The Tampa Bay Rays are back at it Monday night, when they start a four game series against the Orioles in Baltimore. While the Rays are coming off a series win against the Blue Jays, the Orioles faced a power outage of sorts on the north side of Chicago, where the Cubs held them a total of four runs over the course of a three-game sweep — their first road sweep of the year. The Rays will try to flush out the odd procedural inconsistencies that plagued the previous series, while the Orioles attempt to get back on the winning side of the ledger.
Tag Archives: Baseball
Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Here, Under Protest
There’s a certain irony when you compare Saturday’s game against Mark Buehrle and the Toronto Blue Jays, with Buehrle’s last start against Tampa Bay on July 11. In both contests, the Rays were able to tag Buehrle for a crooked number of runs. In both contests, the Rays knocked Buehrle out of the game early. And in both contests, a reliever relinquished the go-ahead runs to give the Rays an unfortunate loss.
Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Smyly Dominant, Rays Crush Blue Jays 8-0
A day after David Price dazzled the baseball world with an excellent one run, one hit complete game against his former team, it was Drew Smyly’s turn to dazzle. Smyly turned in a sensational performance to call his own, a two hit (both singles), no walk complete game shutout against the Blue Jays — just two starts after setting his own major league career record by finishing seven and two-third innings.
The New What Next: Rays Head to Toronto for Three — A Series Preview of Sorts
The Rays will start a three game series against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday. Tampa Bay has been disappointing of late, dropping four of its last six games to the Yankees and Tigers (respectively) in two ugly, ugly series losses. Yet things in Toronto haven’t been all that peachy for the Jays either — John Gibbons’ ball club has won only one series in the month of August.
Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Blanked, 6-0
I argued, though a team — say the Rays — will invariably be judged on its overall record, that overall records isn’t enough to give an accurate impression of a team at any place and time. The overall record doesn’t speak to a teams’ peaks and valleys, it doesn’t take into account hot and cold streaks, and it doesn’t take into account consistent and inconsistent play.