The Tampa Bay Rays resumes their six game home stand Friday, with a three-game weekend series against the Cleveland Indians. Oh…the similarities between the Rays and the Indians. Both teams are under .500, toward (or at) the bottom of their respective divisions. Yet the Indians are on a hot streak, having gone 5-5 in their last 10 games, while the Rays have whimpered — posting a 4-6 record in the same span, and fresh off a sigh-inducing three-game sweep at the hands of the Orioles. Cleveland just completed a 5-2 home stand, capped off by a sweep of Minnesota.
Tag Archives: MLB
Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Drop Game and Series to Orioles, 3-1
Let me preface this saying, I never understood the hype behind Ubaldo Jimenez. Since his 19-8, 2.88 ERA 2010 season, his ERA has hovered around five for all but one season. But he sure made the Rays look foolish tonight, throwing 5-1/3 innings, surrendering only one run and walking only 2, before being chased from the game by a Wil Myers single and David DeJesus single that pushed Myers to third. However, as been the case with the Rays for the most part this season, the big hit was elusive and the inning ended quickly after Jimenez was removed.
Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Drop Second Straight, 4-3
In an ideal world, a team composed of major league hitters would support their starting pitcher, especially when victories are at a premium. Those hitters would be able to give him a healthy cushion, and because of it a pair of solo shots wouldn’t feel like an insurmountable void to overcome. That is, in an ideal world pitching and hitting would be in synch with one another. That wasn’t the case Wednesday night when the Rays dropped their second straight game, and the series, to the Baltimore Orioles by a score of 4-3.
Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Fall to the O’s, 5-3
Once again the Rays overworked bullpen was forced to eat innings after Chris Archer failed to pitch past the fifth inning (for the third straight start) in his start Tuesday night. The typically dependable Joel Peralta faltered as the Orioles scored twice in the eighth inning following a 19-minute power delay, beating the Rays 5-3 in the first game of a three-game set.
The New What Next: Enter the O’s — A Series Preview of Sorts
The Tampa Bay Rays will resume play against the Baltimore Orioles Tuesday after returning home from a successful 10-game road trip. The trip didn’t start well, but my how things changed. The Rays left Chicago (en route to Boston) winning only one game out of four, yet they return to the friendly confines of the Trop having taken two-of-three from both the Red Sox and Yankees. So the Rays are miraculously fixed, right? Not by a long shot, BUT things are looking up.