Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Fall Short, 2-1

It was a tough night for the Tampa Bay’s hitters. The Astros rookie Jarred Cosart, making his major league debut, not only no-hit the Rays into the seventh inning, but he also shut them out into the ninth. And even when the Rays put base runners on, he quickly negated the threat, inducing three double plays (Editors note: Jose Veras, the Astros closer, would cull the fourth double play of the night in the ninth).

The New What Next: Those Astros Once Again, A Series Preview of Sorts

The Rays welcome the Houston Astros into the Trop Friday, a day after they eked out a 4-3 win, completing a four game sweep of the Twins. Tampa Bay has now taken its fifth consecutive series, thanks to an outstanding 7-1/3 inning outing by Matt Moore. The Rays’ lefty snagged his 13th win of the year …

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Zobrist, Rays Win in Walk-Off Fashion

The Rays won by a score of 4-3 last night, thanks to Ben Zobrist’s fourth career walk-off in the wee hours of the night. Tampa Bay has won a season high four consecutive games, and looks to sweep the Twins Thursday afternoon. Today’s game comes on the heels of the four hour, 13 inning marathon of a game, and the Rays will take the field a mere 12 hours after dog-piling BenZo at first base. Suffice to say, I’m a bit haggard, and not just because I stayed up to watch the game in its entirety. Bulleted highlights are below.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Zobrist, Escobar, and Scott Muscles Tampa Bay Past Minnesota

In the series preview, I wrote, “They’ve (the Twins) averaged almost five runs per game over the last 15 games, while the pitching has given up (on average) almost six. This bodes well for the swarming offense of the Tampa Bay Rays.” I’m not calling myself Nostradamus or anything, but it does emphasize that the Rays 7-4 win against the Twins Monday night is par for the course, for what Minnesota has done over their last 15 games. That’s not to belittle Tampa Bay in any way, shape, or form. Rather, it should show that the Rays are doing exactly what they need to be doing in the pre All-Star Break stretch.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Hellickson, Rays Handcuff White Sox 8-3

Let’s review last night’s 8-3 win: A) Jeremy Hellickson was dominant. B) The Rays were electric at the plate. C) The ninth was ugly, but Ramos limited the damage. Better yet, let’s use that outline as a template for this game summary. Jeremy Hellickson Was Dominant Simply put, the subtitle says it all. Hellickson was …