The Rays will attempt to bury the Yankees — consequently relegating them to their rightful place at the bottom of the AL East — in a three-game set in the Bronx, starting Friday. Tampa Bay is coming off a franchise tying eighth consecutive series victory, following the aborted game four in Boston, Thursday.
Tag Archives: Chris Archer
Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Hernandez So-So, Farnsworth Not Good, and the Rays Lose 6-2
I’d hardly call Tuesday night’s 6-2 loss to the Red Sox a crushing blow, however there is a certain amount of suckiness attached when you consider that the Rays could have pulled into first place for only the second time this season. Let’s not get down on ourselves though, the Rays have had a great run, and one loss — only their third in 21 games mind you — shouldn’t be viewed as a foreboding indicator of doom and gloom. Losses are going to happen, and the true test will come tonight when David Price takes the hill, opposite of Felix Doubront. While I’d be hesitant to call this a crushing blow, I’d be foolish to overlook the glaring antecedents that factored into the Rays loss: A mediocre start by Roberto Hernandez, a horrible two-thirds of an inning by Kyle Farnsworth, cracks in the defense, and an anemic offense.
The New What Next: Rays Vs Red Sox Pt. Five, A Series Preview of Sorts
The Rays will start a four game set against the Red Sox Monday. It goes without saying, this is a big series, and the Rays stand to gain a lot of ground on the AL East leading Red Sox. However, this isn’t a season defining series. That is to say, no harm or foul if the Rays leave Boston Thursday with an even split on the series — hope for three-out-of-four or a sweep, be content with an even split. If anything, Tampa Bay is looking for a bit of payback for being kicked around by the Red Sox over their first 12 games against them.
The New What Next: Rays Start Symbolic Second Half in Toronto, A Series Preview of Sorts
The Blue Jays were the hottest team in baseball the last time Tampa Bay faced Toronto. Tampa Bay snapped their 11 game winning streak in that series, effectively relegating the Blue Jays to the cellar of the AL East, and consequently harkening the start of a 20 game stretch where the Rays went 16-4, leading up to the All-Star Break. The Rays will try to continue their toasty ways with a deadly trio of hurlers on the mound — David Price, Jeremy Hellickson, and Chris Archer. The Rays are 7-1 when Price, Hellickson, or Archer has taken the mound since Price’s return from the DL, at the beginning of July.
Identity crisis: A Mid season review of the 2013 Rays
Identity crisis, the definition for this season. The season looked quite bright for most fans after the end of spring training. The Roberto Hernandez experiment looked strong, Rodney just dominated planet earth in the WBC — continuing his strong showing from last season, we gained some new pieces and it seemed we could weather the loss of Davis and Shields. We got to know new players like Kelly Johnson, James Loney, Juan Sandoval and Shelly Duncan, we learned to accept Escobar, we saw what a healthy Scott looked like, Longoria seemed ready, we saw dominance from prospects like Lueke, O’Malley, Figueroa, Anderson, Archer, Romero and Lee. Finally, we got to see our big pick ups, Myers and Odorizzi. Things looked great, especially following comments by Rays skipper Joe Maddon regarding the team’s strength as compared to previous rosters. But the wheels fell of quickly…