Tag Archives: Miami Marlins

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Fall to the Fish in Extras, 10-9

I could be wrong, yet I can’t help but feel that Rickie offered the best recap of the Tampa Bay Rays 10-9, extra inning loss to the Miami Marlins Friday night — and he did so in only six words. Still for whatever reason, I just couldn’t leave well enough alone. My compulsion, sadly, was to add to his summary. Wordiness is my cross to bear. Whatever the case, it was the best game because the Rays were able to close a seven run deficit in one inning, then rally once again to push the game into extra innings. And let’s be honest, this extra inning game was much more exciting than that six-hour-plus behemoth in the Bronx. Yet in true yin/yang fashion, Tampa Bay got into a huge hole early on, then inevitably lost.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Drop Seventh Straight Behind Lack of Offense

Do you remember when the Rays would swarm the opposing pitcher? You know, back in the olden days of last year, when the offense would knock the pitcher off his game early on — not allowing him to get comfortable. Those sure were the good old days. I certainly would have killed for that approach at the plate last night. Tampa Bay fell to their Florida rivals by a 3-1 margin in Miami. The Marlins improved to 21-11 at home (29-28 overall), while the Rays fell even further back in the rankings. The good guys have now dropped seven consecutive games, scoring all of 17 runs in the process. This isn’t good, and yes…this sucks.

The New What Next: The Citrus Series — A Series Preview of Sorts

What was once a certainty, that the Rays would walk away with the Citrus Series title, has now become murky. At 28-28, the Marlins are exceeding everyone’s expectations (hyperbole withstanding) — especially at home. The Marlins have the best home record (20-11) in all of baseball, while the Rays have vastly underperformed on the road. Tampa Bay has gone 11-20 away from the Trop, having dropped their last eight road games.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Sweep Marlins In Four Games

Tampa Bay took game four of the Citrus Series from the Marlins by a score of 5-2, after rookie RHP Alex Colome put together a solid 5-2/3 IP debut. Giving up one run (un-earned) on five hits and two walks, Colome struck out seven, while becoming the eighth Rays pitcher to win his debut outing.