Noah Pransky (Shadow of the Stadium) sums up my thoughts perfectly. That said, I’ve decided to repost his piece (below) in its entirety. You can read the piece with all the applicable hot-links over at the Shadow of the Stadium main site. I’d also add that the rumors of an impending deal to bring a …
Continue reading “Foster Calls Tampa’s Bluff on Rays Stadium (Repost)”
“Today’s Rays-Giants game at Tropicana Field is SOLD OUT!” -Tampa Bay Rays (via Twitter) After averaging just north of 17,000 fans per game on the season, the Rays are averaging somewhere in the ballpark of 28,000 fans per game over the course of four games — today’s sellout included. Cough, all this against the D’Backs …
The Rays couldn’t close the door on the woeful Yankees Sunday, thanks to a ninth inning Alfonso Soriano walk-off RBI ground-ball up the middle, off Jake McGee. Tampa Bay starts the day a half game back of the Boston Red Sox, with another battle for first looming tonight in the makeup game of the rainout in the previous series.
It was a hallmark type game that you’ve come to expect out of the Rays, a game that had everything: excellent pitching, outstanding defense, and a scrappy offense that was able to push across five runs — all on base hits. Tampa Bay again moved a game closer to owning sole possession of first place Wednesday night, with a 5-1 win against its AL East rivals Boston. Handcuffing the Red Sox, the Rays made a four run deficit feel like a wide chasm that was impossible to cross. And to be fair, it was an impossible chasm to cross when you consider that nothing was getting by the Gold Glove caliber infield of Longoria/Escobar/Zobrist/Loney. I’ll highlight (below) a few things that I may have neglected to talk about in our live blogged coverage of last night’s game, on our Tumblr page.
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.
