Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Buerhle, Blue Jays Shutout the Rays, 3-0

Let me take you back to Thursday, July 23, 2009 — a day when Mark Buehrle threw a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays. In that game, Buehrle struck out six, and induced 11 ground-outs and 10 pop-outs. The Rays have owned Buehrle since that embarrassing, fateful day, posting a healthy .280 OBA/.327 OBP/.369 SLG/.695 OPS slash line, with a 6.67 ERA in five starts. Suffice it to say, you never know exactly what you’re going to get with the Blue Jays’ lefty on the mound. Unfortunately, Tampa Bay faced the former Buehrle Wednesday night, not the latter. The Rays slogged away from the Trop, having dropped their second consecutive game to Toronto, this time by a score of 3-0.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Cobb, Rays Fall to Blue Jays, 4-2

Baseball can teach a valuable lesson every now and then. No matter the immense expectations placed on the Rays 2014 season, or the obvious advantage Alex Cobb had over Drew Hutchinson, you’re inevitably going to lose some games. And it just so happened that Tampa Bay’s first loss of the year came in the second game of the season, by a score of 4-2. Alex Cobb followed David Price’s outstanding 7-1/3 inning outing Monday, with a buggy 5 IP/4 H/4 ER/4 BB/3 K/1 HR affair Tuesday evening. But oh, did they ever make it exciting in the bottom of the ninth.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Crush Blue Jays, 9-2

Hyperbole can be a effective device when trying to describe an event. Over do it with hyperbolic descriptions, of any given event, however, and run the risk of looking as though you spin yard wide yarns. That being said, I’m not exaggerating when I say the Rays crushed, neigh… Demoralized the Toronto Blue Jays, by a score of 9-2, in the Opening Day contest at the Trop, Monday. The game had everything you could ever want: quality pitching, an electric offense, and a few flashes of leather.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: It All Comes Down to This…

Some 730 days ago, the Rays found themselves in a do-or-die situation that came down to final game of the baseball season. In 2011, a Rays win would have given them at least an opportunity to face the Boston Red Sox in a one-game tie breaker. We’re all well versed in what happened on that glorious final day of baseball by now; The Rays came from behind, late in the game, to beat the New York Yankees, while the Red Sox fell to the Orioles, deleting all hopes of a postseason berth. So much has changed, it seems nothing ever changes.