B.J.'s Blast lifts Rays; Niemann Debuts

I think B.J. Upton reads our site because he took our advice and started hitting long bombs. I also think B.J. was tired of being called out by umps on bad calls. Upton was called out trying to advance to second on a ball that got away from O's back up catcher Guillermo Quiroz. However, later in the 5th inning with two on and two out Upton lifted a blast into left field giving the Rays a 6-0 lead. That was more than the Rays would need after a very impressive debut by "The Big Ugly" Jeff Niemann. It wasn't pretty as Niemann escaped a few jams, but he got the job done. The Rays evened their record at 6-6 with a 6-2 victory and claimed their first series win of the season.

On the Mound:

Niemann made his long awaited debut for the Rays. The 2004 First Round Pick lived up to the hype going six strong innings. Niemann escaped a bases loaded jam in the first without surrendering a run. In all, a Nick Markakis solo home run in the 6th was the only negative mark on Niemann's line which read 6 IP, 6 H, 1BB, 5 K's. J.P. Howell had a rough outing, giving up two hits and a walk before getting the hook recording 0 outs. Dan Wheeler came in with the bases loaded and no out and got Melvin Mora to pop up in a tough AB. He walked Nick Markakis to score a run, but got the next batter, Kevin Millar, out without giving up another run. Trever Miller came in and struck out Aubrey Huff on three pitches to end the threat. Miller is really doing a good job as the lefty specialist. So far this season he has held lefties to a .222 BAA and has 0.00 ERA against them. However, when the batter is on the other side of the box he has a .455 BAA and a 7.71 ERA, thats why he's a LOOGY. Al Reyes and Troy Percival pitched a perfect 8th and 9th respectively to close out the victory.

At the Plate:

If you erase the 5th inning, the Orioles threw a no hitter. Good thing for the Rays the 5th inning counts. The Rays scored six runs on six hits and chased O's starter Brian Burres, who was throwing a no hitter coming into the frame. The Phenomenal Evan Longoria lead off with a walk followed by singles by Justin Ruggiano and Mike Difelice. After a Bartlett pop out, Aki Iwamura drove in the games first run with a single. Carl Crawford then drove in two with a single. B.J. Upton provided the big blast after that, making it 6-0. The Rays were quiet after that, but the damage was done. None of the Rays hitters had multi-hit games, but Evan Longoria did reach base twice going 1-3 with a walk and run scored.

Tommy's Take: If some one would've told me that after 12 games the Rays would be .500 and Evan Longoria would be playing 3B, while Jeff Niemann was in the rotation, I would've jumped at that. Well that is the reality and even though the Rays have nine players, including 4 starters, on the DL they are still playing pretty good ball. I'd like to see more consistency, but the season is still young. Evan Longoria looks ready for the show, getting timely hits and showing major league patience at the plate. In fact, Longoria has more walks(2) in 6 ABs then Delmon Young has in 42. It was great to see B.J. finally break out and get a home run on the board. I must admit I was getting jealous watching Justin hitting home runs at will in the desert. For those keeping track, BJ needs 29 home runs and 27 more steals to hit 30/30. Hat Tip to Jeff Niemann on a great debut, once Kazmir and Garza get back the Rays will have one of the best rotations in the American League.

Erik's Take: It's been great watching all of the Rays young players succeed to begin the season. Hammel and Jackson have pitched well, Longoria looks to be for real, and Niemann looked great yesterday. If they can all keep playing well I believe the Rays should actually climb over .500. You hear about how big Niemann is, but seeing him on the mound...wow that kid is huge. It was also great seeing Crawford drive in two runs to hopefully snap him out of his early season funk. This is the most exciting team we'ev ever had here, and I hope the crowd keeps coming out to support them.

Carlos Comes Through, E-Day Is Upon Us.

The Rays won 10-5 last night on the strength of Carlos Pena's bat. The first basemen is showing that last season was no fluke, hitting two home runs and gaining 6 RBI. The latter of the shots was the most important, coming in the 7th inning to tie the game. Jason Bartlett made a costly error in the first, throwing wide of Pena on a play that would have ended the inning. Instead the Orioles had two men on for the red hot Luke Scott who hit a double to center, scoring both. As Tommy noted before, tonight will be Evan Longoria's first game and we're hoping Maddon plays him. I'm going to be at the game hoping to get some pictures of the young star for everyone. Also as previously noted I met David Price last night. I was walking to my booth at the Ale House on 9th street in St. Pete when I look over to the right at the bar and see D-Price sitting there eating dinner alone. I was pretty sure it was him, but his Columbus Catfish hat gave it away. I walked up to him and said I was a big fan and asked him how his elbow was. He said it was good and that he was going to start throwing bullpen next week. If there is a nicer more polite player out there I haven't met him. Glad he's with the Rays.

