball on a 14″ screen?), then it took me a few minutes to find a website from which to stream the game (thanks, strikeout.co), and finally I spent four hours live blogging the game while resisting the overwhelming urge to throw my tablet across the room out of frustration. And what was I rewarded with? A disheartening 3-2 loss in the 10th inning.