The New What Next: Rays vs Cardinals; Round Two — A Series Preview of Sorts

Back at it Tuesday night. The Tampa Bay Rays are primed and set to start another quick, two-game series against the Cardinals, this time in St. Louis. The red-hot Rays, owners of a 23-11 record since June 11, are coming off a huge three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins. Not only did they make up ground in both the AL East and in the Wildcard standings, they also walked away with the Knutson Cup.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Shields, Royals Blank Rays, 6-0

I tried bargaining with the baseball gods, ahead of the series opener last night. My bargain: Allow Tampa Bay to win a close game, and let James Shields to walk away from The Trop with a quality seven inning, no-decision under his belt. The plan seemed like a win/win to me. However, neither the baseball gods nor James Shields accepted my very reasonable bargain. In the end, despite the very good start by Jake Odorizzi, Big Game James was downright dominant in his seven inning homecoming, slashing 7 IP/3 H/0 R/1 BB/10 K on 103 pitches (64 strikes). Truth be told, with a pair of winnable games remaining in the series, I’m not that broken up over the loss — well, with the exception of Juan-Carlos Oviedo’s fart-on-a-snare-drum worthy two innings of work.

The New What Next: Rays vs. Yankees — the Gauntlet Continues

Here we go. The second leg of the Rays 11-game road gauntlet commences in the Bronx, Monday, where Tampa Bay will take on the Evil Empire in a three-game set. The Rays are riding a massive wave of momentum following their big series victory against the Orioles, not to mention a pretty damn good second half of June — since June 15th, Tampa Bay has gone 9-6, outscoring their opponents 67-53 in that span, while averaging 4.46 runs per game.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Split Double Header with the O’s

The Tampa Bay Rays split the difference with the Baltimore Orioles Friday, taking the first game of their double header by a 5-2 margin, while dropping the second 4-1. The Rays hitters, who were able to put together good at-bats in the first game, looked listless and lethargic at the plate in the second game.

The New What Next: Rays vs. Astros, Part Two — A Series Preview of Sorts

The Tampa Bay Rays will welcome the Houston Astros into the friendly confines of the Big Top, a mere four days after they last faced them at Minute Maid Park. The Rays are in slightly better shape than they were last week when they first took on the Astros. Tampa Bay has won three out of their last six, averaging just under four runs per game in that span. Still, the last two games were winnable, and therefore left a lot to be desired.