At The Plate: This game was the Carlos Pena show. He followed up a two run homer in the second inning with a game tying three run jack in the 7th. Pena was even got the easiest RBI in baseball when he was walked with the bases loaded in the 8th. BJ Upton had a nice night going 3-5 with a double and two RBI. Eric Hinske doubled in a run and was knocked in on a single by Shawn Riggans.

Not to be forgotten was Carl Crawford's 1000th career hit. Carl became the eighth player since 1900 to record 1000 hits and 250 steals before his 27th birthday. He also joins ARod, Jeter, Beltre, Pudge, Junior Griffey, Pujols, Andruw Jones and Vlad Guerrero as the only active players to have 1000 hits at age 26 or younger. Pretty nice company.

On The Mound: Shields pitched well, going 6 innings and giving up five runs, but only two earned. He struck out four and only walked one, which seems to fit with his 4:1 K/BB ratio from last season. Sadly he couldn't leave the game with the lead. The bullpen pitched three innings of one hit baseball, with Al Reyes gaining the victory after being tasered twice a mere 16 hours prior. Percival worked the 9th in a non-save situation.

Erik's Take: I never felt the Rays were out of it, even when they were down three runs in the 7th. They had been hitting Guthrie pretty well through six innings, getting eight hits. They continued hitting the ball well, crushing the O's pen after Guthrie was pulled. Besides the one error that Bartlett made I'd say the team played a pretty well rounded game. I'm still not breathing easy when the bullpen is called and the Rays have a lead, but a few more nights like this and I'll be able to sleep better at night. Of course the Rays wouldn't have had a lead if Pena hadn't tied it up in the 7th. He was the hero tonight, and I don't think that's the last time I'll be writing that this year.

Tommy's Take: Never doubt the genius that is Joe Maddon. Before the game Joe worked with two players; Nathan Haynes who had three hits and Carlos Pena. Maddon said they notice a small mechanical flaw in Pena's swing and they corrected it before the game. He joked with the Radio broadcasters that Pena would hit two two-run home runs, but would settle for one. Well Maddon's prediction came through and more. As long as Carlos Pena comes up with the lead in reach other teams better be sweating. Carlos Pena is off to a better start than last year and now has five home runs in only 10 games. Congrats to CC for becoming the first Mr. 1,000 in Rays history. The Longoria Era begins tonight and lets hope this is the beginning of a 15 year all star career. How fitting was it that AL Reyes got the win in a game where a guy named "Mora" got the final out?

Action Jackson Comes To Rescue With 8 Shutout Innings.

Well that was just what the doctor ordered. Edwin Jackson was masterful today against the Mariners. The 6-3 Righty from Germany showed the flashes of brilliance we've all heard and talked about, but have rarely seen. Willy Aybar was held out of today's game to rest a sore hamstring and Mike DiFelice made his second start of the season behind the plate. Some good news injury wise, Scott Kazmir will pitch another batting practice on Friday and Matt Garza will start his rehab by playing catch on Saturday. On to the Recap:

On the Mound:

Edwin Jackson was the story on the mound, going eight shutout innings allowing only two hits in a dominating effort. Jackson struck out six, but did walk four which was the only negative on the afternoon. As a Rays fan you have to be excited about the performance so far from Jackson this year. 14 Innings, seven hits, and only one earned run. Trever Miller pitched a scoreless 9th to preserve the shutout.

At the Plate:

We'll we said the top of the order needed to come alive and they did. Aki Iwamura reached base in four of his five at bats and Carl Crawford pitched in with two hits. Mike DiFelice got the start and provided the Rays with two hits and three RBI. Jonny Gomes also has a two hit day hitting Aybar's spot in the order with Eric Hinske, who hit a solo home run in the 4th inning, playing 3B. It looks like the offense finally woke up, but the Rays still had 21 LOB.

Tommy's Take: Boy Erik were you wrong. Just give Edwin Jackson away for nothing? Preposterous! Just kidding. I'm sure we've all felt that way towards Jackson. Personally, I can't think of a player who I've had a more Love/Hate feeling towards. Jackson can simply be excellent at times, much like today and that evening in Texas last year. Then he can go out and walk seven and give up eight runs in three innings the next time. I'd have to say I'm extremely impressed and excited about the way he has started the season. Yes he has six walks in two games, but as long as he keeps getting these type of results I don't care. What about Mike DiFelice today? Mike D showed that he can still swing the bat, and if this keeps up the Rays may actually be able to trade DiFelice for something once Dioner Navarro is healthy.

Erik's Take: Jackson is making me look like a fool. He pitched amazingly well today, and I hope he can keep it up all season, but I'm not going to back off my previous statements that I don't think he's going to live up to all of his promise. ESPN's Keith Law backs up my thoughts in his chat today:

Jim (Lincoln, Nebraska): Edwin Jackson is dominating as we speak.. Is he finally going to break out this year?

Keith Law: I've given up on Jackson. I don't think he'll ever have sufficient command of his stuff to be a good big-league starter. He has the arm, but he's made no progress as a pitcher in four years.

Again, I hope I'm wrong, I really do, I just want to see more than two starts before I start to believe. I was happy to see the team start to hit, and hit with men on base. My main man Justin Ruggiano is so intimidating at the plate that he drew a bases loaded walk for the easiest RBI in the game. Hopefully the Rays can build off of this impressive game and sweep the first place Orioles(That was as weird to type as it is to read).

Rays lose 4th Straight, but nobody else got hurt

Shaky starting pitching, lack of hitting and getting on-base, questionable calls by the umpires, lather...rinse...repeat. That's basically what has happened in the first two nights of the Rays homestand. Andy Sonnanstine wasn't awful, but he wasn't particularly effective either. The Rays did have eight hits, but no big hits with runners on. Brian Knight was last night's Hunter Wendelstedt, making more than one questionable call at first base.

On the Mound:

Sonnanstine went six innings giving up four runs on seven hits and two walks. He did strike out three. The start was similar to the one he had last Friday in New York when he also went six giving up four runs. The biggest difference on this night was the offense scored one run, not the 13 they put up on Friday. Sonnanstine threw 22 pitches through the first two innings, but threw 71 over his final four frames. The problem isn't control with Sonnanstine, it's hard hits. The Mariners, like the Yankees, were spraying hits into gaps and the wheels fell off from there. J.P. Howell pitched 1.2 innings and was touched for three runs, two earned, on a home run by Jamie Burke. JK Ryu made his 2008 debut throwing a scoreless, but mostly unimpressive 1.1 innings. Ryu threw 26 pitches half of those were out of the strike zone.

At the Plate:

This pretty much sums it up...The Mariners had one more hit than the Rays, but scored six more runs. Willy Aybar was the star at the plate and in the field. Aybar went 3-4 with two doubles and made numerous web gem type plays in the field. All three Aybar hits came as a right-handed batter. Justin Ruggiano make a splash in his first AB, lacing a double and earning free checkers for section 115 WOO! He misplayed a ball in RF, but after watching Eric Hinske and Jonny Gomes in RF nobody seemed to notice. Jason Bartlett is the only other Ray to register a multi-hit game going 2-2 with a sac bunt. Aki Iwamura had the lone RBI on a Sac Fly. The Rays had 11 LOB as a team.


Tommy's Take: The offense the past four games(all losses) has been awful. The Rays have scored seven runs during the losing streak and can't seem to get anything going. On the season The Rays are last in the American league in hitting with a .229AVG and tied for last in OBP at .301. They are 10th in team BA/RISP with .246. The top of the order is especially struggling. Aki Iwamura is has an OBP of under .250 and Carl Crawford's is even worse at .189. The cleanup hitters can't clean up if there is nothing on the table. I know Maddon likes to have Aki,CC,Pena at the top, but maybe a little shakeup for a game or two might breathe some life into the order. Maybe have Bartlett bat 2nd and move CC down a little in the order.

Erik's Take: It was a frustrating game all around. The only bright spot was Aybar, who seemed to respond well to the "We Want Evan" chant. He was a vacuum at the hot corner and looked great at the plate. Justin Ruggiano looked great as well in his first action of the season. He had a double and would have had a single if Willy Aybar didn't get called out at home on a close play in the 7th. Can someone explain to me why Maddon feels the need to play the lefty/righty matchup at EVERY opportunity? In the 9th inning the Mariner's brought in a left handed pitcher and Maddon pinch hits Eric Hinske for Shawn Riggans, and I'm ok with that. But after Hinske walked Maddon pinch hit Nathan Haynes for Ruggiano, the only Ray besides Aybar who had shown anything at the plate all game. Ruggiano has some power, Haynes has none. I know Ruggiano doesn't hit lefties well, but Haynes doesn't hit well in general. Why not let Ruggiano hit and put Haynes in to pinch run for Hinske? I might be wrong, but I see that as the better move.


Some News and Notes: We've heard Garza's time table is anywhere from 2-6 weeks, and Floyd's injury is now 4-6 weeks instead of the 6-8 weeks that was reported yesterday.

B is for BOOOOOOO! Rays drop home opener; third straight overall.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and at one point the Boos were the loudest I've ever heard in a stadium. The Rays lost their third straight game last night, lowering their record to 3-4. The worst news wasn't the loss on the field, but the loss of Matt Garza who was lifted in the third inning after 70 pitches. Garza was placed on the 15 day disabled list with radial nerve irritation, something he says he's been battling since last season, but Joe Maddon said he had no previous knowledge of the injury. Garza said the pain in his arm started to cause his hand to go numb at some points of the night and made it hard to grip the ball. From TBO.com

“I’ve usually been able to get through it, just kind of pitch through it and wear the pain and get it right after the game and get my work in,” said Garza. “This time it was just real bad – I knew something was up.”

“I’ve never missed a start in my life,” he said. “I’ve always been able to game up and go at it, no matter how tired I was or how bad I felt.”

I did some research on radial nerve injuries in pitchers and Jeff D'Amico, John Patterson and Shawn Hill have had surgery to "decompress" their radial nerves. Scott Williamson has a radial nerve impingement back in 2004. I don't know how close or un close those injuries are to Garza, but If I find out I will give an update.

Jae Kuk Ryu was recalled to help out in the bullpen after it was stretched pretty thin last night, having to pick up final 6.1 innings of work. The Rays are expected to call up a starter from AAA Durham before this Sunday's game. Jeff Niemann is the leading candidate after almost making the team out of Spring Training. His next scheduled start in on Sunday anyway. On to the game recap...

On the Mound:

Garza was all over the place before leaving with the injury. I don't know how much to equate to ineffectiveness or injury. Garza gave up three earned runs on six hits and three walks. He obviously wasn't sharp and if a pitcher's hand is numb that might do the trick. Scott Dohmann and Gary Glover did their best but it wasn't enough, giving up a combined three runs in three innings as Glover took the loss. Al Reyes gave up two hits, but no runs in his inning and Dan Wheeler and Troy Percival continued to be perfect on the season. Wheeler has not given up a hit or walked a batter in 5.1 innings so far this season.

At the Plate:

The Rays offense came alive after being frozen in the 40 degree weather in New York. After getting seven hits and one run over the final two games of the Yankees series, the Rays scored five runs on six hits last night. The two big blows came on solo home runs by Shawn Riggans and Carlos Pena. The Rays had plenty of chances, leaving 14 men on base. The Rays had a potential rally in the seventh, but a questionable call on a potential B.J. Upton triple changed the game.

Much thanks to Eric Seidman of Red Lasso with this clip of B.J. Upton being called out.



Also here is a still shot from the video. You can clearly see Upton get's in before Beltre even attemps a tag


Tommy's Take: B.J. Upton was safe. The throw came in high and B.J. slid under the tag. B.J. busted out of the box so fast he lost a shoe. Joe Maddon also believed B.J. was safe and he was so upset he got ejected. For the normally mild mannered Maddon, he really had to believe Upton was safe to get tossed. From that call until the end of the game BOO's reigned down from the stands of the Trop on almost every pitch. It was a pretty cool to see the passion in the crowd. Carl Crawford is just hacking at the plate and he really needs to stop it. Carl is averaging 3.06 pitches per plate appearance. That strategy may work for some players, but it's not working for CC. In 33 PA Crawford has seen 101 pitches. Compare that with Edwin Encarnacion who has seen 156 pitches in the same amount of PAs. Crawford is now in a 2-23 slump and it seems to be affecting the rest of the lineup.

Erik's Take: Great Crowd, Great atmosphere, Bad result. The Matt Garza injury is a huge blow to an already injury riddled team. Garza joins Scott Kazmir, Dioner Navarro, Ben Zobrist, Rocco Baldelli, Chad Orvella and Kurt Birkins on the DL. The call on BJ Upton's near triple was atrocious. As Tommy said, the throw was high and even from the second deck we could tell he was safe. BJ is normally pretty even keeled, so he must have been really convinced he was safe if he was jawing at the umpire. Walking back toward the dugout Upton grabbed his shoe out of the bat boy's hand with such anger that I thought the kid was going to unload in his pants. Crawford does need to be more selective, but he's never been a first half player. His AVG/OBP/SLG are all higher in the second half of the season for his carrer.

It wasn't all bad news yesterday, as Scott Kazmir threw 42 picthes during a simulated game and Maddon said he looked good.